Cooking with Quinoa: Basic Quinoa Recipe
This basic quinoa recipe is a simple and nutritious snack or side dish.
By Debbie Whittaker
June/July 2001
MAKES ABOUT 2 1/2 CUPS
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• 1 cup black or white quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Put the quinoa into a fine strainer; rinse until the water runs clear with no suds. (If you don’t have a strainer that’s fine enough, rinse the quinoa in a bowl filled with water, and then pour it through a clean, non-terry-cloth dish towel.) 2. In a 2-quart pot, bring the water to a boil. 3. Stir in the still-wet quinoa and simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until cooked—about 12 minutes for white quinoa, 15 minutes for black. Quinoa is fully cooked when the germ is visible and has separated from the grain (it will look like a small white “C” surrounding each grain; white quinoa will be slightly translucent). If any excess liquid remains, pour off as much as possible and raise the heat to quickly boil off the rest. Stir in the salt.
Variations: Substitute canned or homemade stock or fruit juice for the water, or add bouillon or broth concentrate to the cooking water. Taste before adding salt; some of these additions will make the cooked quinoa salty enough.
Read the main article, Cooking with Quinoa: 5 Easy Recipes to learn more and find more recipes.
Debbie Whittaker, also known as the Herb Gourmet, is a culinary herbalist in Denver, Colorado.