I’ve already talked about the benefits of quinoa. Now I want to write about how to eat it, because it is not a common cereal for everyone. Meanwhile, there are countless delicious and healthy recipes that can include quinoa.
Better to soak the quinoa before cooking, overnight, or an hour. This will allow the nutrients inside the cereal to be activated.
Soak or not, be sure to rinse the quinoa with running water. Since the grains are very small, it is convenient to do this in a fine sieve.
Pour one to two water over the quinoa (2 cups of water for a glass of quinoa), bring to a boil, reduce heat, season with salt, cover, and cook for about 15 minutes until cooked through until all the water has been absorbed. Finished quinoa seeds become transparent and a small sprout separates from the side:
For extra flavor, you can cook the quinoa in vegetable broth instead of water.
When warm, boiled quinoa can be used as a side dish. You can make the quinoa garnish more interesting by adding finely chopped onions, peppers and zucchini (or any other vegetables) fried in oil. My favorite version of the buckwheat quinoa. I stir half a glass of quinoa with half a glass of buckwheat, rinse, add water and cook until tender. The rules are the same as for boiling one quinoa. I pour two tablespoons of olive oil into the finished buckwheat-quinoa. Today, my son and I have this is the most favorite side dish in the world))))
In general, quinoa can be used in any dish instead of rice, couscous or bulgur, for example, instead of rice in stuffed peppers.
Chilled quinoa can be used as a base for any vegetable salad. For example, in this recipe, mung bean sprouts can easily be substituted for quinoa. Here’s a simple recipe: half a glass of chilled quinoa, a bunch of arugula, 2 chopped Baku tomatoes, diced ripe avocado, salt, pepper, olive oil.
Or
A glass of boiled quinoa, one finely chopped carrot, finely chopped small bunch of parsley, 3 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds, 2 chopped Baku tomatoes, 6 chopped olives, salt. You can season it with anything, or just olive oil, or together with soy sauce and lemon juice. A matter of taste.
Another way to consume quinoa is to add it to any soup.
They also make flakes from quinoa, which can be used just like any other flakes – pour milk or cook porridge from them.
In general, a versatile, very tasty and healthy grain.