The standard way to cook quinoa is to cook in in boiling water.Instead of cooking in the traditional way you replace this method with doing it in your microwave. I used a 700 watt microwave oven on full power to prepare these instructions. Check the power of your microwave and increase or reduce the times accordingly.
Step one
Measure out one cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water. You can use any size of cup as long as you add double the amount of water.
Step two
Rinse the quinoa under cold water for half a minute to remove any impurities.
Step three
Put the water and the quinoa into a microwaveable dish and cover. Put the dish with the water and quinoa into your micro oven and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove it from your microwave and allow to rest for 1 minute. Gently mix the mixture up a bit and then return it to the micro oven for a second cooking period of 3 minutes. The quinoa needs to stand on the kitchen counter for 2 or 3 minutes to finish cooking.
Note: Using this method the water doesn’t always fully absorb into the quinoa and you will have to drain it before serving.
You can now serve and enjoy your quinoa. The only difference I have observed in cooking quinoa in a microwave as opposed to cooking it the standard way is that is expands very slightly more and is a bit softer to the touch. The superb taste of quinoa is still there and it is easily used in all your best recipes.
The simplest thing to do with quinoa is to add it as a side dish to a main meal instead of potatoes, rice or cous cous. Just serve it on the plate instead. The quinoa really works best however in salads and many stir fry dishes. This is where it really comes into its own and prooves to be a versatile addition to your kithcen larder,
