To cook the quinoa: wash throughly under running water on a sieve until it doesn't let go of foam so you wash away the saponin which makes quinoa bitter and is toxic in large quantities. Sear in a pot on medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil and add salt, pepper and I also like to add lemon or lime zest. Then we add 1.5 times the volume of quinoa in water until it starts to boil. As soon as it boils we lower the heat to minimum and place a lid on top until it's completely dry. Once it's dry we use a fork to fluff the quinoa and wait for it to cool down completely before adding it to the salad.