“Why don’t you write about quinoa,” one of my friends suggested. Great idea, I thought, but I have no idea how to cook the stuff. So about a month ago I bought a pack of white quinoa (there’s red, white and brown to choose from) and it languished in my pantry until two days ago. This is the story of how not to cook it…

Follow the instructions on the pack – that’s a good start, I thought. So I mixed a cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water, according to the instructions, and simmered it until the water was absorbed – similar to cooking rice. I ended up with a gluggy beige mess! Then I tossed it, rather heavily, with roast pumpkin, roast beetroot, feta cheese, cucumber and tomato and served it to my family.  It was certainly not a good food combination but they gallantly tried it. Needless to say they didn’t ask for seconds – and we all had Weetbix for dessert!

The next day I went out to lunch at Richmond Road Cafe – a fantastic cafe in Grey Lynn, Auckland. On the menu was Chicken Quinoa Salad. I later found out that it’s one of the most popular dishes on the menu. Here was my chance to experience quinoa as it should be – and it was great! Red and white quinoa mixed with just a few almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and cranberries, and served with slices of delicately cooked chicken. It was subtle, delicious and not a hint of glugginess!

I just had to ask the head chef how she did it. The lunch rush was over and Sharna Pito, head chef at the cafe, kindly chatted to me about how to cook quinoa. “Cook it like pasta,” she explained. “Lots of boiling water, lightly salted. A cup should take about 4-5 minutes. Drain it well and it’s ready to use.” So that explains why mine hadn’t worked. And what about flavours to put with it? “I think nuts, seeds and dried fruit work really well with quinoa,” Sharna told me. “And a light vinaigrette dressing using citrus juice or white wine vinegar. Balsamic is far too strong for it.”

Fantastic! A five-minute chat with an obliging expert has saved me hours of quinoa cooking disasters. I can’t wait to try it out in some summer salads… or perhaps I’ll just pop back to Richmond Road Cafe for Sharna’s latest quinoa creation, and a glass of their ginger, lemon and elderflower tea – heaven!

Related:

Quinoa: A Healthful Alternative to Rice – Ingredient swap – Revolution Health

Breakfast quinoa with clementines, sour cherries and pecans

Black quinoa salad — Salade de quinoa noir

Quinoa Bananna Bread recipe