Quinoa ~ "the magical food"

[Hank Vangut]

i just wanted to bring more attention to this wonderful grain.
i've enjoyed it for years and believe it to be one of the healthiest foods around. it only takes 15 minutes to cook and you can use it as a healthier substitute for oatmeal, pasta, rice or potatoes. and it's protein profile is ideal for bodybuilding nutrition.

Quinoa - Supergrain Unique Qualities:
Quinoa contains more high quality protein than any other grain. Its protein content (12%–18%) is very high.

Quinoa is the only known complete protein grain. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete food. This means it takes less quinoa protein to meet one's needs than wheat protein.

It provides all the essential amino acids in a balanced pattern, close to the ideal set by the United National and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered as a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights

Nutrition Facts:
Total Fat..........3g
Saturated Fat...0g
Cholesterol.......0mg
Sodium.............5mg
Carbohydrate...29g
Dietary Fiber.....4g
Sugars.............5g
Protein.............6g

 

[EasyEJL]

One nice little trick i've done with quinoa is to do the microwave cooking, so about 1/3 cup quinoa with 2/3 cup of water. Cook it 8 minutes, let it stand for 5, cook another 2 minutes then stir in 4 eggs and cook another 2 min or so till the eggs harden. Nice with emerils essence. no, thats not a manchowder joke

 

[Hank Vangut]

One nice little trick i've done with quinoa is to do the microwave cooking, so about 1/3 cup quinoa with 2/3 cup of water. Cook it 8 minutes, let it stand for 5, cook another 2 minutes then stir in 4 eggs and cook another 2 min or so till the eggs harden. Nice with emerils essence. no, thats not a manchowder joke

nice! i'll have to try this. thanks e.

 

[thesinner]

My issue is that no one near me sells this stuff. Not even the hippie, natural foods market sells quinoa.

 

[warbird01]

Nutrition Facts:
Total Fat..........3g
Saturated Fat...0g
Cholesterol.......0mg
Sodium.............5mg
Carbohydrate...29g
Dietary Fiber.....4g
Sugars.............5g
Protein.............6g

im assuming this is half a cup?

what does it taste like?

 

[Hank Vangut]

im assuming this is half a cup?

what does it taste like?

those nutrition facts are based on 1/4 dry or aproximatly 3/4 cup once cooked w/water.

taste is good IMO. kind of a nutty rice like flavor.
texture is light and fluffy.

 

[warbird01]

those nutrition facts are based on 1/4 dry or aproximatly 2/3 cup once cooked w/water.

taste is good IMO. kind of a nutty rice like flavor.
texture is light and fluffy.

1/4?!? Damn, nice! Pretty dense stuff i take it. Where do u buys yours?

 

[Hank Vangut]

1/4?!? Damn, nice! Pretty dense stuff i take it. Where do u buys yours?

i think my wife buys it at whole foods.

like sinner said, most standard grocery stores don't carry it.
unless they have a specialty health food section.

 

[Rodja]

Quinoa also has a lesser incidence of allergies. Many people have a mild food allergy to oatmeal, which can lead to excess cortisol production and weakened immune function.

 

[Force of Green]

Thanks Hank! You'll recieve 2 rep points from my 17 existing points I tried quinoa a while ago, but just stopped cooking it. Now I'm inspired to use it again. Thanks!

 

[EasyEJL]

Here in florida, most of the regular grocery stores sell it.. Publix + Sweetbay both do.

 

[nightfly71]

A vegetarian guy I work w/ offered to sell me some, since he mistakenly bought too much at his co-op. Only gonna cost me like $1.25 per lb. for as much as I want up to the 25 lbs spare he has. I figure I should buy it all and have a ton of healthy grains for winter bulking.

 

[nightfly71]

I ended up throwing some in some chili I made. It tured out really well. I put it in raw and it just cooked slowly w/ the chili, itself.

It absorbed the taste and softened nicely. You really couldn't tell it was there, hardly. I added 1 cup to 2 lbs of lean beef and 2 cans of beans, etc, the 1st time. Second time, I added 1.5 cups w/ the beef plus 3 cans of beans.

I haven't tried batch #2 yet, but if it goes just as well, I'll probably experiment w/ bumping it up to 2 cups of quinoa. This is a really easy way to use quinoa and it adds a lot of nutrition and fiber, etc. Try it out.

 

[wojo]

anyone know if trader joes carry this?

 

[Flaw]

It's the best grain out there hands down! What I love about it is you can get plenty of calories and you don't get bloated from it. A person like me with food allergies.. It's very easy on the digestive system.

