As a quinoa enthusiast and author I have come to the conclusion that I knew all there was to know about preparing it.
I was proved wrong over the weekend by what happened most unexpectedly in my fridge at home. I have taken recently to eating quinoa raw by soaking it for 8 hours and including it in salads and stir fry dishes. This weekend I had far too much prepared for my meal so I put the remainder in the fridge. It stayed there overnight.
The following day I thought I would use the grains up in a stir fry dish for dinner. When I took the quinoa out of the fridge it had sprouted perfectly. In fact the sprouts were better and bigger than the ones I had previously done in a proper sprouting unit I have.
I have now abandoned the method I have been using for 2 years in favour of the following method for sprouting quinoa.
Sprouting Quinoa Grains - Method 2
Rinse the required amount of quinoa in a sieve.
Immerse in water for 8 hours
Rinse once more
Place the soaked quinoa in a bowl in the fridge for about 12 hours
The grains will have sprouted with long thin tails. The grains can be combined with salad ingredients just as other types of sprouts. They can also be thrown into a stir fry dish with courgettes, mushrooms and other vegetables of your choice.
The tails are bigger and longer than those I have had in my sprouting unit and they seem to taste better. To top it all this is half the time it use to take using the other method.
I have had very consistent results with white/cream grains so far. I am now going to experiment with red quinoa although I am pretty sure they will work just as well. Yet again I am surprised at the versatility of this fantastic grain.