Even if your parents were fairly healthy, chances are you didn’t grow up eating quinoa.  And, because quinoa recipes weren’t on the menu you may have never learned how to cook quinoa.  Never fear!

Cooking quinoa is easy and there are many different ways that it can be accomplished.  I’ve been cooking quinoa for quite some time now, and I can tell you how to cook quinoa perfectly…every time!

Now, to cook quinoa the first thing you will need to do is consider what type of quinoa recipes you are making.  There are two basic ways that quinoa can be prepared.  The first is great when you are trying to cook a large amount of quinoa so that you can have it on hand to whip up your favorite quinoa burger or quinoa salad.  The second method is better suited to quinoa recipes that require you to cook quinoa with onions, peppers or spices.

First, there is one thing you must remember.  Quinoa needs to be rinsed prior to cooking.  The reason is that the seeds are covered in a bitter substance called saponin.  A natural pest repellant, saponin is so bitter that birds and other pest leave the quinoa alone as it grows.

To rinse quinoa, place it under a stream of water until the water runs clear.  This should take about 5 minutes, assuming you have not purchased pre-rinsed quinoa.  (In which case you will probably only need to rinse the quinoa for a minute or two.)

How to Cook Quinoa the Easy Way

The easiest way to cook quinoa is to simply boil it.  Place the quinoa in a saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook for 8 minutes.  Drain and return the quinoa to the warm saucepan.  Cover and allow to sit covered for 10 to 15 minutes.

How to Prepare Quinoa Perfectly

Now the above method works great and is super easy, but it is not the best method if you are going to be seasoning your quinoa as you cook it.  To get perfect quinoa every time, you will want to combine one part quinoa with 1.25 parts liquid.  I highly recommend you use something other than water. Broth, juice, milk all lend flavor as the quinoa cooks.

Place your liquid and rinsed quinoa in a saucepan.  Bring it to a simmer – which is just before a boil. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover.  Cook for 30 to 35 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to sit another 5 minutes.

As far as quinoa recipes go, I would have to say that quinoa burgers are among my favorite.    I especially like this quinoa burger recipe, because the flavor derived from the coriander, cumin and coconut oil is quite simply amazing!  For those of you who are trying to limit the amount of oil in your diet, these quinoa burgers can also be baked.

To bake these, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and bake them for 15 minutes.  Flip and bake for 5 minutes more.

To serve these quinoa burgers you have several options.  As with most quinoa recipes, they are great served with a salad.  I like to make an arugula salad and serve the burgers on top!

These are also good in a bun served like a traditional burger!  They hold up well, so they are perfect if you or someone you love is a vegetarian or vegan and wants an option for a grill out!

Quinoa, pronounced KEEN-wah, is an food that was a staple in the times of the ancient Incas.  The relied on it for its nutrient density, which allowed them to endure hard labor at high altitudes.  In addition to being a key part of their diets, the Incas revered quinoa as a sacred food.  Legend was that quinoa was left as a remains of a heavenly feast.  Each year the Incan rulers would begin the growing season with a ceremony where they sowed the first row of seeds with a golden trowel.  It is believed that quinoa was a key reason that the Incas were so fierce in battle.   Warriors would carry “war balls” with them as food made up of fats and quinoa.

During the Spanish rule, quinoa fell out of favor.  Not only did the Spaniards prefer rice, they also looked down on quinoa as an “Indian food”.  Seeing the importance it held to the Incas, they made growing quinoa a crime that was punishable by death.  After they burned the quinoa fields the only place where quinoa continued to grow was high in the upper mountains.

For many years, quinoa was a food that was only enjoyed by few, but all this changed.  In the 1980′s American importers began to gain interest in quinoa as a potential crop in the U.S.  Though it would be years before quinoa would reach near mainstream status, its popularity enjoyed steady growth.

Today, quinoa has an almost cult-like following.  As it was in ancient times, quinoa is valued for its nutritional value.