 

[nightfly71]

I ended up throwing some in some chili I made. It tured out really well. I put it in raw and it just cooked slowly w/ the chili, itself.

It absorbed the taste and softened nicely. You really couldn't tell it was there, hardly. I added 1 cup to 2 lbs of lean beef and 2 cans of beans, etc, the 1st time. Second time, I added 1.5 cups w/ the beef plus 3 cans of beans.

I haven't tried batch #2 yet, but if it goes just as well, I'll probably experiment w/ bumping it up to 2 cups of quinoa. This is a really easy way to use quinoa and it adds a lot of nutrition and fiber, etc. Try it out.

Batch#2 turned out just as well. I'm going to keep bumping up the amount of quinoa until it's saturated.

 

[boxmeman]

Here in florida, most of the regular grocery stores sell it.. Publix + Sweetbay both do.

sweet

 

[wojo]

ok here you guys go for those looking for some

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gro/104-0695435-0139166?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=Quinoa&x=0&y=0"]Amazon.com: Quinoa: Grocery[/ame]

and search ebay,,you can get a pound for 3 bucks..shipping is more..and NOW brand sells this

 

[EasyEJL]

this place has all sorts o goodies too in organics

http://www.bulkfoods.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamCat=14&txtsearchParamType=ALL&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&txtsearchParamTxt=1841

 

[wojo]

damn thanx easy,i forgot about this website..great site for bulk protein too

 

[Rodja]

How do ya'll make this. I have tried it twice and it has tasted like ass on both occasions (and, yes, I did rinse it.).

 

[nightfly71]

I've thrown a cup or 2 raw into a pot of chili as it cooks. It takes on the flavor of the chili and you barely notice the texture, since the grains are so small. Try it.

 

[Hank Vangut]

How do ya'll make this. I have tried it twice and it has tasted like ass on both occasions (and, yes, I did rinse it.).

what brand are you using?
i've been eating one called "Ancient Quinoa Harvest - Inca Red."
and i think it tastes pretty good solo. maybe it's a taste preference thing.

 

[boxmeman]

how do you prepare this? i plan on buying some tonight

 

[Hank Vangut]

how do you prepare this? i plan on buying some tonight

it's just like making rice.

 

[Rodja]

what brand are you using?
i've been eating one called "Ancient Quinoa Harvest - Inca Red."
and i think it tastes pretty good solo. maybe it's a taste preference thing.

I get it from the "healthy living" section at my grocery store. I have no idea what brand it is, all I know is that it is organic.

 

[boxmeman]

it's just like making rice.

sweet thx alot!

 

[EasyEJL]

what brand are you using?
i've been eating one called "Ancient Quinoa Harvest - Inca Red."
and i think it tastes pretty good solo. maybe it's a taste preference thing.

thats what i've been buying too

 

[EasyEJL]

I had some quinoa spaghetti today, i liked it better than conventional spaghetti amazingly enough. the texture was nice, and still a neutral taste. browned some ground turkey, poured the pasta sauce over it (just a tomato basil), and had that over the quinoa pasta. great stuff!

http://www.quinoa.net/Quinoa_Pasta/quinoa_pasta.html

even my daughter who eats without sauce (just butter and parmesan cheese) didn't whine about it.

 

[Leggo my Ego]

You Homos got me all eager to try Quinoa on my next carb-up. :think: I think I'll throw some in a batch of Homemade southwest chicken soup... MMMMMMMMM :food:

 

[terracotta]

How do ya'll make this. I have tried it twice and it has tasted like ass on both occasions (and, yes, I did rinse it.).

I like cooking 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups water + 1 cube chicken boullion.

 

[wojo]

I like cooking 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups water + 1 cube chicken boullion.

sound real simple and good to me..gonna pick up some tonight at the market with the fiancee and try it

 

[nightfly71]

I like cooking 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups water + 1 cube chicken boullion.

I actually cooked that up tonight w/ "Inca Red" quinoa. I ended up using the equivilant of 2 boullion cubes. Using a product called "Better Than Boullion" from the health section. It was kind of a paste, supposed to be better for you, etc.

The instrauctions called for the equiv. of one cube per cup of water, so I used that. it's slightly strong, but not overpowering. 1.5 cubes equiv. prob. would've been fine, but this was still very tasty and easy to make. I'd recommend this to anyone that's looking for a nice and easy method to cook quinoa. Thanks for the idea.

 

[EasyEJL]

I like cooking 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups water + 1 cube chicken boullion.

I tried a variation on this last nite too. One pack of this

and one of this

quite nice, my wife even liked it and she's a picky, pregnant, pain in my rear when it comes to food. I'm the primary cook, she's the primary kitchen fire starter.

