QUINOA – A Super Grain I like!!
I found Quinoa posted on facebook. Read more on it…I am so amazed that this is such good substitute for rice, which I like, but the best part is that quinoa forms a complete protein source, which makes it ideal for anyone who is vegetarian! Quinoa is also a rich source of fiber and wholesome carbohydrates that helps provide you the energy you need throughout your day. It contains all nine essential amino acids and is especially high in lysine, an amino acid that is scarce in most plant foods but is necessary for tissue growth and repair.
See below the nutritional fact chart for quinoa… it’s very very good for you!
According to The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, quinoa is a rich source of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorous. On top of that, it is gluten-free!
I’ve requested my Ladrang kitchen to include this ingredient in my daily food and diet. It is quite an interesting food…even though I call it a grain, it is actually a seed and related to the spinach family. It’s also light and not heavy like rice, has a nutty flavour and very easy to digest. You should try it if you haven’t!
The best part is that it cooks very fast; 1/3 of the time you would take to cook a pot of brown rice, so if you need to have a quick nutritious meal that is substantial, quinoa is a good option.
Here’s is a quick look at what is quinoa if you don’t know… it tells us where this super grain is from, how to use it, where to get it and how to cook it. Below I’ve also included some nice recipes for you to try…
Tsem Rinpoche
Native Andean popuations have cultivated the quinoa grain (quinua or quínoa in Spanish) for thousands of years. The Incans ate quinoa to supplement their diet of corn and potatoes. Quinoa thrives at high altitude, making it well-suited for the famous terraced fields found in ancient South American cities such as Machu Picchu. Quinoa is also rich in iron, important for people living in high-altitude, oxygen-poor areas like the Andes. And unlike wheat, quinoa is gluten-free, making it easier to digest for many people.
European immigrants to South America were slow to incorporate quinoa into their cuisine, and it is has only recently been ‘rediscovered.’ It now appears on the menus of the most upscale restaurants in South America, and chefs are creating new ways to incorporate quinoa into modern recipes.
How to Use Quinoa
Quinoa is delicious, with a nutty flavor that complements many other ingredients. Quinoa can be cooked like rice and adds wonderful texture to soups and salads. It makes a crunchy breading for fried chicken or fish. In South America it is commonly popped and sold as a nutritious cereal. The puffed cereal version is delicious in cookies and other baked goods. Breads made from quinoa flour are also becoming popular, both for their gluten-free properties and high protein content. You can even find pasta made with quinoa flour.
Where to Find Quinoa
Health food stores are the most reliable places to find quinoa, but is becoming more common to see it at regular grocery stores. It is often found with the rice and couscous, in the cereal or bulk foods sections, or in the Latin specialty foods section.
How to Cook Quinoa
Prepare quinoa as you would prepare rice: simmered in water until it is softened and chewy and the water is absorbed. (The ideal ratio is 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa). The water can be flavored with chicken stock / broth or other seasonings. There are even sweetened versions of cooked quinoa, similar to rice pudding. Quinoa seeds require rinsing to remove the bitter coating that protects them from being eaten by birds. Most quinoa sold today has been pre-rinsed, but it is still a good idea to rinse the uncooked grains in water while rubbing them between your fingers for a minute or two, until the water runs clear.
Sources: http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/exploresouthamericanfood/a/quinoa.html
http://www.thefatlossauthority.com/fat_loss_tips/quinoa-nutrition-facts-how-many-calories-are-in-quinoa
Tasty Quinoa Recipes:
1. Quinoa Vegetable Paella
This is one of those dishes that seem to improve overnight. Reheated leftovers make a great lunch. Spicy food lovers note that this is a subtle dish, not a spicy one.
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron, crushed
- 2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- a dash cayenne
- 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1 14-ounce can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 3/4 – 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
- 1 can artichoke hearts, rinsed and cut into quarters
Put the quinoa into a large bowl. Cover with water and stir well to wash the grain. Pour off the water and then repeat the washing process. You may also put the quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and rinse thoroughly.
Sauté onion and garlic in a deep non-stick skillet with a little water until soft. (I use my inconveniently-named “chicken fryer” for this.) Add the quinoa and saffron and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. Add paprika, cumin, cayenne, tomatoes, peppers, beans, and 2 3/4 cups vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to very low, and cook covered for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, check to see if more broth is needed. If it looks dry, add the remaining vegetable broth. Place the zucchini on top of the quinoa and re-cover. Cook for about 5 more minutes, until quinoa is done. Remove the cover, stir in the peas, and cook uncovered until peas are warm and all liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Arrange the artichoke hearts on the top and serve. Add salt at the table, if necessary.
