Cooking Quinoa
Here is a very simple, quick way to cook this powerfood. Learn about all the benefits you will get from eating Quinoa Powerfood
Cooking Quinoa
- Rinse quinoa and drain.*
- Add 2 cups of water, bring to a boil.
- Add a pinch of salt.
- Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.
- Turn off heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Fluff with a fork and let cool.
I usually just serve in the same I do with rice with vegetables. I have been known to eat a bowl full all by itself because it tastes so good.
Note:
Always Rinse Quinoa, although highly nutritious, is actually coated with the toxic chemical saponin; you must rinse the quinoa thoroughly. Saponins can be challenging to the immune system and stomach. Commercial processing methods remove much of the bitter soapy saponins coating quinoa seeds, but it is best to rinse again to remove any of the powdery saponins that may remain on the seeds. Like any good foods, we need variety so do not eat it every day. A few times a week is good enough.
Please do not cook a huge pot of quinoa or any other grain to last you all week. Refrigerating cooked grains imparts a waxy texture and washes out their subtle flavors. Freshly prepared foods satiate and energize; stale and leftover foods make us feel stale and leftover.
May you be well nourished.
About Diana Herrington
I am the head chef at Real Food for Life and author of the GREEN means LEAN and Balance Your Body e-books. I turned a debilitating health crisis into a passion for helping others with healthy, sugar free, gluten free eating and cooking.
21 Responses to “Cooking Quinoa”
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Cooking quinoa is so simple and that's what I like about it.
You can mix it with everything.
Go quinoa!!
Wow, you have a lot of good information and recipes about Quinoa!
I cook quinoa, whole buckwheat, millet, in a combination of all three, or separately
with one part grain to 4 parts water; as 1/2 cup grain add 2 cups water. After starts to boil
cook on simmer til water is absorbed. This will be soft. Can be soaked overnight to digest
even better. Add greens like kale, collards, or brussels sprouts at proper time so they are
done, not too done. Very good topped with one or two eggs when grains are done or nearly
done. Let sit a few minutes til eggs are done. If you like eggs more done or if you forgot
to add soon enough, make a hole, add the egg and cover with grain. Enjoy!
Eggs over hot freshly cooked quinoa… Lovely tip! Thanks.
Thank you Ruth for sharing your recipe. Sounds yummy.
Pierrette loves to sprout Quinoa best.It only takes 1 day and we add it to everything.
Thanks Diana for your great tips.
Pierre
Thee Quest
Cool! Thank you for this recipe tip on quinoa. I just remembered I did buy some the other day and have not used it yet. Thanks for reminding me that it has so much protein!
I am happy the article reminded you as I love quinoa of all of the grains the best.
Hi Diana – Earlier Comment is right, it is better to soak Quinoa overnight, & throw off the water, but don’t rinse it again.
Thank you so much for teaching me how to prepare Quinoa. Now I look forward to something different, yet healthy for my breakfast.
Hi Joy!
For those with digestive problems; it maybe a good idea to soak overnight; most of us will probably not remember to do it even though it would be good.
Let us know how the quinoa goes for your breakfast Renee.
Found your website. My nurse advised me to look into Quinoa. She knows that I am looking for ways to get away from red meat and chicken, too. I bought some at the store, (Walmart), and it did not have the seasonings in it. It’s just Quinoa. The instructions on the package said to go ahead and cook it. There is nothing on it about rinsing, so I guess they did that. I will try a taste and see if it tastes soapy, or if I can just eat it.
Annette, I would not assume that they rinsed the quinoa unless they state that they did. All the quinoa I buy needs to be rinsed. I just added a paragraph above about why you need to rinse it from the quinoa article http://realfoodforlife.com/quinoa-the-mother-food
I recommend that you read the article to learn more.
Thanks for the info Diana–I often wondered why unrinced quinoa tasted funny
You are welcome April. Many people do not know this.
It is great to know the Health Benefits, I tasted it knowly for the first time this week-end. I purchased some for dinner and hope it is as easy to prepare as stated.
Thank you for the tip on rinsing it before preparation and the information on the health benefits.
SB
Happy to hear you SoniaB. Let us know how cooking it went for you.
“Cooking Quinoa | Real Food for Life” was a extremely pleasant article, .
Continue writing and I am going to continue to keep viewing!
Thank you ,Melvin
Hi Diana, I eat rice everyday and now have switched to quinoa. Is ii ok if I eat this everyday. It tastes just as nice as rice and even better is it is not so heavy. Thanks
Quinoa is great and I love it too. As it is not a grain it is good to still good to have some brown rice and other grains too like millet and oats for example. It is important to get a wide variety of foods into us every day.
I just made quinoa for the first time with a spanish sofrito(olives,garlic,red peppers,onions,a little tomato sauce) and garbanzo beans added with cilantro and it was delicious! Next time I’ll add chicken and Instead of making arroz con pollo I’ll make quinoa and chicken(pollo).