Quinoa with kohlrabi and pearl onions: a recipe from Lima: The Cookbook

Virgilio Martinez, who run Central in Peru and Lima and Lima Floral in London, shares a quinoa recipe from his new cookbook
Pretty as a picture: Martinez's quinoa
Erick Andia Pomar
Virgilio Martinez14 October 2015

Quinoa is one of Peru’s staple foods and is as healthy as it is versatile. Quinoa can be used as a substitute for rice and its texture will change when sautéed or fried. In this recipe I have used white quinoa, but you can use any variety. If available garnish with borage flowers, but feel free to use other edible flowers or your favourite seasonal herbs.

Ingredients (serves 4)

240g white quinoa

3 tablespoons olive oil

50g baby onions, peeled but left whole

100g trimmed purple kohlrabi, peeled and thinly sliced

20g capers

1cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated

Handful of coriander and flat leaf parsley, chopped

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Handful of borage flowers and

Young herbs, to garnish

Lima: The Cookbook, by Virgilio Martinez
Octopus Publishing

Method

1 Rinse the quinoa in cold running water until the water runs clear, then drain.

2 Place the quinoa in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and add water to cover by 5cm. Cover with the lid and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Stir, re-cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes – the quinoa is ready when you can see a little ring on the outside of the grain and it is soft. Rinse in cold water, then drain well.

3 Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a sauté pan and sauté the quinoa for 5 minutes. Set aside.

4 Heat another 1 tablespoon olive oil in a separate pan and sauté the onions until golden. Add the kohlrabi and capers.

5 Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the first pan and sauté the grated ginger for 20 seconds. Add the sautéed quinoa and vegetables, and season with salt and pepper to taste, then stir in the chopped herbs. Serve garnished with the borage flowers and young herbs.

Lima: The Cookbook by Virgilio Martínez (Mitchell Beazley, £25)

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