Most often you will hear quinoa be referred to as a whole grain or quinoa grain, but this is actually not accurate.  Quinoa is a seed whose proper classification is a pseduo grain.  Pseudo grains are seeds that are treated like grains in cooking.  They offer several advantages over traditional grains.

The advantages of quinoa nutrition over grains are:

• Higher in micronutrients
• Higher in protein – by volume quinoa is between 18% and 20% protein
• Quinoa is naturally gluten free
• Quinoa is a complete source of protein

There are a lot of reasons eating quinoa makes sense, but probably the reason that gets the most attention is the protein content.  We have all been raised to believe that the only good sources of protein is animal protein.  Even forgetting any ethical issues surrounding eating animals and factory farming, animal proteins have serious nutritional drawbacks.  They are high in fat, low in micro nutrients and they contain cholesterol.  Additionally, their are concerns regarding antibiotics and GMO feed.

Quinoa is the ideal alternative for those wishing to reduce or eliminate their consumption of meat.  Unlike most other plant based foods, quinoa is a complete protein.  It delivers a near perfect cocktail of amino acids, having all eight that we must get from our food.    According the the Food and Agriculture committee of the World Health Organization, the protein content in quinoa is equal to that found in dehydrated whole milk.

Quinoa recipes are not only easy to make, they are also quite delicious.  Cooking quinoa is an easy way to improve your diet!

I just love this fresh quinoa salad!  The orange citrus vinaigrette and fennel add a unique and special twist.  If you have not ever tried fennel, don’t be shy about giving it a shot.  It is slightly sweet and offers a nice crunch.  It is also loaded with fiber and a good source of both vitamin c and potassium.

Just be sure to slice the fennel thinly for best results.  I like to use a madoline, but a food processor works great too. (Of course, if you are old school, a knife and cutting board work just as well! )

This dish goes great with a side of seasoned flatbread! One of my favorite quinoa recipes!

Citrus Quinoa Salad with Fennel

Ingredients

1 cup of quinoa, rinsed

1 1/4 cups vegetable broth

1 T Olive Oil

1 T red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 orange

1/4 bulb fennel, thinly sliced

4 green onions

1/2 cup goat cheese

Instructions

1.  Combine quinoa and broth in a pot and bring to a simmer.  Reduce to low and cook covered until the liquid is absorbed, or about 35 mintes.

2.  Whisk together garlic, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

3.  Peal and separate orange over a bowl to catch the juices.Add juices to vinaigrette.  Chop the orange.

4.  Combine slightly cooled quinoa, organges and vinaigrette.  Stir in fennel and onions.  Top with goat cheese.

5.  Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Going on a picnic?  This is a great quinoa recipe to take along.  Not only can it be made ahead but it works well either chilled or at room temperature.  Plus, you don’t have to worry about a mayonnaise based salad dressing spoiling!

By the way, if you are looking for a twist on this recipe, you can substitute feta cheese for the goat cheese.  The results will be just as tasty!

This is a light and easy to make quinoa salad that is good enough to eat year round.  It proves that cooking quinoa can be easy and delicious. You can serve it right after preparing, but I like it better chilled for a few hours.  This is one of my new favorite quinoa recipes!

Salad:

16 oz boneless skinless chicken breast

¼ tsp sea salt

1 tsp olive oil or cooking spray

2 ¼ cups chicken broth

1 cup quinoa

½ cup diced yellow pepper

½ cup diced red pepper

½ cup diced artichoke hearts

2 – 4 oz feta cheese crumbles (depending on taste and health goals)

½ cup chopped and pitted kalamata olives

Dressing:

3 T extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp grated lemon rind

2 T lemon juice

1 T minced fresh basil

½ tsp thyme

1 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

½ tsp sea salt

4 – 5 cloves garlic

1. Combine all ingredients for dressing and set aside.
2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and heat olive oil to medium high heat.  Make sure you preheat your pan long enough or the chicken will not brown nicely!  Cook chicken for two minutes on each site.  Add 1 cup of chicken broth and cover.  Cook for 10 minutes or until done.  I usually turn mine off a few minutes before it is fully cooked, because the chicken will continue to cook while it cools.  Remove from liquid and allow to cool completely. Shred.
3. Rinse Quinoa.  Add 1 ¼ cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of quinoa to a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to the lowest setting and cover.  Cook for 30 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and cool.
4. Combine chicken, quinoa, yellow and red peppers, artichoke hearts, feta and olives.  Add dressing.  Chill.

