i heard quinoa is not actually a grain but tastes like one & that it has lots of complete (or was it nearly complete?) protein in it.
is it easy to prepare? and what does it taste most similar to?
Anonymous2008-02-12T21:20:02Z
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I love love love quinoa. I've been making it a lot lately. It's really easy to make too. Just add two cups liquid for one cup of uncooked quinoa. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Take off heat and keep covered for an additional 10 minutes or so. Then fluff with a fork and enjoy.
I usually make quinoa with vegetable broth instead of water and then after it's cooked I add soy sauce and sometimes Asian garlic chili sauce.
It's better than rice, in my opinion.
Click the link below and scroll down the page for a great quinoa recipe.
Quinoa is very tasty...the directions given earlier were correct, but they omitted one detail that is very important: quinoa must be rinsed really well before cooking because it has a natural flavor deterrent. If you don't rinse it it tastes really bad. Just place the quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse well with water.
Quinoa is a South American grain and it is very healthy for you. As stated before, it is as easy to prepare as rice. When it's fully cooked, it is a little translucent and has what looks like a curled up stem around the edge. The taste of quinoa is pretty neutral, so you could fix it up in any way you like. Most people eat it as they would rice or any other grain. A good alternative that I enjoy is to make tabbouleh with it instead of bulgar wheat. Also something that should be mentioned is that I have seen different colors of quinoa...black, red, brown, but most quinoa you see is yellow. I have only tried the yellow quinoa, but perhaps one day soon I can try another variety!
Although quinoa is not a true grain (which are all from grasses) botanists call it a "pseudo-grain," because it tastes like a cereal and is used similarly. It is high in proteins, and - unlike true grains - is a complete protein, because it does have lysine, which is missing in wheat, corn, rice, etc. And so not only is it more nourishing, it also requires less to satisfy one's hunger. Quinoa seeds grow inside a coating of saponin, which is a natural insect repellant, and so it doesn't need artificial ones. But saponin is too bitter to be edible, and must be washed off. I find that in cooking, it is very similar too rice and can be prepared in like ways. It does have more flavor than rice, but not much more. And, like rice, it absorbs the flavors and aromas of what it's prepared with. I like to heat a VERY small amount of oil in a skillet, add onions and a SMALL amount of fresh shaved garlic, and then lightly toast the quinoa in the oil before boiling it. This can also work well with other spices that might be better with other types of dishes. One drawback of quinoa is that it absorbs a high amount of the chemicals in artificial fertilizers, so read the package and make sure that none of these chemicals are used. Call me after you're finished cooking, I'm getting hungry..
. Bulk the meal up with more ingredients. I would be pretty hungry (and bored) after just tofu and quinoa. You need some vegetables in that mix. I had the following mix for lunch yesterday and was stuffed afterwards: Rice, lentils and quinoa. Cooked risotto style in vegetable stock and onion, garlic, ginger, sweet potato, pumpkin, spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, peas, corn, cherry tomatoes, parsley, coriander, etc... Quinoa would digest quickly, so maybe that is why you are "starving" afterwards. Maybe you also feel a lack, as you are missing out on additional nutrients from bulky fibre foods like vegetables. .