how-to

How To Select and Cut A Ripe Pineapple Video

March 14, 2012 by Veronica Grace 22 Comments

Pineapple is something many people are often afraid to buy whole in the store. They are used to the overly sweet pineapple chunks or rings you get in a can that you grew up on as a kid. But when they start eating healthier or going vegan they might pick one up and sigh “Where do I even start with this thing? It’s so big and prickly and I don’t know how to cut it properly!”.

Not all pineapples come with instructions on how to cut it either!

Fear not, here is a video demonstration I did in my kitchen to show you how I cut a pineapple and how to tell if your pineapple is sweet and ripe.

There are many many ways to cut and serve pineapple, this is just one of them.

Want More Delicious Raw Food Recipes and Insider Tips?

Check Out My Savory Raw Dinner Recipes!

Please click below to watch my video on youtube:
How To Cut and Select A Pineapple

I don’t always cut my pineapples meticulously, but this is the way to do it if you want to get the most out of your pineapple or make it look pretty for serving.

You can also use a pineapple slicer, but honestly I’ve just found them to be so messy and sometimes they shred the pineapple and/or don’t fit the pineapple and it’s either too big or too small for your pineapple. And at the end my counter is covered in pineapple juice and it’s very sticky when it dries!

If I’m in a rush, I will basically cut off all the sides of the pineapples and instead of cutting out the eyes at an angle I will just cut straight down and shave off more of the flesh until the eyes are gone. This is a little more wasteful, but sometimes our pineapples are so big that we don’t miss the little extra bits.

You can freeze any leftover pineapple in bags in the freezer, or use in fruit salad for the next few days, or to put in smoothies.

How Do I Know If My Pineapple Is Ripe?

The best way to check if your pineapple is ripe is to turn it upside down and smell the bottom of it and see if has a fragrant smell. Often the bottom or the whole pineapple will be a yellowy golden color. Although color is not the definitive guide to telling if a pineapple is ripe, I have found that yellow pineapples seem to be a bit sweeter and less acidic than hard green pineapples. And BTW pulling a leaf from the inner section of the pineapple is NOT an indication of ripeness. That means absolutely nothing! LOL.

How To Ripen a Pineapple?

Pineapples generally take about 2 years to grow and aren’t exactly a fruit, they are a bromeliad, and they have been bred to be edible. Pineapples ripen from the bottom and don’t really ripen much more once they’re picked. BUT there is still some enzyme activity going on and you can make your pineapple a little bit sweeter. Turn your pineapple upside down on your counter for a few days and the enzymes from the bottom of the pineapple will trickle down into the top of the pineapple and it will change your pineapple and make it a bit softer and sweeter all the way through. This is a trick I just learned and I thought it was so cool I’m going to do this from now on. Softer sweeter pineapples also seem to be less acidic so they won’t hurt your tongue as much after eating a few pieces.

What do you like to do with your fresh cut pineapple?

How To Sauté and Cook Without Oil, How To Cook Fat Free and Make Fat Free Vegan Salad Dressings

March 9, 2012 by Veronica Grace 13 Comments

How To Cook Without Oil

Cooking without oil and creating oil free recipes like salad dressings is pretty easy in most cases. It’s very easy to cook without olive oil. You can steam, boil, sauté (in water or vegetable broth) or bake food all without any added oils. Oil has 120 calories per tablespoon and is 100% fat. When you’re looking to cut a few calories in your diet and give your arteries (and waistline) a little break from things like butter, olive oil, cheese, etc this is a good way to cook.

Baking/Roasting Without Olive Oil

When you’re baking in the oven, not adding oil or cooking spray will just make your dish take a little bit longer to cook, but that’s about it. You can add a little water to your roasting pan if you are worried about burning, or turn the temperature down just a little and cook it for longer. For instance, you can bake Russet potatoes in the oven at 400 F/205 C for about an hour without any oil rubbed on their skin and they will cook just fine. It’s also less carcinogenic if you avoid cooking oils at very high temperatures. I roast things like squash, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, cauliflower and more in the oven without oil. Add a little water or vegetable broth to a roasting pan if you like, or use a little balsamic vinegar and water for oil free roasted Brussels sprouts, or roast your russet potatoes dry in the oven like I show you here.

In baked goods, substitute applesauce or mashed banana for any oils. Canned pumpkin works great too in certain recipes. In my vegan baked goods I add a 1 tbsp. ground chia or flax and 2 tbsp. of water to substitute for the eggs, and then I add applesauce for the amount of oil and I find that this helps give moisture and texture to whatever I am making. My Fat-Free Two Bite Brownies and Fat-Free Pumpkin Raisin Muffins will show you how to do this.

