Prep time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yields: 4 serves

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water or vegetable stock
• seasonings to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse quinoa thoroughly with water before cooking.
2. Combine quinoa and liquid in a saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook for 15 minutes, stirring occassionally, or until all of the liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender.
4. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes covered; fluff with a fork.
5. Season as you like.

Notes:

• Basic rule of thumb: Take the amount of cooked quinoa called for in a recipe and halve that amount in raw grain. Double the raw grain for the amount of liquid you will need to cook. Example: if the recipe calls for 2 cups of cooked quinoa, take 1 cup of raw grain and 2 cups of liquid to make 2 cups of cooked quinoa.
• Rinse thoroughly with water before cooking to remove the toxic bitter coating, called saponin.
• Quinoa stores quite well. Prepare extra batches and store them in the fridge for 2-3 days and use in various dishes for easy access and healthy food on the go.
• For a delicious toasted flavour, dry roast for 5 minutes in the saucepan before adding liquid.
• Quinoa has a fine, fluffy texture very similar to other fine grains like bulgur wheat and cous cous. It makes a great substitute in dishes like tabouli and cous cous recipes + it’s gluten free!
• Add your favourite herbs, peppers and tomato for a healthy dish rich in protein and nutrients.
• Add to salads, or have it for breakfast with nut milk, fruit and nuts.