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Mexican Quinoa
Mexican Quinoa in a spelt tortilla
We love quinoa, and I use it a lot as an alternative to rice and other grains. So when I made a Mexican meal the other day I decided to use quinoa instead of rice in the Mexican Rice. It worked beautifully!
I cook quinoa in my Thermomix in one of three ways – in the bowl with liquids, a little like a risotto (method below); in the rice basket just like you would cook rice (see my Garlic Quinoa recipe); and steaming in the varoma just like you would steam couscous, on baking paper (soaked for a few hours first).
It’s best to soak quinoa before using it, as it is naturally coated with bitter tasting saponins, which are removed by soaking and rinsing. Toasting quinoa before cooking it is another way to remove the saponins – either in a dry frypan on the stove, or in the Thermomix as in the method below.
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Mexican Quinoa
Ingredients
Units
370g quinoa
1 small onion, halved
2 cloves garlic
1 carrot, quartered (opt)
30g extra virgin olive oil
500g tomato puree (or 100g tomato paste concentrate + 400g water)
750g chicken or veggie stock (or water + 2 Tbsp veggie stock concentrate)
fine sea salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
Instructions
1. Weigh quinoa into a Thermomix bowl and toast without oil for 10 min/Varoma/reverse/speed 1. Remove from the bowl and set aside.
2. Add onion, garlic and carrot to the bowl and chop 4 sec/speed 5.
3. Add oil and cook for 2 mins/100C/speed 1.
4. Add toasted quinoa and stir for 1 min/reverse/speed 1, until well coated in oil.
5. Add puree and stock, cook for 25-30 mins/100C/reverse/speed 1, or until liquid is mostly absorbed and quinoa is tender.
6. Remove the quinoa to a Thermoserver bowl or a bowl or container with a lid. Let the quinoa stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the remaining liquid is absorbed.
7. Serve hot with spelt or corn tortillas and salad for a complete meal, or as a side dish with Mexican food.
Mexican quinoa served in a spelt tortilla with salad and toum
(a kind of garlic aoli) or dairy free sour cream.
To see a short video clip on how to make spelt tortillas, go to my YouTube page.
Let me just say, THANK YOU. I tried your Mexican Quinoa tonight, and it restored my confidence in working with alternative grains. Now I want to swap out the rice I was going to have with another meal this week!
I was looking for somethig else but stumbled upon this blog, very interesting. Looks good, thanks for sharing.
i made this today .. just did a few adaptations since i can not use the tomato puree… and i had no chicken stock available 🙂 i used canned tomatos and l added water with some fresh lovage from the garden and it tasted great !
This was well received at a Mexican themed get together for my hubby’s work – thank you!
It’s also yummy cold with salad the next day 🙂
I must have done something wrong – I ended up with pink porridge – wet and gloppy. I chilled it and made patties, which I fried , but it was definitely not fluffy like quinoa should be . . . .
Hi, how much water would you use approx if you use the veg stock concentrate? thank you 🙂
I just made this for lunch and added 2 cobs of corn, black beans, habanero sauce, coriander and then juiced some fresh lime over the top before serving – delicious and super easy! Thanks for another great recipe Jo!!
Thanks for the recipe. Just wondering your thoughts on the idea of adding diced chicken at the same time u add the stock (step 5). Would the chicken cook well ?
That should work fine!