I have been in love with Quinoa for quite some time now. The times I made it a part of my diet I saw phenomenal improvements in my personal yoga practice and overall alertness and activity levels. Quinoa can be a cool option if you plan to make gluten free or vegan options as a part of your food intake. If you dont know what Quinoa is just google it up and come back here.
But here’s the drawback. Most of the recipes that I saw with Quinoa were very salad based- Quinoa Taboulleh and its likes. Don’t get me wrong they are fabulous but how many times can you muster up the courage to finely chop those veges and herbs and make that awesome salad just for yourself? Because lets be honest, I don’t know about yours, but my husband and kiddo have stopped trusting my statements where I use “healthy” and “tasty” together.
Anyways, coming back to -Qui”yes”a. These are basically Quinoa hacks that I have tried and they seem to work well. The basic Quinoa cooking recipe is that you just boil it with double the amount of water in a covered utensil just like our rice. Most of these hacks are to be tried with pre-cooked Quinoa.
So, here they go-
1) “Khichdi” –
Typically use an easy to cook daal like “masoor” or “mung”. Keep an eye on the water if you are cooking them together. I would suggest cooking the Quinoa and “dal” separaetly. Use our good old “desi” masals for a familiar taste and load it up with salad.
2)”Pulav”-
An off-take from the first one. This time instead of “Dal” add your “sabzi of the day”. Don’t forget to share!!!
3)Cutlet-
Just mash up potatoes and all other veges that you like in your cutlets and try it out.
4) “Kheer”-
This is real cool!! take your pre-cooked Quinoa and tumble it into hot or cold milk as per your mood, weather or preference and enjoy.
5)Quinoa in Yogurt-
Just like the “Kheer” try out cooked Quinoa with Yogurt. You can add your fruits, honey and mint with a dash of lemon in this one. You can also play with coconut or almond milk or add nuts. Basically get creative! and don’t be scared to try out new things.
That’s all that I have tried till date. Do you have a “desi” Quinoa recipe too?? I would love to hear about it. Stay happy and healthy.
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