Quinoa is nutrient rich, and serves up a perfect source of a complete protein for omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike. After trying a series of amazing quinoa salads at restaurants and picnics, I decided to try my own hand at cooking this supergrain.
I soaked 2 cups of quinoa in a large pot full of water. I just kind of filled the pot by eye. After soaking the quinoa for about 15 minutes, I rinsed the water a couple of times, refilled the pot, and began boiling the quinoa on the stove. After boiling for about 20 minutes, with the lid slightly ajar, most of the water had steamed out of the pot, so I removed the quinoa from the stove and let it sit, covered. After the pot had sufficiently cooled off, I realized that my quinoa was not the delicious consistency of the other salads I had tried; my quinoa was gooey and oatmeal-like.
However, undaunted I trudged on. In order to salvage my efforts, I let the quinoa cool off, and steam out some of that excess moisture. For some reason, I have a similar problem when cooking tabouli.
My quinoa salad ended up tasting great with:
1 handful of shelled pistachios
2 tomatoes, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 small handful of parsley, chopped
1 small handful of cilantro, chopped
1 small handful of basil, chopped
1/2 cucumber, diced
2 mint leaves, chopped
1/2 lemon zest and juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
I just mixed all of the ingredients together and let it sit in the refridgerator overnight. While in the refridgerator, the quinoa was able to absorb up the excess moisture. It was still a little more gooey than I would have liked, but it still tasted great!
Oh if only I had the magic touch when it came to cooking grains.
Oh if only quinoa loved me back half as much as I love it!
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