Sautéing/Cooking Onions Without Oil

Many people think you need oil to cook with over the stove. When you’re sautéing onions or garlic in a pan you can sweat them dry over medium heat, as long as it’s non stick. Doing this for 5-6 minutes should be just fine and you won’t have a problem with anything getting stuck. If you’re going to cook them for longer then you can add a little water or vegetable broth if necessary. The better the pan, the less stick you will have though. You can also use a ceramic pan.

Check out my recipe for Home Made Vegetable Broth that I use for sautéing my onions and garlic and soups:

Sautéing Onions And Garlic Without Oil Dry In A Pan Wok

This is how I sauté onions dry in a pan without olive oil. This is a great method for stir fries or starting sauces.

Sautéing Onions And Garlic Without Oil Dry In A Pan Wok

This is what my onions look like when they are done. They were dry sautéed in a non-stick pan over medium heat for 5-6 minutes and they caramelize themselves without oil!

Sautéing Onions and Garlic Without Oil In Vegetable Broth

Here’s how to sauté onions in a pot in vegetable broth for making soups or stews. Garlic and ginger can go in too.

It’s really easy! Just add a little more broth or water if you start running out of liquid.

For Making Oil Free Vegan Salad Dressings

Use things like water, lemon or vinegar, blended fruits or cucumber for the base of the dressing to give it liquid. Then add seasonings like sugar/dates/honey/agave, salt, pepper, fresh herbs, mustard etc to create an oil free dressing. (Make sure you add only 1-2 tsps of vinegar or lemon juice to start so it’s not too tangy, and then adjust.)

The best oil-free salad dressings will have at least 3 flavours. Sweet, tangy and salty. If you just use one flavour like orange juice or vinegar over a salad it’s going to be one dimensional and not as flavourful. If you’re trying to cover a large salad and eat a lot of greens, it’s better to make a dressing that is a little more flavourful and interesting to eat.

I find ripe ataulfo mangoes (bright yellow skinned) or strawberries and orange juice make a great base for fat free raw vegan salads dressings.

For creamy vegan salad dressings you can use silken tofu as the base instead of cream or milk. (Nut butters work too, but only add 1-2 tbsp as they are much higher in fat than tofu or almond milk.)

For tangy vegan salad dressings make sure you add some lemon, sweetener and a few seasonings to your dressing to pump up the flavour.

To thicken it up you can add psyllium husk or chia gel/chia seeds (and blend it in) or add some cornstarch and water and thicken your dressing over heat on the stove. Refrigerate the rest of your salad dressings. If they are raw use within 3 days, if they are made from non raw ingredients or cooked over the stove they will last longer.

—————–

There you have it! Cooking without oil and making oil free food is really easy! Did you think it would be complicated?

How To Cut And Prepare Leeks For Recipes

March 9, 2012 by Veronica Grace 1 Comment

Leeks are something many people have heard of, but have no idea how to use or what they taste like. You can use leeks just like you would onions in a recipe, they are part of the allium family. They have a nice mild creamy taste and are great in blended soups.

They usually come in sets of 3 from the grocery store and have big long green tops on them. You can slice off the top 3-4 inches and throw that away or save the tips to use in vegetable stock along with any other cleaned vegetable trimmings.

How To Cut and Trim Leeks For Sautéing

Step 1: Cut off the very top of the leeks and set aside.

How To Cut, Trim And Chop Leeks For Sautéing Or In Recipes

Step 2: Slice the leeks in half lengthwise.

How To Cut And Wash Leeks For Recipes

Step 3: Carefully wash in between each leaf of the leek. They usually have a lot of dirt trapped between the layers.

How To Cut And Chop Leeks For Sautéing and In Recipes

Step 4: Take off the large outer layers.

How To Cut And Chop Leeks For Sautéing and In Recipes

Slice off the dark green parts of the leeks and set those aside. You want to use the light green parts and the white parts only for your recipe.

How To Cut And Chop Leeks For Sautéing and In Recipes

Step 5: Slice the light green parts and white parts like you would slice celery.

Now you are ready to cook your leeks, just like you would cooked diced onion. Just sauté it in a pan or pot with some vegetable broth and when they are soft you can add the rest of your ingredients and continue cooking your dish.

