hey it's Alex and Sonja from a couple cooks and welcome to our kitchen have you ever wondered how to cook quinoa perfectly every wonder I know really actually and I guess that you probably have too today we're teaming up with Aldi to show you the perfect way to cook quinoa and then we're gonna use that quinoa in a delicious weeknight recipe it's our loaded quinoa tacos all right let's get started with the standard quinoa method that we use for all types of recipes that use quinoa after that we'll show you how to up the flavor for these quinoa tacos there's a lot of debate out there so do you rinse should you not rent should we be rinsing aquila well we have found that rinsing the quinoa does help to reduce some bitterness these days you can find a lot of pre-rinsed brands of quinoa but we say go ahead rinse it it also helps with the texture when it's cooked so no matter what it says on the package rinse that keema so rinse 1 cup quinoa and then throw it into a saucepan with 2 cups of water in 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt bring that all up to a boil and then once it's boiling you cover it and keep it at a simmer set your timer for 15 minutes and during that time I like to check back just to make sure it's at a slow and steady simmer alright so 15 minutes is up how do I know if it's done so to check if it's done you take off the top and put a fork into the quinoa and see if there's any water left over if there is water set your timer another few minutes and cook until all the water is gone it can range between 15 and 20 minutes usually our quinoa takes about 17 minutes then once it's done still don't stir don't stir no hard I just want to stir it turn off the heat and let it steam with the top on for about 5 minutes this helps it to get nice and fluffy fluffy quinoa is exactly what you're looking for so that was our standard quinoa but Alex do you wanna step up your quinoa I just want to take it to the next level I mean it's like you know new year new resolution I want to step up my quinoa something a little bit of sarcasm there but I'm gonna keep so we have a few tips for you to step up the flavor of your quinoa first of all is toasting it in a dry pan before you actually cook it so this brings out some really toasty nutty flavor in the quinoa all right our second tip for next level quinoa is even simpler all you do is use veggie broth instead of water when you're cooking it it adds a really savory flavor your quinoa will taste great there's no reason not to do it so just put the veggie broth in there instead of water if you're using the quinoa on any sort of savory application alright so we used those two tips to bring you our very favorite new weeknight recipe is called loaded keno a taco alright the quinoa is simmering so we have like 15 or 20 minutes to assemble our toppings and you don't have to be too strict about what you put on this taco all sort of delicious flavors over yeah you can use anything you want we got all the ingredients for our tacos that Aldi they have great organic options at really affordable prices and you can really customize your topping so you can make them vegan vegetarian whatever diet that you eat alright let's finish off that quinoa first off we will melt three tablespoons of coconut oil alright the coconut is smelling so fragrant now it's time to add this spices I will pour those in mix it around and heat it for about five minutes so it gets a little bit crispy on the bottom after five minutes the edges of the quinoa start to get a little crisp then we can add some freshness with some lime and sliced green onions and our tacos are ready to go alright we are done and this plate looks so good I'm digging in alright maybe a little messy okay that mmm-hmm what do you think so good I love all the flavors the quinoa really pops if you want this recipe head over to a couple cooks calm the link is below thanks for joining us today we'll see you next time