When cooking grains with vegetables, should I cook them together or separately
For example, if I would like to make quinoa with mixed vegetables, should I: (a) Cook the vegetables, add the quinoa and stock, and simmer; or (b) Cook the quinoa in one pan, cook the vegetables in another pan, then mix them together?
Which of these is ideal to get the most nutrition, or does it not matter? Will simmering them together make it more tasty? Also, would your answer vary for different grains, for example rice, or bulgur wheat?
Best Answer
I would cook them in different pots.
Most of the time they will take different time to cook; heck, even different vegetables take different time to cook, so cook the vegetable in batches.
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Quick Answer about "When cooking grains with vegetables, should I cook them together or separately"
Grains soak up a lot of liquid as they cook, so it's often best to cook your grains in a separate pot and add them to your soup toward the end. If you do add your dry grains directly into your soup, just make sure you're starting with enough broth.Can I cook different grains together?
In theory, you can simultaneously cook different grains in a single pot, but unless you're confident that they'll all be done around the same time, stick to one type of grain per batch.What are the 3 basic cooking methods for cooking grains?
The three most basic techniques for cooking grains are boiling, absorption, and steaming. Learn the best ways to prepare and cook different grain types, including some different cooking techniques including frying, stir-frying and baking.How do you prepare grains?
Cooking most grains is very similar to cooking rice. You put the dry grain in a pan with water or broth, bring it to a boil, then simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Pasta is generally cooked in a larger amount of water; the excess is drained away after cooking.Can you boil veggies with rice?
Remove cover and add vegetables. Replace lid and let cook until vegetables are tender and rice is done about 10-15 minutes more. Remove the vegetables from the rice and fluff the rice or stir the vegetables in if you'd like to serve them combined with the rice.Fool Proof Method for Cooking Grains - Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph
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Answer 2
For tastiness, cooking them together is a bad idea.
Most vegetables will be more flavorful if cooked over high, dry heat, as that will get them to brown (chemically altering them, and developing new flavor compounds). If you cook them in liquid with the quinoa, you won't get that.
For vegetables that aren't as great for that type of cooking (eg, brocolli florets), you can throw a little water in the pan and put a lid on it so that you'll steam the insides.
For the nutrition side of things ... well, that's generally considered off topic here, but if cooked together, I would assume that anything that leaches out into the water might be absorbed by the quinoa. But you'd have less risk of over or under cooking if you steamed it separately.
As for it varying by grain ... I probably vary it more by the vegetables:
- I'll dice up carrots and onions and get a little bit of color on them before adding the rice, as I want them to soften up.
- Tomatoes always go in towards the end, as the acidity can keep starches from softening ... but you need to reduce the initial liquid to compensate for the moisture in the tomatoes.
- Summer squashes (yellow squash, zucchini, etc.) are better sauteéd and added at the end.
- Sometimes, you don't want the vegetables to cook, or not cook much. So I'd toss in fresh peas pretty close to when I was going to pull it.
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