I tried quinoa for the first time last year at a Peruvian restaurant and it has become my carb du jour. It has a nice earthy taste and the texture has that satisfying "pop" similar to tobiko. For a whole grain, it's fast and easy to cook. (Same ratio as white rice—1 cup quinoa to 1.5 cup water; same method) I serve it in place of white basmati rice whenever I make Indian or Middle Eastern food. Unlike rice, quinoa actually tastes good chilled, which makes it perfect for cold or room temperature side dishes too. Did I mention it has a lot of protein and dietary fiber as well? According to the nutrition information, I'm getting 6 gram protein and 3 grams dietary fiber per serving. *Awesome*
Pictured above is an herb and quinoa salad tossed in a lemon dressing. Here's what you do: add finely chopped herbs (I used mint and Italian parsley but cilantro works too.), freshly toasted almond slivers, small-diced sweet onions (or green onions) and tomatoes, if you have them. The dressing is just a vinaigrette made with Meyer lemon instead of vinegar. Don't forget the salt. It's that easy, and lots of room to play around with flavors.
So tell me, how do you enjoy quinoa?
6 comments:
I LOVE quinoa. We've been enjoying it for years because it is so versatile. To prep it I soak it in water for about 5-10 minutes then whisk by hand to work up a froth, then I only need to rinse it once or twice to get rid of any bitterness. As for creating a meal, we try everything. I'll eat it with a chunky Italian marinara sauce and mushrooms. I like to mix it with homemade salsa, black beans, corn, chopped cucumbers and cilantro for a cold salad. We cook it up and throw it into curries, soups, and stews just before serving. One of my guilty pleasures is to save the marinade from a jar of marinated artichoke hearts and pour it over freshly cooked quinoa. Tonight we just made a curried egg salad (eggs, scallions, tomatoes, cilantro, curry powder, mayo) and served it over quinoa. Your options are limitless. :)
You can also cook it in a rice cooker. 1 cup quinoa to 2 to 2-1/4 cups water, depending on how much your cooker steams. Still rinse it first.
Anon, Wow! And I thought I love quinoa! Those are all great ideas!
I've used my rice cooker before but I prefer to cook it on my stovetop. It froths so much and gunks up the steam vents on my cooker.
I have been using quinoa as a rice substitute as a I've moved to a lower-glycemic diet (generally no grains, bread, potatoes, noodles, rice, sugar, etc.). I find it cooks alright in the rice cooker with more water (or, better still, a little broth), like Anon2 suggests, although I usually soak mine first in cold water for a while and strain it to remove the bitterness. I find after a good soaking and rinse it doesn't gunk up my cooker too much; I do cook mine on the "quick" setting, though. It's nice and sticky so easy to eat with chopsticks.
My main complain is that it doesn't make fried rice-like "fried quinoa". It falls apart and makes an awful mess in the wok.
I don't use enough of it in my kitchen. At this point I use it as a salad and have on one occasion made a pilaf. Your salad looks delicious. I hope all is well. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary
I would love to experiment with different quinoa recipes. As soon as my kitchen remodeling is done, I'll be off to cooking various dishes.
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