I am well aware that quinoa is a protein packed grain that is a staple ingredient for those wanting to stick to a healthy plant-based diet. The problem with quinoa however is that it is so tricky to cook. Leave it too long and it becomes a soggy, tasteless puree capable of putting off even the most hardcore green foodie. And as we all know, in order to stick to a healthy diet it has got to be both tasty and easy to prepare, otherwise you’ll be ordering take away curry before long. Therefore a top tip is to cook a batch at the beginning of the week and keep in an airtight container in the fridge, ready to add to any salad or main.  You want to avoid cooking this grain from scratch on a daily basis as it is time consuming and can leave room for error. Here is how you make it.

Perfectly cooked quinoa (from It’s all good by Gwyneth Paltrow)

Makes 3 cups

1 cup quinoa

1 3/4 cup

Coarse sea salt

Rinse quinoa thoroughly in a fine meshed strainer. Place in a pot with a big pinch of sea salt and cover. Cook until all liquid has been absorbed which will take about 12 – 15 minutes. Place a paper towel between pot and lid and let it sit for at least 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork. Voila!

A variation to this theme comes from the excellent green food blogger http://www.delisciouslyella.com who adds 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, a pinch of dried herbs to the water at the beginning of the cooking process and adds 2 tsp of tahini at the end, making it a creamier version which is really yummy with leafy green vegetables. Enjoy x