All About Quinoa
 

I recently ordered a quinoa dish in a restaurant. I was a little scared to try it because whenever I've made quinoa at home I haven't liked it. But it was delicious!!! So please tell me all of your tricks and tips and recipes for making delicious quinoa.

Re: All About Quinoa
 

We are not big quinoa fans here. Every recipe I have tried everyone had either disliked it or just thought it was eh.

BUT I did find that if I cook it and then use it as a cold ingredient on top of salads its a huge hit. The bonus is I can make a big thing of it (I cook it in my rice cooker) and then just scoop it out for salads all week long.

So that's my one quinoa tip! Otherwise I am just following along to hear what others say.

Re: All About Quinoa
 

I adore quinoa. My first tip is to brown until it’s really popping to remove the outer shell. That’s changed our entire feeling about quinoa.

I love Mexican /cilantro quinoa w corn and black beans (although I often eliminate beams cuz I cannot tolerate.

I also love plain buttered and salted quinoa :yum

Now I’m wanting quinoa

Re: All About Quinoa
 

One tip I found was that you have to really rinse quinoa grains. If you skip the pre rinse before cooking, it has a very bitter taste. If you wash away the tannins, it is about like rice to me. I have not been adventurous cooking it yet, so if anyone has a really good quinoa patty recipe, I would love to copy it. (The ones I buy as a great are over a $1 per patty. I love them for breakfast with melted cheese and an egg on top......if I am really hungry, I will make a sandwich with it.

Re: All About Quinoa
 

So wait, you brown the quinoa and then cook it in water or broth?

Re: All About Quinoa
 

That's what I'm wondering, too. And do you rinse before or after?

Personally, I find quinoa too much work because it's so tiny, it's hard to rinse it without losing a lot. I have a rice strainer so that helps. I love quinoa on top of a salad and I love quinoa salad (kind of like cowboy caviar with quinoa added) but I rarely make it.

Details, please!

Re: All About Quinoa
 

How do you brown it? I have a hard time picturing wet well rinsed quinoa browning well.:scratch


oops guess I should have refreshed before I asked a question they already asked:blush

Re: All About Quinoa
 

I have not browned it. I take the grains out of the jar and put it in my tea strainer (I have a 2 cup strainer) I then run water through it and to finish it off, I rinse it in my filtered water and let it drip for a few minutes. I then just boil it like you do rice to cook it.

:shrug3

Re: All About Quinoa
 

Where did you find a two cup tea strainer that would he amazing!

Listening in for tips I haven't found a way I like it but I want to.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Re: All About Quinoa
 

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/3-f...SABEgKl-vD_BwE

This is similar to what I have. (I have had it for years and it is a fine grain stainless strainer.)

Some are larger andyou can't use for tiny grains. Amaranth is much smaller than the Quinoa.

Re: All About Quinoa
 

At the restaurant my quinoa was mixed with brown rice. Can they cook at the same time in the same pan or separately?

Re: All About Quinoa
 

When I cook rice, it is about 20 minutes. Quinoa is about 16. I guess you could try cooking a small amount together. Maybe have the rice cooking for about 5 min and then adding in the quinoa for the rest of the time needed.

Re: All About Quinoa
 

We have odd ball taste buds here! I never rinse our quinoa. I just use 1 C quinoa to 2 C liquid. Three minutes in my instant pot. The kids eat it was salt and pepper. :shrug3. Or soy sauce.

Re: All About Quinoa
 

I like to use broth instead of water for better flavor. No one in my family likes it much on its own, but I don't get complaints when I mix it with other ingredients.

I keep meaning to buy a mesh strainer, but i don't lose many grains when I use my hand to slowly let the water drain out of the bowl I've rinsed it in.

Re: All About Quinoa
 

To brown quinoa:

Put dry quinoa in pan, heat on medium. When begins to pop stir about a minute. Stir constantly to avoid burning. When popping slows down, add water (or broth) and cook as usual. Usually the liquid boils very quickly after browning.

I don’t Bother rinsing ever since changing to this method. It also has a richer flavor from browning.