How To Make Homemade Vegan Vegetable Stock Easily On The Stove Or In A Pressure Cooker Without Oil

March 9, 2012 by Veronica Grace 49 Comments

Homemade Vegan Vegetable Stock Broth Low Sodium Recipe

Oil-free vegetable stock is something most people don’t make, but it is pretty easy to do (aside from chopping the veggies) and it’s worth it because it’s fresh, tastes better and is cheaper than buying it if you cook like I do. I use my vegetable stock for sautéing onions and garlic in (instead of oil) and as a base for my (oil free) vegan soup recipes.

For my Low Fat Vegan Comfort Soups Recipe eBook I had to make A LOT of stock. Often the store bought stock is only 1 quart or 1 liter and often I needed more than that. It can cost up to $2.99 a pop and that can add up when you use stock as much as I do.

So once a week or maybe twice a week I’ll make some fresh vegetable stock in my pressure cooker. It’s a great way to use up some leftover carrots or celery and some herbs like thyme or parsley that you don’t need for any other recipes.

When compared to the store bought low sodium vegetable broths mine taste MUCH better and have a nice light flavour and a natural sweetness. I find the store bought ones are a little too strong and bitter and are not something you’d want to drink a cup of.

You can use homemade vegetable broth or stock for soup, sautéing, risotto and more. And this way you get to control the flavour and the amount of sodium in it.

So here are my recipes. I have one for a 9 cup recipe and a large one for a 14 cup recipe. Sometimes you just need a lot, and sometimes you just need a little.

Homemade Vegetable Broth/Stock Recipe (smaller recipe)

Yields about 9 cups/2.25 qts/~2.12 L of broth

Ingredients:

8 cups/2 quarts/~1.9 L of filtered water
2 large onions, diced
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
3 large stalks of celery, sliced
Mushroom stems and ends *optional
1/2 bunch of parsley and a few sprigs of fresh herbs like thyme
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp. whole peppercorns
Dash of salt *optional

Pressure Cooker Method:

1. Place the vegetables, water and seasonings into a pressure cooker. Fill with water and bring to high pressure and cook for 5-6 minutes until vegetables are very tender. Use the quick release method (putting in the sink and pouring water over the lid until it releases) and let it cool until you can open the lid.

2. Strain vegetables from broth in a large mesh strainer and use a ladle, nested measuring cup or bowl to press out the excess liquid from vegetables through the strainer to yield the most broth.

Stovetop Method:

1. Place vegetables, water and seasonings into a large pot and bring to a boil. When it’s boiling turn it down to low and simmer for an hour. Don’t let your vegetables overcook and completely fall apart, check on them after 45 minutes or so.

2. Strain vegetables from broth in a large mesh strainer and use a ladle, nested measuring cup or bowl to press out the excess liquid from vegetables through the strainer.

Additional Tips:

Use the broth right away or let it cool and store in a sealed container(s) in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can freeze any extra you won’t use in that time. Use in recipes or for daily sautéing for onions and garlic.
For the pressure cooker, I chop the vegetables a little smaller. For the stovetop you can cut them into bigger chunks and keep the garlic whole, as they will cook longer.

This recipe is really flexible, if I need more for a soup recipe I’ll just add a little more water and dilute it. When I’m making it, I will use what vegetables I have but the main important ones are onions, carrots and herbs. The point is you want the water to taste like vegetables and not like plain water and homemade broth gives the best flavor for soup.
You can also use any other vegetable tops or skins if you like, but leave out the celery leaves, as they can be too bitter. I suggest that the vegetable peels be organic if you do use them. You can also add leeks, green/spring onions, other root vegetables, already cooked beans etc. to add more depth to the flavor.

Things You Do Not Want To Add To Vegetable Broth

Don’t add cruciferous vegetables as they contain sulfur and can make the broth bitter and smell unpleasant. No kale, collards, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts or leafy greens aside from fresh herbs. You’d get more out of eating or juicing the greens than adding them to your broth. It won’t make it taste better for your recipes. Please do not add raw beans, grains or pasta to your vegetable broth either.

Homemade Vegan Vegetable Stock Broth Low Sodium Recipe

My stock is done cooking so I open the lid.

Straining Homemade Fresh Vegetable Stock Broth

I ladle it out into a strainer/colander that is over another pot or bowl.

Straining Homemade Fresh Vegetable Stock Broth

Pick up the strainer/colander filled with cooked vegetables and strain it.

Straining Homemade Fresh Vegetable Stock Broth

I push the juices out the veggies to get any extra broth.

