I absolutely love quinoa. It’s a true superfood, packed with amazing nutrients, high in protein, and gluten-free, making it an excellent addition to almost anyone’s diet. I’ll confess that until recently, I have not been the best at making it. Sometimes it would come out too crunchy, sometimes mildly mushy, but for some reason it was never as light and fluffy and perfect as I’ve had when it was made for me properly.
Until now.
I learned a great tip from Chef James of Wholesome2go for how to prepare quinoa properly. It takes an additional step or two, but it’s well worth the effort, and you can make extra so you can use it over the course of several days. Here’s how you do it:
- Rinse the quinoa well. I like to put it in a bowl with water for a few minutes and then put it in a fine colander and rinse it some more.
- Spread the quinoa out on a skillet, and put it on low heat, stirring often, until the moisture has evaporated. Don’t go too far from the stove while you’re doing this or you’ll burn it!
- While you’re heating the quinoa in the skillet, put the appropriate amount of water in a saucepan (approx 1.5 cups of water for every cup of quinoa) and bring it to a boil.
- When the moisture from the quinoa has evaporated and the water in the saucepan is boiling, add the quinoa, and turn down the heat to low. Cover, and let cook for approx 15-20 minutes. It will be light and fluffy when you’re done and a whole new quinoa experience!
Hey Margaret. I love this way to prepare quinoa. I’m excited to try it. Thanks to you and James.
What makes quinoa a superfood? I hear that term all the time and I’m really not sure what it means.
Love Debra
A superfood is a food that is very nutrient dense and typically one that has nutrients that are either rare or particularly powerful. In the case of quinoa, it’s the high protein content, high fibre, and the fact that the protein is one that’s very well tolerated (as opposed to wheat, who’s protein gluten is so problematic for many people).
Try using low sodium chicken broth (or homemade) in place of the water. its delicious 🙂
Excellent idea!
I tried this method last week when I made a quinoa salad. It works really well.
broth instead of water was a terrific idea, I always make rice that way never occurred to me to make the quinoa the same way. I also added just as serving fresh chopped parsley.
Thanks for the information. We are always looking for great healthy things to try.
Quinoa is a vegans dream grain! We use it instead of bulghar to make Tabbouleh. No need to pollute this amazing food with ‘chicken stock’ – real veg stock is awesome! Quinoa can substitute for nearly all rice dishes except for sushi!!
I’ve been doing this method for a long time and it really brings out the nutty flavour of this superfood! cheers.