 

[nightfly71]

The quinoa i bought tonight had a good sounding curry recipe. I'll post it w/ a review soon.

 

[nightfly71]

Ok, I made the recipe the other night and it was a real treat, esp. if you love Indian food, as I do. I highly suggest it. Here's what you'll need to make it.

1 cup quinoa (rinsed well if what you buy hasn't been pre-rinsed).
2 cups veg or chicken stock (I used a boullion substitute to approximate chicken stock).
2 tablespoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric (extremely beneficial spice for general health. read up on it some time).
1 cup frozen peas

Add quinoa, curry powder, turmeric and peas to 2 cups of stock. Cover and simmer for 10-15 mins, until all the water is absorbed.

Tonight, I made it again and this time added 1 teaspoon of cumin powder, to give it even more of an East Indian kick. I thought it made it taste even better. You guys really ought to try this one.

 

[jarhead]

anyone know if trader joes carry this?

Yes they do. That's where I get mine.

 

[boxmeman]

Would you say this product(quinoa) is similar to grits?

 

[Distilled Water]

Would you say this product(quinoa) is similar to grits?

I dont think so.....

I'm gonna try some quinoa with some honey and vanilla soy milk for my carb up this saturday. I'll report back.

 

[nightfly71]

I've been eating a lot of this lately. I've added it to chili, did the curry recipe as well as the chicken boullion. It's great stuff.

The guy at work that I bought in bulk from told me he'll get it for me once a month from the co-op he belongs to. It's officially a staple in my yr. round diet, in light of how healthy it is and now how cheap I can get it.

 

[EasyEJL]

I need to put in a 5lb order at bulkfoods instead of paying $3/lb for it at the grocery store

 

[boxmeman]

Just bought mine!

 

[eatingisfun]

I just picked up some of this yesterday. It's expensive :O about $17/kg but it's organic. I didn't read anything about how to cook it and I'm not sure if it was pre-rinsed or not so I just cooked it without rinsing it. I guess I'll be OK but I'll be rinsing it off next time. It doesn't taste all that good but maybe it's an acquired taste.

I read the saponins that may be on it can be mildly toxic so I'll have to make sure to rinse it off well next time.

Do you need to soak it though? Wikipedia says you should soak it in water, dump the water and re-soak it or rinse it off with clean water to get rid of the saponins. Will that make it swell up at all?

This stuff is incredibly dense carb wise. Carb content is 69g(6 fibre) per 100g.

 

[nightfly71]

See if you can join up in a local food co-op. Then you'll be able to buy it and other healthy foods in bulk at a much lower price. I'm getting mine this way through a guy that has a membership...only $1.25/lb. Can't beat that.

I think it can be soaked but doesn't need to be. I've tried it w/ several recipes and it has always turned out really well. Try them out or google "quinoa recipes" and you'll find all sorts of good info.

 

[eatingisfun]

That's a good idea. I found it at my grocery store for about $10/kg which is better. They are both organic so that could have something to do with the high price.

 

[Distilled Water]

My experiment with honey and vanilla soy went over extremely well. If you got a real sweet tooth def give it a go.

 

[MPFit]

Here in florida, most of the regular grocery stores sell it.. Publix + Sweetbay both do.

I too live in FLA, although never tried this before..
Beleive it or not--aside from the enormous STD rates-- south florida (particularly miami) is one of the healthiest regions in the USA!
*Hence the SOBE diet..(gotta look good to live in mia ;p)

Sorry for offtopic just kinda found that interesting how FLA sells this at publix and people in other regions have trouble finding it

 

[EasyEJL]

they all come from them places where it snows. you need a big coating of fat to make it thru the winter

 

[nightfly71]

My experiment with honey and vanilla soy went over extremely well. If you got a real sweet tooth def give it a go.

Can we get the specs of that recipe? Sounds like it could be a good alt. to the recipes I've seen thus far.

 

[Distilled Water]

Can we get the specs of that recipe? Sounds like it could be a good alt. to the recipes I've seen thus far.

Yea I'll try to trace my steps.

-Rinse the quinoa
-Put 1 cup Quinoa with 2 cups water
-Covered and put it in the microwave for 8 minutes
-Took it out and stirred
-Covered again and put it back in for another 7 minutes
-Stirred in vanilla soy milk until saturated (looked like a bowl of cereal)
-Then I stirred in about 3TBS of honey

Since I was on a carb load I asn't concernd about anything carb wise but it was pretty sweet IMO. You could get away with a little less of both the soy milk and honey.