Fresh Homemade Vegetable Stock Recipe

Now my vegetable broth/stock is ready to be used in my recipes!

Fresh Homemade Vegetable Stock Recipe

How about a cup of fresh vegetable broth?

Larger Vegetable Soup Stock Recipe

Yields 14 cups of broth

Ingredients:

12-13 cups/~3 qts./2.9 L of filtered water
2 large onions, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
8 large carrots, sliced
10 stalks of celery, sliced
Any other vegetable leftovers like the tops of leeks or ends of mushrooms
3 bay leaves
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp whole peppercorns

Pressure Cooker Method:

1. Place the vegetables, water and seasonings into a pressure cooker. Fill with water and bring to high pressure and cook for 5-6 minutes until vegetables are very tender. Use the quick release method (putting in the sink and pouring water over the lid until it releases) and let it cool until you can open the lid.

2. Strain vegetables from broth in a large mesh strainer and use a ladle, nested measuring cup or bowl to press out the excess liquid from vegetables through the strainer to yield the most broth.

Stovetop Method:

1. Place vegetables, water and seasonings into a large pot and bring to a boil. When it’s boiling turn it down to low and simmer for an hour. Don’t let your vegetables overcook and completely fall apart, check on them after 45 minutes or so.

2. Strain vegetables from broth in a large mesh strainer and use a ladle, nested measuring cup or bowl to press out the excess liquid from vegetables through the strainer.

How To Cut, Prepare and Cook An Artichoke For Recipes or Stuffed Artichokes

March 4, 2012 by Veronica Grace 8 Comments

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing

I have to admit that artichokes are something that always sounded weird and a little frightening to me at first.

Before I was vegan, I had never had an actual artichoke. I had tried Spinach Artichoke dip at Moxie’s before, but it’s filled with cream cheese, and let’s be honest, most vegetables covered in cream cheese probably taste good anyway. So this was not a good indication for me whether I would like them or not!

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing

The first time I ever had artichokes in their vegetable form was on one of Amy’s cheese-less pizzas and it was a new experience. I wasn’t sure I liked them at first.

I’ve tried marinated artichokes in oil and brine, and now steamed artichokes on their own and even in soup. I have to say I am a BIG fan of fresh made artichokes. The canned/jarred ones are seasoned a little too much and the ones in oil are just gross to me.

When you prepare them yourself they have this nice creamy taste (the artichoke heart) and you can do so many things with these delicious morsels it’s not even funny…

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing

So in case you’ve never tried an artichoke or were seriously intimidated by these beastly looking vegetables I want to show you how to cut and prepare them yourself.

If you’re just doing one or two for a snack or for stuffed artichokes, it’s not that much work. I did 4 and it took a little longer. Mostly because I had to keep photographing every step!

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing

I love how pretty the purple centre is.

How To Cut, Prepare and Cook An Artichoke

for Recipes or Making Stuffed Artichokes

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing

Step 1: Using a very sharp knife, cut the top point off of the artichoke. Get about the first 2 inches. These tips are prickly and you’re not going to eat it anyway.

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing

Step 2: Using a very sharp pair of scissors, cut off the pointy tips of each leaf all the way around on all the remaining tips. These are sharp and pokey and you don’t want them.

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing Purple Center

Step 3: Grasp the bottom of the artichoke in your hands and using your two thumbs, fan out the centre of the artichoke so that it is separated. The one on the right has been fanned out, the one on the left has not been.

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing Purple Center

(Close up.)

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing Purple Center Leaves

Step 4: If you want to make stuffed artichokes you can pull out the inner leaves that are light green with purple tips (Being careful not to poke yourself of course.) Go slowly one or two leaves at a time. (If you don’t care and are just going to cook the whole thing to eat it petal by petal, you can skip this step. It will just take longer to cook)

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing Center Of Artichoke

This is what it looks like when you start pulling the inner petals out. The inside part can be a little sharp.

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing Scooping Out Center Of Artichoke

Step 5: (If you’re pulling out the centre petals) Get a spoon and start scraping out the fuzzy “choke” of the artichoke. Make sure you get all the way around the sides. Some artichokes are easier or harder to clean. I had 3 easy and 1 hard one.

How To Cut And Prepare An Artichoke For Steaming Or Stuffing Stuffed Artichoke

Step 6: Now that your artichoke “heart” is revealed you want to dribble some fresh lemon or lime juice on it to keep it from oxidizing too badly and give it some flavour.

