Quinoa - the risotto alternative
If you feel cooking risotto successfully is a daunting process, try quinoa instead. Not only is it one of the most nutritious grains around, it's also a breeze to turn into a dish to eat with meat or fish or cook up with vegetables for a vegetarian meal.
Serves 2 - 4
3/4 cup uncook quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or water
1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
generous grind of black pepper
salt to taste
Rinse and drain the quinoa. Dry toast it in a frying pan, tossing it with a large cooking spoon until some of the grains begin to hiss.
In a heavy bottomed saute pan, heat the oil, add the onion and stir over low heat until it begins to soften then add the garlic. Add the quinoa grains and stir then pour in the stock or water, cover and simmer over low heat until all the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Turn heat off and leave to rest 10 minutes before fluffing it up with a fork. Season to taste, fork the parsley through and the Parmesan if using.
To eat as a one-dish vegetarian meal, in a separate pan gently stir-fry vegetables of your choice in a little olive oil till gold and fold them into the quinoa. Equally sized dice of carrots, zucchini and celery are good, along with fine slices of onion.
It also makes a salad not unlike tabbouleh if you simply steam it then, when cooled, add chopped parsley and a lemony vinaigrette.
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