quinoa

I am looking to add whole grains back into my diet and stop worrying so much about protein, protein, protein. Does anyone have any ideas about how I can prepare quinoa and make it scrumptious?

It makes a nice pilaf.  Start with sauteing some onions, celery and green pepper.  Add some garlic if you like it.  Rinse a cup of quinoa and add it to the saute, then add 2 cups of broth and any seasonings/herbs you'd like.  Cover it tightly and simmer slowly until all the liquid is absorbed.  Fluff with a fork and serve.

It's also good cooked in soups instead of small pasta.

This is funny because quinoa is considered a supergrain because it contains complete protein! It's *packed* with protein. And calcium... one cup contains the same amount of calcium as in one quart of milk!!

But watch the calories because one cup is 630 calories... still, it definetly has a fit in a healthy diet.

I think your nutritional values are a little off jen.

This is for 1/3 cup dry, uncooked, which is about 1 cup cooked.

Serving Size 1/3 cup (43.0 g)

Calories 160 Calories from Fat 22

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 2.5g 4%

Sodium 10mg 0%

Total Carbohydrates 30.0g 10%

Dietary Fiber 3.0g 12%

Protein 6.0g

Vitamin A 0% ? Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 2% ? Iron 20%

Oooohhh! That's SOO much better!

Thank goodness... I could eat a ton of this stuff easily!

yeah, that's 630 calories in a cup uncooked

i got 480 for a cup uncooked

I just made this recipe tonight.  It made a really good side dish.  I posted a picture of it in my journal, actually, and I'm thinking of putting it into a wrap as well.

I love it, and look how high in iron it is?  It looks interesting when cooked, like tiny spirals, and the texture is nice too. 

christine, adding beans to it is brilliant.  It gives a protein and fiber boost, so it wouldn't take much of this to be very satisfying.

Thanks for recipe - I just tagged it. Always looking for lo-cal ways to get my grains in.

You're welcome, uno100!  It's funny how I saw this thread last night, after I tried cooking with quinoa for the first time ever.  And clairelaine is right about this being very satisfying.  I found the recipe online somewhere and couldn't believe it said it yields ten servings, but I got pretty full off of a small portion.

You can make a really great tabbouleh (aka tabbouli) salad using sprouted quinoa.  Just take any tabbouleh recipe on the web and subsitute sprouted quinoa for the bulgar wheat.

How do you get sprouted quinoa?  Easy -- buy some bulk quinoa (one of the cheapest bulk foods in any health food store) and sprout it.  (The Sprout People have good info on how to sprout quinoa.)

Quinoa is one of the fastest sprouting grains, and you can eat it raw.  Raw sprouted quinoa has a much better protein quality than cooked quinoa.  Even if you prefer to eat it cooked, sprouting it first will make it much more digestible *and* increase the amounts of vitamins and proteins you'll get.

Tonight we're trying millet for the first time! Smells good... I toasted it before putting it into the rice cooker.

I posted a couple of quinoa recipes here http://panachetta.blogspot.com . . . but basically if you create any sort of ratatouille (peppers, onions, celery, tomatoes, garlic, whatever you fancy) and add a little meat or fish or (maybe) paneer for a little extra flavour and then mix with your quinoa . . . delicious! My top tip would be don't overcook the quinoa - for pre cleaned quinoa 10 minutes cooking and a few minutes extra to soak up more moisture is plenty for a chewy al dente texture. Cooking it in stock helps too!

Thankyou panachetta, for pointing us to your recipes. 

I am eating quinoa a couple times a week now and I love it!  Just love it.  I regret not falling in love with it earlier.

I make a pilaf as the very awesome Clairelaine suggests, I also stuff peppers, chicken breasts and acorn squash with it!  My next experiment is going to be quinoa stuffed beet slow smoked on the grill over hickory.  I played around with beets a lot last year, and found I love them outside of borscht, which says a lot as I make a mean borscht.  I also make nachinka, a traditional Ukrainian dish using quinoa instead of cornmeal. 

Viva Quinoa!

Here's another great recipe. (It makes 24 servings...so you probably want to cut it down...)

http://www.calorie-count.com/recipe/28662.htm l