Quinoa. Amino acid rich wonder grain, heralded by healthy living types the world over as the answer to pretty much everything. The only trouble I find, is that it’s kind of a bitch to cook as the window between rock hard and granular mush is very slight indeed.
As a result, I have a load of quinoa in the kitchen on the side just hanging around because I can’t be bothered to cook it badly. Enter my new home sprouting project. We’ll try that then, quinoa sprouts, worth a go.
I’d like to have lots to write here, but it seems that the gods of complicated grains do not favour me this week. I soaked, I rinsed, I left in temperate climes without direct sunlight.
I returned home each night and awoke each morning, eager to see the little green shoots of emerging life and nutritional gold. There was nothing. Actually that’s not true because throughout the process my little sprouting jar was producing a massive and revolting smell. Something like old spilled beer and pub carpets. Appetizing stuff.
Having remained patient for almost a week and cultivated nothing more than an insidious odour, I have accepted failure on this occasion and abandoned jar.
I am not giving up however and will try again soon, though my next effort is going to be black beans.
But in a related aside, how do you pronounce quinoa?
Food. Boom. 