This recipe was inspired by a barley salad in the January 2010 issue of Cooking Light.  You can see the original recipe here.  I like barley, but I am always on the lookout for anything that might become a good quinoa recipe.  I tried it and was not disappointed!  I made some adjustments to suit my own tastes and the end result is a delicious quinoa salad! My family is not big on leftovers, but we all will eat this quinoa salad left over.

If you are searching for quinoa recipes, you will be happy to know that quinoa is just about one of the healthiest foods that you can ever find!  In fact, NASA believes in quinoa so much that it added it to its list of potential crops for long term space missions.

It is no surprise – quinoa has a very impressive nutritional profile.  Quinoa provides a nice balance of both vegetable protein and slow burning carbohydrates.  What sets quinoa apart from grains is that the protein in quinoa is complete because it has all of the amino acids that your body needs to function.  Of particular importance is the presence of lysine.  This amino acid plays a key role in cellular repair, and is not found in grains. (Quinoa is a seed not a grain.) This makes quinoa a great food for anyone, especially vegans and vegetarians.

Quinoa is also mineral dense, and provides an abundance of vitamins.  It is a particularly rich source of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, potassium and B vitamins. It is low in cholesterol and sodium.

If you have food sensitivities, you will be happy to learn the quinoa is both wheat free and gluten free.  It is considered an excellent food for diabetics because the slow burning carbohydrates keep blood sugar levels stable.  This also makes quinoa a good food to eat when you are trying to lose weight because quinoa keeps you fuller longer than other grains.

One cup of cooked quinoa has just 222 calories and provides 8g of protein and 39 g of carbohydrates.

Most quinoa recipes you will find are fairly healthy.  This is especially true, since so many vegetarians make quinoa an important part of their diets.  While you can certainly add heavy cream sauces to quinoa, it really is not necessary for quinoa to taste great!  Cook it in broth or juice and add some vegetables and fresh herbs and you are well on your way to a delicious and healthy meal!

The best part – cooking quinoa is easy and the results are delicious!  I find that I like quinoa more than rice or any other grain.  My picky pre-school boys even get excited when I cook quinoa.  They like just about any quinoa recipe that I try.  While I sneak it in meatballs in place of breadcrumbs, they will eat it happily.  I even substitute it in macaroni and cheese and have not had any complaints!  They will even eat quinoa salad and red quinoa.

Starting your day by cooking quinoa just makes sense!  It is a complete protein, providing your body with all eight essential amino acids.  The slow burning carbohydrates will help you maintain stable energy levels and keep you full longer.  This nutrient dense seed is a great start to a healthy day!  This is one of my favorite quinoa recipes.  You can use white or red quinoa.

1 ½ cups Almond Milk (sweetened)

½ cup cooked quinoa (see basic quinoa recipes)

¾ cup steel oats or regular oatmeal

½ tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp mineral blend sea salt (such as celtic seas salt)

3 T sunflower Seeds

3 T pumpkin seeds

¼ cup dried cherries

1. Bring almond milk to a boil
2. Add oats, cinnamon and salt, simmer covered for 5 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients and cook another 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
4. Allow to sit covered for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Serve!

Quinoa Fact: Did you know that in the 1990’s when NASA set out to find the perfect grain for space missions, they pinpointed quinoa as their top choice?  Quinoa became a candidate crop for NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems.(CELSS) The idea is to find a healthy food that is capable of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and generate food for long term human missions.  NASA selected quinoa based on it’s high protein concentration and mineral density as well as the presence of the eight essential amino acids.  I don’t know about you, but if it is healthy enough for NASA to consider it for long term space missions, it is something I want in my diet.

