How to Cook Quinoa ~ Noreen’s Kitchen Basics

Get the hot water kettle I am using:

We recently made quinoa for our chicken and citrus super food salad. I thought it might be a great idea to share with you how to prepare quinoa. It really is simple and if you can make rice, you can make quinoa!

Quinoa requires a 2 to 1 ratio of water to grain. Usually you add the quinoa to boiling water and then simmer till the liquid is absorbed. I boiled some water in my instant kettle and added that to a pot with the quinoa I was going to prepare. This took about half the cooking time off of the simmer! It only took about 7 minutes to complete the cooking time on the quinoa because I had added hot water from the kettle! This is something you may want to consider!

I recently purchased the instant kettle with the intention of using it for future vegetable canning projects, as a way for me to have a constant supply of hot water and make the canning process quick. We use this all the time for hot tea and cocoa, especially now that winter is in full swing. It really is a great addition to a well appointed kitchen! If you are interested in getting a kettle for yourself, here is the one I am using:

If you are not familiar with quinoa, I thought it would be fun to give you some background information on what many consider an “ancient grain”. According to experts, quinoa is thought, by many to be a grain, when in fact, it is actually a seed. It was used for millenia by the ancient Incas, who cultivated it in the high altitude of the Andes mountains, which is the longest contiguous mountain range in the world, spanning a good portion of South America. The classification of “ancient grain” is because quinoa is cultivated, i.e. grown and harvested, the same way today as it was a millenia ago.

Quinoa is very versatile. We used it in a salad to give more heartiness to what would be just greens and veggies. You can eat quinoa for every meal. It is great as an alternative to hot cereal such as oatmeal, cream of wheat or grits. You can make it as a lunch or dinner option by creating a pilaf or a cold tabbouleh style salad with it. Cook it up, add olive oil, garlic and a squeeze of lemon and use it as a bed to rest poached fish or chicken for a fantastic, quick and easy side dish.

From a nutritional perspective, quinoa is a great option for vegans and vegetarians, or anyone who wants to increase their protein intake. Quinoa has all 9 amino acids that the body needs to function properly just like whole wheat berries. However, quinoa may be more palatable and much quicker to cook that whole wheat or bulgar wheat. In any case, quinoa is a great addition to your pantry or food storage and yet another option when choosing a side dish for your evening meal.

I hope that this clears up some of the mystery around quinoa. I hope that you learned something from this presentation as well as this post! I hope you give quinoa a try some time in the future if you have never had it before. You may be pleasantly surprised!

I hope you give quinoa a try and I hope you love it!

Happy Eating!

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