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. Different microwave ovens will need longer or shorter cooking times to get the right results.
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. Take out of the oven and let it stand 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. Once this is done you must stand the mix on the side for a few minutes so that it can complete the cooking process.
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 quinoa still tastes great and carries its distinctive flavour and feel. The crubchy tails also appear in the same way.
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. Quinoa is better in some situations than others and in particlular it works well with stir fry dishes and salads. This is where it really comes into its own and prooves to be a versatile addition to your kithcen larder,