Chopping Off Stem Of Artichoke To Cook

Step 7: Slice off the bottom stem from the artichoke close to the root. You can discard, or cut off the hard green exterior and steam the light green/white interior to use in your recipe.

Steaming Artichokes In A Steamer Basket

Step 8: Steam or pressure cook your artichokes. Steam them for 20-30 minutes. Check on them after 15-20 minutes. It depends on the size of them and how hard they are as well. I pressure cooked mine. Because the inside choke was taken out they will cook MUCH faster than if you leave it in. So it’s up to you if you want to save on cooking time by doing this step or not. Pressure cook for 7-8 minutes just until tender. You don’t want your artichoke to fall apart.

What To Do With Steamed Artichokes?

When your artichokes are done you can let them cool and either fill them with dip or stuffing, or cut out the interior “hearts” to put on pizza, sandwiches, blend into soup etc. The leaves you can peel off one by one and put the inside portion into your mouth and scrape off the thin layer of tasty flesh. A lot of people like to dip these in mayo (I don’t do this) but you could make like a tahini or peanut dip or just eat them plain.

If you want to make a vegan spinach artichoke dip you can look for some Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese vegan cream cheese at Whole Foods or your local health food store. I haven’t made one yet, but I’m sure it would be good. I just try to stay away from the really fatty vegan dairy alternatives myself.

I used my artichokes for a Cream of Artichoke Soup that is in my Comfort Soups To Keep You Warm recipe ebook. It will be available soon, I’m just finishing writing the intro and doing the layout and metric conversions. I will let you know when it’s ready! None of the recipes in it are on the blog here, they are all secret so far…

Alternatively, if you have a recipe that calls for artichokes you can buy an 8 oz can of artichoke hearts in water or brine (skip the oily ones, even rinsing won’t get rid of the oil) or you can find frozen artichoke hearts at a lot of grocery stores.

How To Peel Ginger Quickly and Easily With A SPOON!

March 4, 2012 by Veronica Grace 7 Comments

So how do you peel ginger easily? This is a neat little trick that you may not know about. You can actually save all of your ginger by peeling it with a spoon instead of cutting it or paring it with a knife. It’s really easy and safe too. When you cut it with a knife you can loose a bunch of it and then it can be all uneven and choppy.

I am using this peeled ginger here to put in some celery-apple juice. It’s really good. Even juicing this much isn’t that strong when you juice a whole head of celery.

How To Peel Ginger Using a Spoon

How To Peel Ginger With A Spoon

Step 1: Get out a large soup spoon or something other than a narrow teaspoon. It should be metal, not plastic or you may snap it.

How To Peel Ginger With A Spoon

Step 2: Start scraping the outer peel off of the ginger with your spoon. This way it is safe and if you slip or have any weird nooks or crannies to get into you won’t cut yourself!

How To Peel Ginger With A Spoon

Go all the way around the ginger until all the skin is gone.

How To Peel Ginger With A Spoon

Wow that was easy! Now your ginger is ready to be used.

I know some people find chopping or mincing ginger regularly a pain so they do up a bunch and freeze it so that it’s ready to use. I don’t do this as my freezer is always jammed full of frozen fruit, but you an and then it’s ready to grate or use in your mini garlic chopper (after you let it sit on the counter for a bit first) and you can use it in recipes quickly.

Ginger is essential for Asian and Indian dishes, so I use it quite often. It’s also dirt cheap so I always make sure to have some in the fridge. It’s definitely an essential ingredient like onions and garlic for vegan recipes or even raw vegan salad dressings.

How To Roast Garlic In The Oven Without Oil: Fat Free Roasted Garlic

February 29, 2012 by Veronica Grace 20 Comments

Yes you can make roasted garlic without oil! There’s actually no real need to use oil when roasting garlic in the oven. When you add oil to oven baked foods it makes them cook faster and at a hotter temperature and the oil does retain a little moisture so they don’t dry out. But when you are putting your garlic in tin foil anyways to steam, it’s unnecessary. It might take a few more minutes to roast, but it will be calorie free and still delicious.

I’ve seen some peoples’ directions recommend a teaspoon or two of oil for each head of garlic! Holy calories! Let’s skip that shall we?

My roasted garlic turns out perfectly fine without any oil in my convection oven. Just watch!

How To Roast Garlic In The Oven Without Oil

Or Make Roasted Garlic Without Oil For Recipes

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 F / 205 C (or 375 F on a convection oven).

