New to Quinoa

My wife and I are transitioning off meat. We are making good progress and enjoying eating new things. Today's experience was with red quinoa. Delicious. I ate it hot for breakfast. I ate 1/2 of what I made (started with 1 cup dry and 2 cups water). By the time I left for work the 1/2 that I didn't eat had swollen to almost double. I get home tonight and my wife has made a salad with the rest and what was left over after we ate dinner was more that a cup!!

Does this stuff reproduce itself?? We have been laughing about it all evening.

Did I not cook it long enough? Is this just what happens to the stuff?

I'm not complaining. I have never seen anything like it.

just like couscous, it doubles when cooked. Can you say that about meat? lol

Glad you like the quinoa.

Her'e a recipe my family (a mix of veg. and omni's) loves.

Quinoa and Black Beans

1 t. veg. oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 3/4 c. uncooked quinoa (rinsed well in a strainer)

1 1/2 c. veg. broth

1 t. ground cumin

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

2 (15oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Rinse quinoa

Heat oil in pan over med. heat. Saute onion and garlic until lightly browned.

Mix quinoa into pan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cuminm cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a biol. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 25 minutes.

Mix in black beans and cilantro (if using).

Also love making tabouli and using quinoa instead of bulgur wheat

I can't eat it It hurts my belly.

Quinoa is awesome! It's one of the easiest things to cook and you can use all kinds of sauces, seasonings, fruits and veggies.

quinoa is one of the vegan things I cook that all meat-eaters around me adore. You must love quinoa! It has great texture and it's easy to cook.

And about the swelling, I guess you didn't cook it enough, so if you let some of it in a hot pot with a lid, then it cooked it self in the steam, so it increased in volume.

I can't eat it It hurts my belly.

As for the stomach problems eating quinoa - I had it also, when I ate half cooked quinoa. You have to cook it right.

Posting for later! Definitely going to start cooking this. Is it available at all regular grocery stores?

Posting for later! Definitely going to start cooking this. Is it available at all regular grocery stores?

It has definitely grown in popularity in the past few years, so you can probably find it at most grocery stores, though it might be pushed off into the "health food" aisle. Be sure to rinse it well before cooking it. I didn't know about this step the first few times I cooked with it and I couldn't see why people thought it was so great -- it tasted really bitter to me. But that's because of the saponins that naturally coat the outside. (Though this might already be removed in some commercial brands. I buy mine in bulk, so I don't really know if this differs in brand-name stuff.)

Edit to say: Wikipedia confirms my suspicion that boxed brands typically pre-rinse the quinoa.

Posting for later! Definitely going to start cooking this. Is it available at all regular grocery stores?

 

It has definitely grown in popularity in the past few years, so you can probably find it at most grocery stores, though it might be pushed off into the "health food" aisle. Be sure to rinse it well before cooking it. I didn't know about this step the first few times I cooked with it and I couldn't see why people thought it was so great -- it tasted really bitter to me. But that's because of the saponins that naturally coat the outside. (Though this might already be removed in some commercial brands. I buy mine in bulk, so I don't really know if this differs in brand-name stuff.)

 

Edit to say: Wikipedia confirms my suspicion that boxed brands typically pre-rinse the quinoa.

I think I might just stop by the local naturals store. I'm positive I've seen it there but I've never been able to find it at our normal grocery store. I always enjoy good excuses to check out the naturals store though.

I like quinoa a lot. One thing - I find it takes a lot longer than it says on the packet to cook. It says it takes 15 mins but I find it takes at least 25 mins to boil off the water (the packet recommends 100ml per 100g).

Might seem like a small point but I want to make sure I'm not overcooking it and would be handy to be able to cook it faster!

Thanks in advance for any help!

I don't know how long I cook quinoa in minutes, but usually I cook it until those little sprout-like things start to show. I hope you know what I mean!

As for water.. I start with a bit and if that's too little I might add some more. I do the same with rice..

I bought about a pound of quinoa (it's super light so that's a decent amount!), but I'm not sure what to do with it. I'm not fond of too many ingredients in recipes, so I want something simple. How about some quinoa cooked with some onion and zucchini? Do I need to cook it in vegetable broth or use spices for flavor, or would that be tasty enough maybe with some pepper? I'm a bland sorta fella normally.

I bought about a pound of quinoa (it's super light so that's a decent amount!), but I'm not sure what to do with it. I'm not fond of too many ingredients in recipes, so I want something simple. How about some quinoa cooked with some onion and zucchini? Do I need to cook it in vegetable broth or use spices for flavor, or would that be tasty enough maybe with some pepper? I'm a bland sorta fella normally.

From my experiences, water works just fine but vegetable broth seems to have extra flavor to it. You can do quinoa in just about any medley of vegetables, just make sure your mixture of veggies works together. I think some zucchini, onion and pepper on top would work nicely. Just try it all until you find your rhythm to it.

Most important thing with quinoa is rinsing before cooking, no matter where I buy it, I always do, as someone posted previously there is a residue on them that can make them bitter and give you a stomach ache.

There are a complete protein grain, you don't have to eat legumes with them to get the complete protein mix. Though what I've been reading lately, you don't even have to combine grains and legumes in the same meal, as long as you consume them in the same day.

A 3-C rice cooker is a great tool to have in the kitchen too. Put your grains in with water, push a button and phew, done in a flash! I even soak my grains over night, though quinoa doesn't require much soaking at all, this makes grains more easily digestible.

I buy white and red and mix them together to cook. The white tend to be softer and the red crunchier when cooked, I like the combo.