Quinoa for garnish

Quinoa is the seed of a South American plant, popularly called “rice quinoa”. This product resembles cereal and is almost as well prepared, so it is often called cereal. It has a slightly grassy aroma with a nutty flavor. Quinoa is considered a superfood, as these grains contain vitamins and other beneficial substances in a concentrated form. At the same time, the product does not contain gluten, which makes it possible for people suffering from gluten intolerance to use it. From it you can make soups, salads, casseroles, cereals and other dishes that can be served as an independent dish or serve as an addition to meat or fish. If you know how to cook quinoa for a side dish, you can significantly enrich the family diet and diversify it.

Cooking Features

The process of cooking quinoa for serving as a side dish is similar to the technology of cooking crumbly porridge from buckwheat or rice. But still this product has features that make its cooking technology not quite identical to the cooking of cereals. Without knowledge of these important nuances, the hostess is unlikely to be able to get the result she hopes for.

• Quinoa contains substances that give it bitterness, and in its shell there are saponins that can lead to intoxication of the body. Therefore, before the cooked rice quinoa grains must be soaked for at least 2 hours. Most often, the product is soaked overnight or in the morning, if you are going to cook it in the evening.
• After soaking, quinoa is thoroughly washed and dried, after which it is lightly fried in oil or simply heated in a dry frying pan. This manipulation allows to reveal the nut flavor, which makes the ready quinoa dish much more tasty.
• It takes a lot of time to soak the quinoa, but then it is prepared very quickly after that. Cooking time depends on the type of quinoa and ranges between 15 and 20 minutes when cooked in a saucepan. White grains need to be boiled 15 minutes after boiling water, red - 17-18 minutes, black - 20 minutes. In the quinoa cooker, cook for 20-30 minutes depending on the variety of rice quinoa.
• To get the expected result, you need to know the correct proportions of cereals and water. When cooking quinoa for garnish, it is poured with liquid in a 1: 2 ratio, if you focus on volume. If the product is prepared in a slow cooker, then the ratio is recommended to another: 1: 2, 5 or even 1: 3, since quinoa is boiling soft.
• Quinoa's ability to greatly increase in volume must be taken into account when cooking porridge or another dish from it. A serving of quinoa garnish will be enough for 2 tablespoons of cereal, from 100 g of the product it can be made for a family of 3-4 people. 100 g of quinoa will take about half a glass in volume of 0.25 l.

Quinoa goes well with all vegetables, especially with onions, garlic, tomatoes and tomatoes. It can also be cooked with corn, green peas, green beans and corn beans, mushrooms. All this makes it possible to cook side dishes of rice quinoa, which vary greatly in taste.

Simple Quinoa Garnish Recipe

Calorie dishes: 736 kcal, per 100 g: 105 kcal.

Composition:

• quinoa - 0, 2 kg;
• water - 0, 5 l;
• salt, seasonings, fresh herbs - to taste.

Preparation Method:

• Rinse the quinoa, put in a spacious bowl, cover with water, leave for 2-3 hours or even longer. Rinse it again.
• In a saucepan with a capacity of at least 1, 5 l, boil water, pour quinoa into it, add salt and seasonings.
• Cook quinoa on low heat for 15-20 minutes depending on its type.
• Finely chop the greens, add it to the quinoa, mix the porridge.
• Let the dish stand under the lid for 10-15 minutes, so that quinoa is saturated with the aroma of greenery that will emphasize its unique taste.

The water in this recipe can be replaced with broth, then the quinoa garnish will turn out even more tasty and fragrant.

Garnish from quinoa in a multicooker

Caloric value of the dish: 1149 kcal, per 100 g: 116 kcal.

Composition:

• quinoa - 0, 2 kg;
• water - 0, 65 l;
• onions - 100 g;
• garlic - 1 clove;
• refined vegetable oil - 40 ml;
• salt, turmeric - to taste.

Preparation Method:

• Rinse the quinoa, soak it in cool water for several hours, rinse again and always dry it. If this is not done, during the subsequent roasting the quinoa will gather into lumps, which will make the taste of the finished side dish not too pleasant.
• Free the onions from the peel, peel the garlic. Finely chop them.
• Pour oil into the multicooker bowl.
• Turn on the unit by selecting the “Frying” program. If there is no such program in your device, replace it with the Baking program.
• After half a minute, place the vegetables in the boiling oil, fry them until the onions start to get a golden hue.
• Put quinoa in a multicooker and sprinkle it with turmeric. Fry food all together for 2-3 minutes.
• Separately boil the water, fill it with food in the bowl of the multicooker. Salt them.
• Lower the multicooker lid and change the previous program to the one that is used for cooking cereals. In different devices, it is called differently. Most often, manufacturers call this program “Rice”, “Buckwheat”, “Porridge”, “Krupa”, “Plov”. Set the timer, if required, to 30 minutes.