Quinoa is actually not a grain at all though!   It is a seed!  This seed is a great source of the amino acid lysine, which is something that many vegetarians struggle to get enough of in their diet.  That is why a staple of many vegetarian diets is quinoa salad.

Do you have quinoa recipes that you would like to share?  We would love to hear from you.

Quinoa is very versatile and can be used in many different types of dishes. Quinoa salad is just as tasty as a quinoa breakfast recipe.  If you like cooking quinoa and want to try to develop your own quinoa recipes, here is a basic quinoa recipe to start with.  Use this as a starting point and add the ingredients you like.  You are sure to come up with your own quinoa recipes in no time!

Quinoa Recipe 1

1. Rinse Quinoa 3 – 4 minutes to remove the saponin from the surface.
2. Bring 1 part quinoa to 1.25 parts liquid to a simmer in a saucepan. You can use most any liquid.  Note: Some recipes call for quinoa in a 1:2 ratio.  While this can work in some recipes, I have found that cooking quinoa over low heat for longer and using less liquid leads to a lighter fluffier quinoa.  I like this better.  You can experiment with the other method in the recipe that follows.
3. Reduce heat and continue to cook covered for 20 – 25 minutes.
4. Allow to sit covered for another 5 minutes.

Quinoa Recipe 2

1. Rinse quinoa thoroughly
2. Bring 1 parts quinoa to 2 parts liquid to boil in a saucepan.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-18 minutes
4. Allow to sit covered for 5 minutes.

For variety, try red quinoa!

Liquid Suggestions:

water, chicken broth, vegetable broth, milk, almond milk, soy milk, apple juice, apple cider

Add in Suggestions:

Breakfast:

Oatmeal, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pecans, almonds, dried fruits, berries, yogurt, kefir, agave nectar

Lunch and Dinner

Meats: cooked turkey, chicken or sausage

Cheeses: feta, goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, cheddar, swiss

Other: sun dried tomatoes, tomatoes, pine nuts, cilantro, parsley, chives, roasted garlic, garlic, lemon juice, chipotle peppers, red peppers, green peppers, jalapenos, dried red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper

1 head garlic, roasted

2 tsp olive oil

2 red peppers, roasted (Or buy bottled roasted red peppers)

2 cups quinoa

4 cups broth

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp red pepper (cayenne)

1/8 tsp ground chipotle pepper

4 oz feta cheese

¼ cup toasted pine nuts

1 lb spicy turkey sausage, cooked(optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Separate the cloves in one head of garlic.  Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Cover with foil and roast for 45 minutes or until garlic is soft.  Allow to cool.  Once cool enough to handle squeeze garlic from cloves.
2. Turn oven on broil.  Place red peppers on a prepared pan close to the broiler.  Broil until black on all sides.  Place in a paper bag and allow to steam for 15 minutes.  Peel skin and chop.
3. Rinse quinoa for 3-4 minutes.  Place in sauce pan with broth and bring to a boil.  Add spices, garlic and red pepper.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until liquids are absorbed. If you are using turkey sausage, add during the last 5 minutes of cooking.  You know you are done cooking quinoa when the water has absorbed.
4. Remove from heat.  Stir in cheese and pine nuts.  Cover and let sit for an additional 5 minutes.  Serve.

Notes:  This is one of my favorite quinoa recipes.  It is important not to forget to rinse when cooking quinoa as this removes the exterior saponin that causes a bitter taste.  I have also added chicken to this quinoa recipe in place of the sausage, but I found the results rather bland.  Red quinoa works just as well as white quinoa in this recipe.

Short on time?  Try starting with bottled roasted red peppers and use 3 cloves of minced garlic in place of the roasted garlic.  Add a little olive oil and sauté for a minute or two before you add the quinoa.  Toast the quinoa with the garlic and red peppers for a minute or two before you add the broth.

Do you have favorite quinoa recipes?  We would love to hear from you!