Quinoa | The Souzapalooza Blog

Quinoa – Not Just a Great Scrabble Word

August 31, 2011

Quinoa is not a grass, but its seeds have been...

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Patti over at Run4Joy59′s Blog had a tasty looking recipe for Quinoa corn cakes on Sunday (that sadly I only got around to reading about last night). I’m excited to try it soon!

For those of you unfamiliar, quinoa (pronounced kinwah), is a grain like crop. It isn’t a true grain because it is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like swiss chard, spinach and beets. Quinoa comes from South America and was prominent in the diets of the Incan Indians. Unfortunately, when the conquistadors from Spain took over, growing quinoa was prohibited. The food gained an interest in the 1980′s when two americans realized quinoa’s nutritional value. Quinoa is a complete protein containing all 9 amino acids, unusual for a plant-based food, which makes it a great protein option for vegetarians and vegans.

One of my favorite recipes using quinoa is one that I found on a blog I read called Eating Bird Food (FYI – Eating Bird Food’s Blogger, Brittany, is an IIN graduate like I will be this time next year!). The recipe is called Berry Flax Hot Cereal which incorporates quinoa, oats, and flax seeds. Here is the recipe per Eating Bird Food:

Berry Flax Hot Cereal

Adapted from Quinoa 365

2/3 cup water
3 Tbsp quinoa
2 Tbsp old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp flaxseed, ground
2 Tbsp berries, fresh or frozen and thawed
Almond Milk, to taste

Preparation

Place the water and quinoa in a small saucepan, bring to boil and cover. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes.
Stir in the oats, cover and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, until the oats are tender.
Remove from the heat. Stir in the maple syrup and flax.
Fold in the berries and top with a small pour of almond milk.
Serve and enjoy!

Side notes from Souzapalooza -

1) Make sure you rinse your quinoa before adding it to any recipe. Quinoa contains a bitter-tasting coating that needs to be rinsed off before cooking.

2) I skip the almond milk and the maple syrup. Usually the fruit is enough to give me a sweet satisfaction, but if you need a little extra sweetness, go for it.

3)In addition, if I am using frozen fruit, I just throw it in the pot frozen a minute before I am ready to turn off the heat. Stirring well, the heat from the cooked grains usually warms the fruit and the coldness of the fruit helps the grain cool down so I can eat it without burning myself and enough time to head out to the train.

Do you have any quinoa recipes you’d like to share?

Please check out both Run4Joy59′s and Eating Bird Food’s Blogs.

They write good stuff!