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Cooking Quinoa is pretty straight forward.  You use a ratio of 2 cups of water or your favorite stock to 1 cup of Quinoa.  Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and continue cooking covered until all of the water is absorbed or until the Quinoa is translucent and the germ ring is visible along the outside edge usually 10-15 minutes.

As a side note, although most of the processes used for commercial Quinoa remove most of the soapy saponins that coat the quinoa seeds, I still like to rinse them under cold water before cooking just to make sure there aren’t any residual bitter flavors that were left behind.

Although cooking quinoa is quite easy  I personally discovered that I am not a huge fan of quinoa by itself but would much rather prepare it is part of a dish.  Without a lot of thought you will be able to come up with many dishes that you can incorporate quinoa into.

I am a big fan of one pot meals so here is my favorite one pot Southwestern Quinoa Stew with Squash, Black Beans, and Corn recipe (unfortunately I don’t know where I acquired this recipe so I can’t give credit to the author, sorry).

Southwestern Quinoa Stew

1T olive oil

2 diced onions

1t dried oregano

2 diced garlic cloves

1 quart low sodium chicken stock (homemade is best)

1c quinoa

1t chipotle in adobo, mashed

1 package (10 oz.) frozen cooked winter squash

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed (or you can soak and cook your own)

1c frozen corn

1/3 cup diced roasted red bell pepper (I usually toss the whole thing in since I took the time to roast it)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

salt and black pepper to taste (at the end)

Method:

In a heavy 3 quart Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat.  Stir in the onion, oregano, and garlic, and cook for 10 seconds or so.

Add the broth and 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Add the quinoa and boil uncovered over medium high heat for 10 min.

Stir in the chipotle in adobo, and add the block of squash.  Turn the heat to high, cover, and continue cooking until you can break up the squash and stir it into the stew, 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the beans.  Reduce the heat to medium.

Continue cooking until there is no solid white dot of starch at the center of the quinoa, 1-3 minutes longer.  Stir in the corn, roasted red pepper, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook uncovered, just until the corn is defrosted another minute or so.

Ladle into soup bowls and add a bit of sour cream if you are so inclined.

Keep in mind that recipes are just guidelines, feel free to add or subtract items to suit your tastes.

Related Posts:

• Quinoa Nutrition, The Mother Of All Grains

Tags: cooking quinoa, quinoa, quinoa stew, southwestern quinoa stew