Quinoa ..... a terrific, high-protien food

@blueskies (1186)
United States
February 27, 2007 4:28pm CST
I love quinoa, but I'm always looking for new ways to prepare it, since there just aren't that many quinoa recipes out there. I stumbled across this one today, so I wanted to share it. Please post your favorite quinoa recipe or cooking technique here, as well :) Big Delicious Quinoa Bowl 2 cups white quinoa, rinsed well 4 scant cups water 1 teaspoon salt a few splashes of extra virgin olive oil 3 - 4 medium/large potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice 1 large yellow onions, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 cup toasted nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, etc) 1-2 cups lightly cooked asparagus, cut into 1/2-inch segments another splash or two of good olive oil or citrus dressing Bring the quinoa, water and salt to a boil in a large thick-bottomed pot. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the quinoa opens up revealing a little spiral and is soft and pleasant to chew. If there is any remaining liquid at this point, drain it off and set the quinoa aside. Warm a splash of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, then add the potatoes and a couple pinches of salt. Toss to coat the potatoes and cover for a few minutes to allow the insides of the potatoes to sweat and cook. Uncover, toss again, then cook a few minutes longer (uncovered) until the potatoes start to get some color. Continue tossing every few minutes to get more color and crispness. When they are cooked through and pleasantly crunchy, season to taste with salt and scoop out onto a plate. Set aside. In the same skillet (no need to clean) warm another splash of oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes or until they soften up a bit. Toss the quinoa with a splash of olive oil (I had leftover citrus parmesan dressing, so I used that). Serve each bowl of quinoa topped with potatoes, onions, nuts and asparagus. Alternately, you can toss everything together in one big bowl and serve it up family-style. Serves 4 - 6. ***this recipe can be found at: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001564.html
5 people like this
14 responses
• United States
27 Feb 07
Thank you for sharing that. I love it. But, I love the brown, better than the white. Have you tried that one? I sometime will make it the standard way, but fry onions and mushrooms in butter, and then add it to the quinoa for taste. I have also made it the regular way, and then just added some peanut sauce to it, and it was excellent. Great post. I'm rating you the + for it. Thank you.
3 people like this
@blueskies (1186)
• United States
27 Feb 07
I've only tried the white, as it's the only kind I've seen in the grocery stores around here. The only natural food store that we have is very small and rather limited. Does the brown taste different? I've never tried it with peanut sauce, that sounds terrific. Thanks for the tip--I'll try it very soon.
2 people like this
• United States
27 Feb 07
I have never heard of quinoa ~ is this a vegetable? Is there another name for it that I might recognize it by? Sounds like an interesting recipe - :o)
2 people like this
@blueskies (1186)
• United States
27 Feb 07
Quinoa is a small, round seed that is very high in protein. It has a very nice flavor and is easy to prepare.
1 person likes this
• United States
27 Feb 07
Interesting, I've never even heard of it before! I will definitely have to look into what it is all about! Thanks for turning me on to something new!
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
28 Feb 07
A seed rather than a true grain, quinoa is gluten-free. It's also an excellent source of protein, iron and many other vitamins and minerals. I buy mine at Trader Joe's, where it's no more expensive than a box of rice or pasta. Enjoy this low fat quinoa salad as a great side dish or lunch. INGREDIENTS: 2 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth 1 cup uncooked quinoa 1/3 cup sliced scallions 2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced 1 cup cooked broccoli florets Juice of 1 large lemon PREPARATION: Using broth instead of water, cook quinoa according to package directions. Fluff with fork and empty into a medium bowl. Combine scallions, tomatoes and broccoli with cooked quinoa. Squeeze lemon juice over quinoa and blend well. Serve warm or chill until ready to serve. Serves 4 Here we go. A good salad is always a good idea. Thanks for sharing this old, old seed used as food.
2 people like this
@lucy02 (5016)
• United States
27 Feb 07
I had never heard of quinoa. I looked it up. It's some kind of seed, isn't it? I'll have to look in the grocery and see if they have it. Recipe sounds good.
2 people like this
@cassidy22 (2974)
• United States
28 Feb 07
We travelled to Peru on our honeymoon and fell in LOVE with Quinoa. You do need to precook it sometimes to remove the bitter outer casing, but once you do that, you can add it to anything - stews, soups, we even use it as a rice replacement, cook it into thai and indian dishes as well. We love Quinoa!! Our favorite is RED Quinoa, but our whole foods market stopped selling it.
2 people like this
@1grnthmb (2055)
• United States
28 Feb 07
Thank you for this recipie. I also have Celiac Disease. (My wife saw one of your discusions about Celiac Disease.) And anything that will make a better variaty in the diet is good. I have tried Quinoa and found the flavor to be overpowering. Does adding the potatoes help mellow out the flavor?
1 person likes this
@snowflake5 (1579)
• United States
29 Mar 07
I've recently tried quinoa and love it too. It sounds strange, but quinoa goes really well with avocado. Not sure why. Perhaps it's a texture thing. I might try you recipe though. Looks tasty!
• United States
28 Feb 07
I have never heard of this before. I'll have to see if I can find it in the store. If I find it then I'll try out this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
1 person likes this
• Canada
28 Feb 07
We love Quinoa here, too. We like the name LOL ... pronounced Keenwa .... for some reason we really like this word - and we like the food too. We are silly here, lol.
@patootie (3592)
8 Mar 07
Blimey ... keenwa .. so why didn't the just spell it as K E E N W A then .. how does quinoa get to be said keenwa ?/ hehheh !!
• Australia
28 Feb 07
Thanks for the recipe, Im off to look-up Quinoa, Ive never heard of it, and am very interested to find out what it is....
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Mar 07
You know I was going to buy this. Something tells me I did and have forgotten where I put it. Now that you gave us this recipe I will definitely have to remember to get some (well assuming I haven't already LOL)
1 person likes this
• China
28 Feb 07
It's good ,thankyou!!!
@neenasatine (2841)
• Philippines
16 Apr 07
Quinoa Vegetable Soup INGREDIENTS * 1 tablespoon vegetable oil * 2/3 cup quinoa * 1 carrot, diced * 1 stalk celery, diced * 1/2 onion, finely chopped * 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped * 2 cloves garlic, crushed * 2 (15 ounce) cans chicken broth * 3 1/2 cups water * 2 large tomatoes, finely chopped * 1/4 head cabbage, chopped * salt and pepper to taste * 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for garnish DIRECTIONS 1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot on medium-high heat. Stir in the quinoa, carrot, celery, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, until lightly browned, stirring frequently. 2. Pour in the chicken broth, water, tomatoes, and cabbage. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the quinoa and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley before servings. Quinoa Chard Pilaf INGREDIENTS * 1 tablespoon olive oil * 1 onion, diced * 3 cloves garlic, minced * 2 cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed * 1 cup canned lentils, rinsed * 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped * 1 quart vegetable broth * 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed DIRECTIONS 1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute 5 minutes, until onion is tender. Mix in quinoa, lentils, and mushrooms. Pour in the broth. Cover, and cook 20 minutes. 2. Remove the pot from heat. Shred chard, and gently mix into the pot. Cover, and allow to sit 5 minutes, or until chard is wilted.