Last year around this time I bought a rice cooker. Since then I’ve made rice approximately 2 times, both being for other people. I just don’t care for rice. Why’d I buy it then? To cook other things like quinoa.

Quinoa is traditionally made in a pot on the stove. That method works well if you have a full kitchen, but there are definitely benefits to using a rice cooker, too.

• You don’t have to watch a rice cooker as much as a burner.
• Rice cookers with “keep warm” settings make it easy to serve warm food even during a busy party.
• You can use a rice cooker almost anywhere there’s an electrical outlet—even in a dorm room.

I use a Zojirushi rice cooker. They’re one of the more expensive brands but totally worth the extra cost. This will last for years and years, is easy to clean, and has plenty of cooking features. I’ve made a number of different things in it, from quinoa to date paste. It’s worth the investment if you’re in the market for a rice cooker.

How To Cook Quinoa In A Rice Cooker

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4 servings):

• 1/2 an onion, small diced
• 1 large carrot, small diced
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 2 1/2 cups water or stock
• 3/4 teaspoon salt(omit if using salt)

Method:

1. “Sauté” the carrots and onion in the bottom of the rice cooker by cooking them in the oil on a high-heat setting until the onions are translucent.
2. Add in the quinoa, liquid, and seasoning if using. Close the lid on the rice cooker and cook on high for 15-20 minutes until the liquid has boiled off. The quinoa will be ready when it has doubled in volume and a “tail” sprouts from the end.
3. Fluff the quinoa with a serving spoon and serve hot or let cool and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Once you get comfortable preparing basic quinoa, you can make more complex recipes, all while still using your rice cooker. Here are a few of my favorites that I have picked to make for Fall:

Vegged-Out Quinoa

The Best Quinoa Dressing

Savory Pumpkin Quinoa

When I worked in a restaurant over the Summer, I spent more time with beets than I’d ever thought I would. I would work on preparing them for service for hours. I thought I’d never touch them again until I saw them at the farmers’ market last week and decided to grab some to share my knowledge.

Beets aren’t exactly difficult to prepare, just a bit tedious. First we roasted them in a salt bath. The theory is that the beets absorb the salt, making their sweetness more potent. Whether that worked or not we constantly debated. Once they came out of the oven, we had to peel them, all done by hand while still piping hot. It was not the most fun job to have to do for an hour, and my fingers often looked like I had just committed a murder afterwards.

The other part of beet preparation was the greens. I didn’t know beet greens were even edible; I had always thrown mine away thinking they were poisonous like radish leaves. The proper way to peel a beet green is to pinch the leaves and remove the long, thick, purple spine in the middle. Doing this with one bunch of beets isn’t too troubling; doing it with 30 bunches of beets—well, that was anther story.

Roasted Beets

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of beets, stems removed
• 1/2 cup salt

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pour the salt down on a baking tray.
3. Lay the beets down on top of the salt. Roast for 60-70 minutes until a fork can pass through easily.
4. Remove the tray from the oven and let cool slightly for 5 minutes or so.
5. Gently peel the skin off of the beets using your hands. You might want to use a dish towel to protect your hands from the heat and dye of the beets.

We served our beets in the restaurant in a salad. The salad prepared there had goat cheese and pistachios in it. Since I don’t eat cheese and didn’t have pistachios, I made a modified version with oil and walnuts. The recipe below could work for either variation.

Roasted Beet Salad

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(for 1 serving):

• 6 medium-sized roasted beets, cooled to room temperature
• Greens from one bunch of beets, washed and deveined
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese(optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt(omit if using goat cheese)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil(omit if using goat cheese)
• 2 Tablespoons crushed walnuts or pistachios

Method:

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl
2. Toss the ingredients until thoroughly mixed together.
3. Plate and serve at room temperature.

If my restaurant experience taught me anything, it’s that I’m perfectly happy eating canned beets. They’re cheaper, more convenient, and just as nutritious. That being said, preparing your own beets from scratch makes for an impressive dish.