How To Roast Garlic In The Oven Without Oil For Roasted Garlic

Cut off the tops of the garlic cloves

Step 2: Slice off a good chunk off the top of the head of garlic. Make sure all of the cloves are exposed so you will be able to get them out. (It’s best to have garlic with no green sprouts in it, but mine had some as they sat for a while on the counter. I used them anyway.)

How To Roast Garlic In The Oven Without Oil For Roasted Garlic

Wrap the garlic cloves in tinfoil

Step 3: Wrap the garlic cloves individually in tinfoil and place on a baking sheet or in a muffin tin. If using a muffin tin you can add some water to the muffin holders you are using. I think this will help with the moisture of your garlic and help it cook faster. It seemed to cook faster for me than usual.

Step 4: Bake in the oven (when it’s up to temperature) for 35-45 minutes until the cloves are soft. They will be very hot, so you need to use oven mitts to squeeze them gently to see if they are done.

How To Roast Garlic In The Oven Without Oil For Roasted Garlic

Cool and gently unwrap to see the caramelized roasted garlic cloves inside

Step 5: Let the garlic cloves cool before touching. Unwrap the tinfoil.

How To Roast Garlic In The Oven Without Oil For Roasted Garlic

Squeeze out the roasted garlic for your recipe

Step 6: You can either squeeze each clove of garlic out one at a time (careful to not let hot garlic burn you, or slip out of the bottom) or you can peel the cloves and remove them one by one if you are stickler for maximizing your garlic output! How do you know if your roasted garlic is ready? It will be a golden brown color and be very soft inside. If it’s still white and not fully soft, it’s not ready yet.

Step 7: Your (oil-free) roasted garlic is ready to use in soups, mashed potatoes, dips, or just to spread on bread. Save any leftovers in a container in the fridge.

Enjoy!

How did you like my tutorial for how to roast garlic without oil?

How To Cook Quinoa Perfectly Every Time On The Stove Or In A Rice Cooker With Photos

January 23, 2012 by Veronica Grace 159 Comments

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

tPerfectly cooked fluffy white quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa) is a delicious low fat superfood grain (actually a pseudo cereal, it is not a grass like wheat is) that comes from South America and is closely related to beets, spinach and tumbleweeds, believe it or not! This is also why it is gluten free. Quinoa is not related to wheat and does not contain any gluten at all either.

Perfectly cooked quinoa is something you can achieve! I’ve eaten quinoa cooked by many different people and there is a world of difference in the enjoyability of quinoa if it is mushy and overcooked, or light and fluffy. Generally what you see at vegan potlucks are mushy overcooked quinoa dishes, while at vegetarian restaurants you get these nice chewy perfectly cooked separate quinoa granules.

The BIGGEST mistake people make when making quinoa is using a 2:1 water to quinoa ratio. Quinoa absorbs much less water than rice, so it is unnecessary to cook it in so much water. Trust me, your quinoa will turn out perfectly if you do it this way (see recipe below). If you insist on having wetter slightly mushier quinoa you may find this ok. But I like to have my quinoa be fluffier so it can absorb some of my sauce or it can be lightly sprinkled into salads or used as a base for a salad.

Once you know how to make quinoa, you will enjoy eating it regularly. It’s an easy replacement for rice or couscous as a side dish and much more nutritious.

How do you know if you’ve overcooked your quinoa? It will probably be very wet (a result of too much water) and will be mushy and not light and fluffy. Quinoa doesn’t absorb as much water as rice so adding too much water can result in mushy quinoa. It could also be sticky and burned on the bottom of yuor pot.

So mix it up!

Let’s get started and teach you how to cook quinoa perfectly. Below are the best quinoa cooking instructions!

How To Cook Quinoa Perfectly Every Time Tutorial

Makes about 6 cups of cooked quinoa (Perfect for dinner and then leftovers or use the extra in cold salads)

For this recipe you will need:

1 1/2 cups dry quinoa (white, or red quinoa)
1 1/2 cups water or vegetable broth (low sodium or homemade)
1 tsp of salt or Herbamare (if desired)
Fresh ground pepper to taste (if desired)
2-3 tbsp lemon juice or other seasonings like parsley flakes or Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute *optional

Tools:

Measuring Cup
Pot with a lid or a rice cooker. I enjoy using my Zojirushi rice cooker.

