Cilantro Lime Quinoa in an Instant Pot

I have heard a lot about the electric pressure cooker, did not pay it much mind as I was perfectly happy with my regular pressure cooker. On the other hand, I have this crusty old electric rice cooker with a non stick insert which is starting to peel off. I have been looking for an electric rice cooker with a stainless steel insert instead of a non stick one but have not been very successful in finding one. The ones I found on Amazon (where else) were either too expensive or a brand I have never heard of.

As I continued searching I chanced upon the Instant Pot brand electric pressure cooker with a stainless steel insert. Not just a rice cooker but as luck would have it a full fledged pressure cooker. I found lots of glowing reviews and a pretty ardent following for it and there was no dearth of information. Slightly more than what I wanted to spend for rice cooker but at under $80 for a 6 quart a pretty good buy for me.

Was I glad or what? Nothing against my crusty old pressure cooker but with none of the leaking and the mess associated with not controlling the heat or pouring a little extra water. I am not saying the Instant Pot won't leak but it is very rare.

Cooking lentils, rice, beans is done in no time at all and of course with none of the mess which is a big deal for me. Since the time can be controlled much better I can easily control how much I need the beans cooked and that is a big deal for me. While the Instant Pot itself can be used for sauteing and cooking in it I still prefer my stove top for sauteing purposes. Guys this is not a paid promotion but me gushing about my favorite toy in the kitchen.

I would like to eat more of Quinoa but cooking it has always been a hit or miss if I am not careful with the amount of water and the timing. Can't eat mushy quinoa. When I am in a rush and doing too many things this is not something i want to spend time on. This is where the Instant Pot becomes a life saver. Just a minute of cooking time and perfect quinoa is ready.

Add the quinoa, water, cilantro leaves, squeeze in the lime juice, add salt and let cook in the Instant Pot in manual mode for a minute.
Once cooked fluff up the rice.

I wanted to go a bit fancy and add some cilantro, lime and make it a cilantro lime quinoa for a quinoa bowl with cauliflower.

All of us enjoy eating burrito bowl. Cilantro lime rice is what we usually have but occasionally to mix it up and to avoid the rice trap. Anything tastes good in these bowls. Quinoa when cooked correctly gives the bowl an extra dimension.

How to cook quinoa in an Instant Pot from this blog article.

Cilantro Lime Quinoa
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 cups of Quinoa (I used red)
2. 2 cups of water
3. 1/2 of a lime
4. 1/2 cup of loosely packed chopped cilantro or coriander leaves
5. 1/2 - 1 tbsp of butter (use olive oil for a vegan version)
6. 2 tsp of salt

Method

1. Wash the quinoa in several changes of water till the water runs clear.
2. Add 2 cups of water (quinoa water ratio 1:1)
3. Squeeze in the lime juice.
4. Add in the butter, coriander leaves and salt.
5. Put the weight on the top in sealed position and in manual mode set it cook for 1 minute. This should cook the quinoa under high pressure for a minute.
6. Once the cooking is complete let the pressure naturally and let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes before opening the lid.
7. Once opened fluff up the quinoa.

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