Makes about 6 servings.
Per serving: 288 Calories (kcal); 3 g Total Fat; (9% calories from fat); 13 g Protein; 55 g Carbohydrate; 0 mg Cholesterol; 307 mg Sodium; 10 g Fiber
Source: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/01/quinoa-vegetable-paella.html
2. Quinoa, corn and spinach chowder
- 3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed under running water
- 7 cups water/stock 2 ears of corn, shucked
- 1 carrot, diced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil (optional)
- 1+ cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno chile, diced and seeded (leave some seeds if you want it hotter)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- salt and pepper
- 2 waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4″ cubes
- 1 bunch of spinach
- 3 scallions, minced
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves lemon juice to taste
- 1/4 lb. feta cheese, cubed (optional)
- 1 hard boiled egg, chopped (optional)
Simmer the quinoa in 7 cups of water or stock for about 10 minutes. If using water you will probably want to add some cubed stock or bouillon later to give the dish some body. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
While the quinoa is cooking, cut the kernals off two cobs of corn. Then using the flat edge of the knife scrape those last little juicy bits off the ear into the bowl with the kernals. If you are using the oil, heat the oil in a 3 quart saucepan and cook the garlic and chile for about 30 seconds, then add the cumin salt and potatoes. Add 6 cups of reserved quinoa cooking water, quinoa and simmer for 15 minutes. Add corn. Turn off heat and stir in spinach, cheese (if using) and scallions.
Just before serving mix in egg (optional) and cilantro. If you are not using the oil or the dairy ingredients, just place all of the reserved cooking water in a pot (again, if you used water to cook your quinoa you will want to add some bouillon now) with the potatoes and quinoa and simmer 15 minutes. Then add corn, spinach and scallions. Adjust seasonings with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a few squeezes of lemon juice to taste or the non vegan version as it appears in her book, add 1/4 lb. Cubed feta cheese and 1 peeled and diced hardboiled egg.
Source: http://bunnyfoot.blogspot.com/2006/06/quinoa-corn-and-spinach-chowder.html
3. Quinoa Super Salad
- 5 cups quinoa, cooked (basic recipe)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1-cup carrots, chopped
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¾ cup parsley, minced
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1-cup sunflower seeds
- tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- black olives
Cook quinoa, let cool. Add carrots, parsley, sunflower seeds and garlic to quinoa. Mix thoroughly. Combine liquids, pour over quinoa and toss well.
Garnish with tomato wedges and olives. Serves 6-8.
Source: http://greenterrafirma.com/quinoa-recipes.html
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I would be really great and wonderful to try out these new quinoa recipes for daily meals and health reasons. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for sharing this yummy quinoa recipes for everyone to try!👍😋😍
Thank you for the sharing. Interesting to note that Quinoa is a good protein substitute. In fact it appears to be a complete protein meal by itself.
I loved the tasty looking recipes and going to try them, may be with some local herbs and favourites like, mint, coriander leaves and spring onion toppings.
https://bit.ly/3026irE
Says who we must get the nutrients that we need from meat? There are many plants that contains high amount of nutrients our body need. Being a vegetarian does not make us less healthier than a meat eater. In fact, eating less meat is healthier, chances of getting disease like cancer or heart diseases are reduced significantly. Apart from being healthier, by adopting a vegetarian diet, we also help to save animals.
These are some very wonderful recipes of Quinoa that we must try. If we cannot adopt the vegetarian diet fully, why not try to be vegetarian once a week and slowly increase the frequency of eating vegetarian?
Interesting, didn’t know quinoa has so much nutrients. I like quinoa salad, good source of energy food and so healthy. Shall learn to cook quinoa by myself soon. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article.
Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing. I am going to try these recipe coming weekend. I started eat quinoa since December last year due to health issue and so far I only manage to cook porridge by using quinoa and the porridge that I cooked actually is the failure product of trying to cook it as rice.
Quinoa has been termed as the Super Food for good reasons! Besides the nutritional values, it is also tasty and versatile, making it a good ingredient to have in the kitchen. I must try out the recipes shared here and see if I can fall in love with this food, because my previous attempts to do so with other recipes failed. Thank you, Rinpoche, for sharing.
Quinoa is a grain crop that is grown for its edible seeds and is the world’s healthiest foods. It is also one of the best complete protein foods as it offers more dietary fiber and protein than brown rice. Amazing……It seem to be a 7,000-year-old plant that originated in the mountainous regions of South America. It only became more widely use in recent years due to the health benefits include reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and obesity. So it’s perfect for vegetarians and vegans as it provides all 9 essential amino acids, making it a complete protein.