This method will ensure that your quinoa is light and fluffy and never soggy or overcooked. You can make up a big batch for dinner and save extra portions for the fridge or freezer so you can reheat it easily. Using less water (1:1 ratio instead of 2:1) achieves the best results for white or red quinoa. I’ll show you how to cook it on the stove first, and then you can scroll down to view the rice cooker directions. Note, for black quinoa, I found that it was a little crunchy. So I would recommend using 1.25:1 ratio of water to black quinoa. 1 1/4 cups water for 1 cup of black quinoa so it’s moister and softer. Use whatever quinoa you prefer or whatever is cheapest that you can find.

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

Fluffy black quinoa

How To Cook Quinoa On The Stove Top Directions:

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

soaking quinoa

Step 1: Soak quinoa in a large bowl for 15 minutes in cool water.

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

Rinsing quinoa

Step 2: Using a fine mesh strainer, drain and rinse your quinoa until the water is clear and it’s not foamy anymore. About a minute or two and then dump it into a pot.

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

(Stovetop Directions Follow – Scroll Down For Rice Cooker Directions)

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Step 3: Combine rinsed quinoa and water (use a 1:1 ratio) in a pot. Add seasonings. Turn on to medium heat.

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

Step 4: When the quinoa is simmering, cover it, reduce it to low heat and cook for 30-35 minutes.

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

Step 5: When all the water is absorbed remove the pot from heat. Let sit covered for 5 minutes to finish steaming.

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

(Finished quinoa after steaming)

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

Step 6: Fluff with a fork before serving.

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

Serve and refrigerate any leftovers for another dish or to sprinkle on salads.

How To Cook Quinoa In a Rice Cooker Directions:

I love my Zojirushi 5 ½ cup (dry) rice cooker. It can cook white rice, brown rice, sushi rice, porridge, steam vegetables and even bake cake!

I have owned many rice cookers over the years. And while the cheap $10 ones might be ok in a pinch, they fail at cooking most things other than plain white rice. If you’re interested in cooking whole grains like brown rice or steel cut oats a better quality rice cooker does wonders. Zojirushi makes a number of rice cookers from small personal ones to ones large enough to feed the whole family. There are different settings for white rice, brown rice, sushi rice, sticky rice, porridge and cake. You can also program your rice cooker the night before and fill it with water and steel cut oats for homemade oatmeal every morning. It also handles all the timing for you, so unlike the cheap rice cookers you don’t have to keep checking it and pressing the lever to continue cooking. It has a smart “fuzzy logic” computer inside that knows how long to cook each grain and only turns off when it’s done.

Step 1: Soak quinoa for 15 minutes in cool water.

Step 2: Using a fine mesh strainer, drain and rinse your quinoa until the water is clear and it’s not foamy. About a minute or two.

Step 3: Combine rinsed quinoa and water (use a 1:1 ratio) in rice cooker. Add seasonings if desired.

Step 4: Set to white rice setting and cook.

Step 5: When the cooking cycle is complete, let it steam for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Step 6: Serve with your favourite entree or vegetables.

Update! I just made red quinoa with the same stove-top instructions above (because I know some of you don’t have a rice cooker)

Red quinoa has a much more rich flavour and is more moist and chewier. I wouldn’t say that I prefer white or red more than each other, they just taste a little different. I will continue to make both. I think red is a little stickier so I wouldn’t use it for salads. I think white quinoa would still be the best if you want a tabouli or cold quinoa salad as the grains are individual.

How To Cook Quinoa Perfect Every Time On A Stove Or In A Rice Cooker

Fluffy red quinoa

Enjoy!

What do you think of this tutorial? What do you like to serve quinoa with?

How To Make Perfect Sushi Rice For Vegan Sushi Rolls With Photos!

January 8, 2012 by Veronica Grace 12 Comments

Sushi rice is called sumeshi in Japanese. It is essential to making sushi, and contrary to what you may think it is not just plain white rice that is used. It is cooked and then seasoned to have a tangy sweet taste.

This page will tell you how to make the perfect sushi rice for sushi. Check out my recipe for Vegan California Rolls when you’re done.

How To Make Perfect Sushi Rice With Step By Step Photo Instructions

To make this recipe you will need:

2 cups sushi rice (short grain)
2 cups filtered water
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp herbamare or salt (You can use more if you wish, but you’re going to dip the sushi in soy sauce anyways which is very salty)

Tools needed:

Fine mesh strainer or sieve
Rice paddle or wooden spoon
Large Wooden/Glass/Ceramic/Plastic bowl (not metal)

Step 1: Measure out 2 cups dried sushi rice (short grain white or brown rice. It must be short grain!) You can double if desired, but this will make enough sushi for at least 4 large rolls and a small roll or two. Enough for 2 adults for dinner, or two single lunches.

