“Mexican” Quinoa in the rice cooker? Yes.

I am not an overly scheduled person. I can’t handle a full calendar – that’s what college was for, right? But my son has a reading group at the library on Wednesday afternoons that goes right up to 5pm and my husband has meetings at 6:30. Soooo, if at all possible, I like to have dinner waiting for me when we get home to keep the yelling to a minimum.

I got creative this afternoon. My rice cooker (similar to this one) is very smart and can cook rice 6 different ways. But I don’t understand it very well and the instructions aren’t all that helpful. In fact it came with two special measuring cups for different uses that hold the exact same amount – explain that to me. But I do know how to use the timer (that sings “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to my daughter’s delight) so I wanted to have something ready when we got home.

Nearly every recipe online for Mexican rice in a rice cooker calls for white rice, not what I wanted and besides, this was for our standard burrito/wraps and we like quinoa better anyway. Though this time I wanted something with more heft than plain quinoa.

Knowing that quinoa and white rice take about the same amount of time to cook made this a more universal recipe, meaning any rice cooker should work. All I needed were the ingredients and a plan – I had the former and came up with the latter. And I’d say it worked since all three kids, the Matt, and I loved it.

Mexican Quinoa in a rice cooker

Ingredients:

2 ¼ c. water
1 c. quinoa, rinsed thoroughly
½ c. frozen corn
½ medium onion, diced
1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced or 1-2 t. garlic powder
3 T. tomato paste
1 T. dried green chiles or 2 T. fresh or canned, keeping seeds for more heat
1 T. Veggie powder or 1 t. vegetable Better Than Bouillon
1 – 2 t. salt (or to taste)
1 t. cumin
Juice of one lime
Cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

Add all ingredients except lime juice to the rice cooker and cook (or set the timer on your rice cooker to be done when you get home!). As soon as it’s done, fluff it up and stir in the lime juice. Enjoy as is, or use for topping your burritos or tacos or salads.