It remains to wait for the program to complete, and it will be possible to put quinoa on plates, next to it lay the main course and serve lunch to the table.

Quinoa in tomato sauce garnish

Calorie dishes: 1016 kcal, per 100 g: 100 kcal.

Composition:

• quinoa - 0, 2 kg;
• tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
• salt, seasonings - to taste;
• refined vegetable oil - 20 ml;
• water - how much will leave.

Preparation Method:

• Prepare the quinoa by soaking it in clean water, rinsing and drying.
• Dip the tomatoes with boiling water, peel, cut into cubes and turn into a smooth mashed potatoes using a blender.
• Dissolve tomato puree with hot boiled water so that the volume of liquid reaches 0.6 l. Add salt and seasonings, mix.
• Heat the oil in a deep frying pan. Put quinoa in it and fry it for 4-5 minutes.
• Pour the quinoa in tomato sauce, wait until it boils.
• Reduce heat and simmer quinoa in tomato sauce until tender. It will take about 15 minutes.

A garnish made from quinoa according to this recipe turns out to be appetizing and tasty, suitable for any dish.

Quinoa porridge with vegetables for garnish

Calorie dishes: 1463 kcal, per 100 g: 100 kcal.

Composition:

• quinoa - 0, 2 kg;
• zucchini - 0, 4 kg;
• carrots - 100 g;
• onions - 100 g;
• celery stalks - 100 g;
• refined vegetable oil - 60 ml;
• water - 0, 5 l;
• salt, spices - to taste.

Preparation Method:

• Quinoa soak for several hours, rinse.
• Boil water in a saucepan, add salt.
• Put quinoa in boiling water, wait until the liquid boils again, and note the time. Cooking quinoa needs 15-20 minutes.
• Remove the finished quinoa from the stove, cover and wrap so that it does not cool.
• Wash zucchini. Pat dry with a napkin. If the vegetables are ripe, peel them, cut them in half and remove the seeds with a spoon.
• Cut the zucchini into cubes about 1 cm in size.
• Scrape, wash carrots, blot them with a towel and chop them in a grater with large holes.
• Free the onions from the husk, cut into small pieces.
• Wash celery stalks, chop them finely.
• Heat the oil in a deep frying pan, put onions and carrots in it. Fry them until the onions are golden in color.
• Add the remaining vegetables. Roast them until the zucchini is lightly browned.
• Cover the pan with a lid, reduce heat and simmer vegetables until tender. So that they are not burnt, you can add some water to the pan.
• Put the prepared vegetables in a saucepan with quinoa, mix.

The dish prepared according to the above recipe can be served not only as a side dish, but also as an independent dish.

Quinoa with vegetables and a green pot in a slow cooker

Calorie dishes: 1416 kcal, per 100 g: 98 kcal.

Composition:

• quinoa - 0, 2 kg;
• water or broth - 0, 6 l;
• refined vegetable oil - 40 ml;
• green peas - 100 g;
• green beans - 100 g;
• carrots - 100 g;
• onions - 100 g;
• sweet pepper - 0, 2 kg;
• salt, spices - to taste.

Preparation Method:

• Prepare the quinoa. It should be washed, soaked in clean water for at least 2 hours and rinsed again.
• Wash vegetables.
• Remove the seeds from the pepper, cut it into small squares.
• Onion, freeing from the husk, cut into small cubes.
• Chop peeled carrots on a coarse grater.
• Cut the beans into 2 cm pieces.
• Pour oil into the multicooker bowl. Start the device in cooking or baking mode.
• Put onions and carrots in a multicooker container, after 5 minutes add pepper, beans and green peas to them. After another 5 minutes, add the quinoa and cover with water or broth.
• Switch the multicooker to the porridge cooking mode. Set the timer for half an hour.

Before serving, the dish remains mixed and laid out on plates. It will be a great addition to meat and poultry.

Quinoa - one of the most useful products, but only with proper preparation. If the cooking technology of rice quinoa is broken, it will not be a dietary dish, but a real poison. Properly cooked quinoa can serve as a good side dish for meat or fish.