Friday, November 07, 2008

Quinoa Shines in the New York Times but I am The Quinoa Queen

I usually wear a large button on my chef's jacket that reads, "What's Quinoa?" And I have to say that I am probably responsible for teaching hundreds, if not thousands, of people how to cook quinoa. So, I heard that one of my favorite cookbook authors, Martha Rose Shulman, had an article in the New York Times about quinoa. I completely admire Martha for writing about quinoa but I don't think that her recipe is the best way to cook the grain. She likes to cook it in a lot of water and then drain it. I prefer to put in the right amount of water to start and keep all the nutrition in the grain. The recipe is featured in my cookbook The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment.

And it is a highly digestible grain packed with nutrients, especially protein. If you eat quinoa, you will feel great. Or at least I do.

Find the article on the New York Times website from November 3, 2008. I'd put the URL in for you but I am having a bad computer day so you have to look for yourself.

I have recently posted a You Tube video of me showing you how to pressure cook quinoa -- 5 minutes at pressure. It will hopefully keep me reigning as The Quinoa Queen.

5 comments:

SolarSoda said...

I just found you today, looking for ... something, I forget what just now, hee. I really like your style and I appreciate your steadfast assertions on how to do things. As far as cooking (anything) goes, I am a relative noob. I am also new to the vegetarian/vegan world; I lean more towards being vegan, myself. Sites like yours get lots of traffic from me, so keep up the great work!

I've never cooked quinoa before so I'm excited to try your tips.

SolarSoda said...

Oh one more thing: when shopping for a pressure cooker what do you recommend? Do you "get what you pay for"? Does brand matter? Aluminum or stainless steel?

Thanks for the tips!

jenna said...

i also read the NYT article re: quinoa. thanks for the reminder that more of the nutrients remain intact using the right amount of cooking water. looking forward to reading more from you, i signed up for email RSS!

The Veggie Queen said...

Sarah,

So sorry for the long delay in responding to your pressure cooker question. You do often get what you pay for. Stick with stainless steel and get a spring-valve cooker not a jiggle-top or modified jiggle top. No strict rule here but usually if they cost more than $50, they are a spring-valve. You can alway email me directly at jill@theveggiequeen.com if you have questions. I am a real, live person who answers.

SolarSoda said...

Hi Jill!

Thanks so much for responding! Better late than never, I say, so no worries. :) Thanks for the tip, I can't say I am able to run out and buy a pressure cooker right now, but I feel better about it now that I'm armed with the right information. Now I know what to look for.

Thanks for your help!
Sarah