Quinoa- that grain I bought in a moment of 'ohohoh! That's the thing that I had that one time in a salad pot, with a load of ingredients they don't sell in Sainsburys- and I have no idea how on earth to use it, but hey, it sounds cool'.
So basically I ended up buying this bag of quinoa with no idea of how it should be cooked, eaten or what it really tasted of, but I sure am glad I did.
The Facts- quinoa is pronounced as keen-wa, who knew???? Not me. Not least until a friend nearly fainted when I mispronounced it as quin-oa.
The quinoa that we eat is the seeds of a grain crop called 'goosefoot', the reason so many love it???
It's high in protein- so great for muscle building, low in gluten andandand it's incredibly tolerant of dry soil- so it grows easily in many countries that have little rainfall meaning that many farmers can get a reliable crop growth.
The Cooking- I had tried quinoa before in a little salad pot from M&S, where it was covered in some sort of sauce and mixed with a tonne of vegetables I had never heard of, so when it came to inspiration on how to cook it, I was at a dead end.
I scoured the net to find an interesting recipe and clear, detailed instructions on how to cook it so that it didn't taste of nothing. Most recipes that I found focused around two aspects of use, either stuffing a vegetable with it or making it into a salad, but with the other elements-i.e other vegetables-taking centre stage. I didn't want that, I wanted to cook a grain that actually tasted of something so that I wouldn't have to drown it in a high calorie, high fat sauce.
Then I realised, it's like cauliflower, people complain about cauliflower not tasting of anything, not realising that the reason it tastes bland is because they've just boiled it. The same goes for quinoa, if it's simply boiled then of course it's not going to magically have some incredible flavour.
Sooooo when the quinoa was cooking, or is it being rehydrated? Because it absorbs the water and swells up so it can be eaten, a bit like dried pasta, I added some flavours so that when it absorbed the water, it also absorbed some flavour.
INGREDIENTS- for one
- 1/4 cup of quinoa
- 1/2 cup of boiling water
- 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- a pinch of salt and black pepper
- whatever veggies you want, I went for...
- half a red pepper
- half an avocado
- a handful of cherry tomatoes
- a spring onion
- a chunk of cucumber
Step One: Measure out around1/4 of a cup of quinoa per person, which is around 40g, then add around 100ml of water and swirl it around in a pan, drain away the water after a few minutes, this means that the quinoa won't taste bitter (hopefully!).
Step Two:Keeping the rinsed quinoa in a small/medium saucepan add around 1/2 a cup of boiling water, turn on the heat to high, put a lid on it and wait for it to boil. Once it has reached a rolling boil,add around 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, pinch of salt, pinch of pepper and a little bit of cayenne pepper. However these flavours can be changed to suit you.
Step Three: Whilst the quinoa is cooking it's time to chop your chosen vegetables/meats/fish etcetcetc- basically anything you want to add to your quinoa.
Step Four : Once the quinoa is cooked ( you should be able to tell when this is done as all the water has been absorbed and just the quinoa remains in the saucepan-however sometimes more water is needed as it can still be a little undercooked) just add your veg/meat/fish and quinoa in a big bowl, and give it a big mix up.
Step Five: Personally I like to drizzle on a little balsamic vinegar to my salad to add a little sweetness, but again this can be changed to suit your tastebuds.
I hope you find now that quinoa isn't that impossible grain that seemed so scary, and that you can use this method to build upon and enjoy the great food that it is!
