We all know what quinoa is by now, and hopefully we're all on the same page about how to pronounce it (that's "KEEN-wah" by the way), but the real sign that quinoa has made it big in this world, and in our kitchens, is the newly released book Cooking with Quinoa for Dummies. Written by Cheryl Forberg, the nutritionist on The Biggest Loser, it's packed with (you guessed it) quinoa cooking tips and recipes. Read on for a little quinoa-cooking cheat sheet from the book...
Give it a rinse. “If you run water over quinoa that hasn’t been prerinsed you will see a soapy residue washing off. This coating is called saponins… The bitter and soapy saponins seem appropriately named. They don’t sound any better than they taste.”
Use the right ratio. “Generally speaking, you use twice the amount of liquid to the amount of quinoa—a 2:1 ratio.” (You'll notice here that the book says "liquid" -- Forberg experiements with all sorts of quinoa preparations besides boiling water, and that includes making it with vegetable or chicken broth, or even coconut milk!)
Know your yield. “A cup of dry quinoa will yield a little less than 3 cups of cooked quinoa. This rule (3:1) follows through on all amounts of dry quinoa.”
Here are a few of our favorite quinoa recipes...
Tilapia and Quinoa with Feta and Cucumber
Quotes excerpted with permission from the publisher, Wiley, from Cooking with Quinoa For Dummies® by Cheryl Forberg. Copyright © 2012
From: Chris | 4/7/13 at 3:17 pm
Funny because I've just recently read this book
Loved it because it had everything laid out simply, just like the name states
I run a blog about quinoa myself. It's worth checking out if you're looking for some free recipes and information about quinoa and how to prepare it. Make sure to check it out!
http://www.quinoanutrition.net
Thanks!
Chris