Step 2: Rinse your rice through a fine metal sieve until the water runs clear, OR soak in a large bowl of water and mix around by hand to get the excess starch off. Rinse and soak a few times until the water is clearer. This is important and will make your rice turn out better.

Step 3: (Optional) Let your rice soak for 30 minutes.

Step 4: Place rice and 2 cups water into rice cooker or pot. (If using more rice, always use a 1:1 (same) ratio of rice and water)

Rinsed sushi rice in rice cooker

Step 5: Rice cooker instructions: Set the white rice program and let it cook. My favourite rice cooker is my Zojirushi 5 1/2 cup rice cooker because it has settings for white rice, brown rice, mixed rice, porridge and cake. Yes you can even cook cake in this rice cooker! It’s wicked. Check it out. If fancy rice cookers aren’t of any use to you, check out this Hamilton Beach rice cooker (for $45 with free shipping) I use frequently when cooking at my mom’s house. It’s great too for basic rice and has never overcooked or burned the rice. I used to use those $10 rice cookers with just an on off button, but often times they would turn off before the rice was done, overheat and cause overcooked or crusty rice. If cooking for a family, I highly suggest getting a decent rice cooker to free you up from the stove and the guesswork of making perfect rice. When the rice is done cooking and the buzzer goes off, leave the rice for 10 minutes to let steam. Don’t open it and don’t touch it.

Stove top instructions: In a pot, place the rinsed rice and equal parts of water and bring to a boil. Stir the rice occasionally to prevent any grains from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once it reaches a boil, turn down the heat to medium low, cover with a lid and steam. Do NOT open the lid until the rice is done steaming. You will lose your moisture and heat and jeopardize your rice being cooked evenly. Use a clear glass lid if you can. The rice is done cooking when the water disappears, this happens between 8 and 10 minutes depending on the type of stove you have. Remove the rice from heat.

Perfectly cooked sushi rice

Step 6: Measure 3 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp granulated sugar and 1 tsp herbamare or salt. You can use more salt if you want, but really its not necessary if you’re going to be dipping your sushi in soy sauce which is super salty anyway.

Rice vinegar, sugar and herbamare (salt)

Step 7: Make sushi vinegar. Heat a small pot (not metal) over medium heat and add vinegar, sugar and herbamare (or salt). Stir.

Combine vinegar, sugar and salt in pot

Sushi vinegar is ready

When it is bubbling and everything is dissolved remove from heat and let cool.

Step 8: Remove rice from pot or rice cooker with a wooden spoon or that plastic rice scoop you have. You basically want to scrape the bottom and dump the rice in 1 or 2 strokes so that you don’t damage the sushi rice too much and mash it. Pour it out into a wooden, glass or plastic bowl. If you put it in a metal mixing bowl, you risk the chance of ruining the flavour when pouring vinegar on it and it reacting with the metal. Don’t do it. Only scoop out perfectly cooked rice, if any is stuck or undercooked, leave it in the pot.

Sushi rice removed from pot

Step 9: Gently cut into sushi rice with paddle to break up.

Perfect seasoned sushi rice

Step 10: Season sushi rice by drizzling sushi vinegar evenly across rice. Cut into rice gently again to combine and spread out the seasoning.

Let your perfect sushi rice cool off before making sushi. If it’s too warm it can stick to the sushi mat and be hard to work with. Now you are ready to prep your veggies or filling for sushi rolls!

How To Tell If A Banana Is Ripe With Pictures! (A Yellow Banana Is Not Ripe Enough)

October 23, 2011 by Veronica Grace 85 Comments

Low Fat Vegan Chef's Ripe Spotted Bananas

So you want to know how to tell if a banana is ripe and if the ones you have are ripe enough.

One of the most troubling things I find when promoting fresh fruits and vegetables to people is that they don’t understand that many fruits have to ripen before being eaten.

You cannot just assume you can simply pick the fruit up from the grocery store display, take it home and eat it right away like a frozen dinner, a box of pasta or a can of beans. (There are a few exceptions like apples and oranges.) As society gets more and more out of touch with fresh whole foods and the majority of people are unable to identify the ingredients they are eating in processed foods, they don’t know what fruits and vegetables are supposed to taste like in general, let alone when they are unripe, ripe or overripe. …