Quinoa is a gluten-free and cholesterol-free whole food, and is among the least allergenic of all the ‘grains’, making it a fantastic wheat-free choice. It is also high in fiber, magnesium, B-vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants. Quinoa is high in anti-inflammatory phytonutrients, which make it potentially beneficial for human health in the prevention and treatment of disease.
I have not tasted this before but learned something new and the recipes too.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this knowledge .
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article. I will definitely share with others who cannot take gluten food. I didn’t know that Quinoa have so many nutrients. The recipes are quite interesting and looks delicious too. Too bad I don’t cook. Maybe I should ask my mum to try out the recipes.
With folded palms,
Vivian
Thank you for sharing this on quinoa. Am inspired to try more recipes with this super food and will try to introduce this to my relatives who are diabetics.
I am a huge fan of Quinoa thanks to Rinpoche! I really love making the Quinoa Vegetable Paella. I made it once and it tasted so good even when not heated up. Quinoa is indeed the miracle grain. It tastes so good, it is full of nutrients, it is also (of course) Vegetarian. So, anyone can eat it!
Dear Rinpoche,
There is one problem with quinoa. ALthough it is nutritious, because of large companies exploiting quinoa production in South America, it is now too highly priced for the average South American. Because of this many people and children in countries such as bolivia are very malnourished, because quinoa was there main food, but large companies took away the land and raised the prices. So quinoa is not all good.
Quinoa is so versatile and nutritious. It is also low glycemic food diet for diabetic patients and those who wish to loose weight.
Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing. I shall really look for quinoa when im going for the next shopping!
How to be a healthy vegetarian is very important, not only get balance in nutrients but also remains delicious.
Quinoa is the most protein of any grain, great source of vitamins & minerals – iron, magnesium, Vit E, potassium, amino acids, fiber – ideal for vegetarian or vegan diets.
would like to share below recipe : Toasted Quinoa Salad
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup minced parsley or cilantro
2 sliced green onions
juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime (or 1 – 2 tablespoons of each)
1-1/2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
2 cloves minced or pressed garlic
1 teaspoon chili sauce (tobasco) (or use a pinch of cayenne, a few red pepper flakes, etc.)
Rinse quinoa and drain. Put in a pot and dry toast until a few grains begin to pop. Add 1-1/2 cups of water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool.
Mix carrot, red pepper, parsley and green onion in large bowl. Add cold quinoa and toss to combine, Whisk together lemon and lime juices, tamari, garlic and chili sauce. Pour over salad and combine well. Chill until serving time.
This recipe can be fun. Try throwing in a few fresh raw peas, some fresh raw corn, fresh sliced raw green beans, etc.
Couple of months back I bought a packet of quinoa inspired by Rinpoche’s blog. I love all kinds of grains but most of them are not healthy and fattening. So I will normally try to avoid it. So when I read about quinoa, it was perfect replacement for carbs yet taste like carbs.
So far I tried using quinoa like rice. So I made stir-fried quinoa with basil, chilli padi, celery, carrot, onion and garlic. It was yummy to me. The quinoa super salad is the next thing I will try.
Do you think that grain can be made into malt drink like horlicks or Malta ? My favourite source of vegetarian protein is fried tempeh (Indonesian fermented soybean).
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this wonderful grain.
I heard of this Quinoa from my son Matthieu. He went rock climbing in 1U and he had a vegetable burger made with Quinoa. He said it was delicious and very rich in protein, which he is obviously very concerned of obtaining it ever since he went on a vegetarian diet since Nov last year.
I will go out to look for this. And will try your recommended recipes and hopefully share some new innovations here.
Yumm!!!!
Thank you Rinpochela, for the sharing. In the past, i had viewed the seed with suspicion; and the reddish-purplish variety even looked funny! After Rinpochela’s recommendation, i think i will head for the foodshop soon! “Kamsia chhe-chhe” Rinpochela! Oh, for everybody’s information it’s Heritage Month in Penang again – lots of wonderful cultural, culinary, theatrical etc. activities. i thought it would be great if there would be a vegetarian fest too, to showcase Penang heritage vegetarian dishes! Whatever, do drop by – Henry? Ruby? Girlie? William?; remember to drop by Kechara Paradise Penang too!
I am also a big fan of quinoa. I had heard about it but never tasted. then I decided to buy and I am happy: not only is ti full of nutrients, but alsto delicious. Recently I also started to sprout it!
Bon appetit!!!!!!