BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Vegetarian Quinoa

Did I blink, or just forgetful, Jason just what is Quinoa, what does it look like and where in the market would i find it. I'm going food shopping tomorrow and what do i get to go with it?

OK I just read your quinoa article, it helped a little. boy am i slow. do you have a picture of what Quinoa looks like?

Well i did even better i did a visual search, I saw what those little Quinoas look like lol.
Even found tons of recipes the one with the black beans looks good
And Quinoa salads.

Hey Rosie!

Well... you beat me to it. I went online to do an image search for you to see where I could refer you.

So what did you think?

When you put it together right... it's awesome!

Great, but just where in the market can i find it??

I usually find it in the "health foods" section.

And if you have a farmer's market, it is usually sold in the whole grains, where you can buy it by the amount you need (instead of prepackaged).

I have a recipe somewhere on here for a toasted quinoa salad that was in a magazine. That's what first made me try it.

Thanks Michelle

Aha! I found where I posted that recipe - I'll copy it over here:

This came from Good Housekeeping:
Warm Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds

Quinoa is often called a supergrain. Because it contains all 8 essential amino acids, it is considered a complete protein. It has a delicate flavor, but some people don�t care for it because they find it has a bitter aftertaste. Toasting quinoa helps reduce the bitterness and bring out its tasty nutty flavor. Look for it in health food stores and some supermarkets.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cup(s) quinoa
2 1/2 cup(s) (plus 1 tablespoon) water
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
2 tablespoon(s) reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon(s) rice vinegar
1 teaspoon(s) Asian sesame oil
1 teaspoon(s) grated peeled fresh ginger
2 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally
1/4 cup(s) sliced natural almonds, toasted

DIRECTIONS
1.In 12-inch skillet, toast quinoa on medium 5 minutes or until fragrant and golden, stirring frequently.

2. Stir 2 1/2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt into toasted quinoa; heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 to 17 minutes or until all water is absorbed.

3. Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together soy sauce, rice vinegar, oil, ginger, green onions, and remaining 1 tablespoon water.

4. Transfer quinoa to large serving bowl. Stir in soy sauce mixture until quinoa is evenly coated. Sprinkle with toasted almonds to serve.


I served this with shelled edamame (soybeans) sauteed with baby bella mushrooms and chopped garlic in 1 Tbsp salted butter.

Sounds good Michelle, also sounds like a lot of work. I don't know if i could master all that. to much stuff to buy. ;o(

Rosie, I cook quinoa just like rice, and use it pretty much the same ways.

It's so good and versatile you can add sweetener and a little butter or margarine and eat it like a hot breakfast cereal, or cook it in some broth or tomato sauce instead of water, or add just whatever spices you like to match almost any main dish. Add black beans, tomatoes, onion and taco seasoning for a Mexican flair. Tomatoes, basil, oregano & Parmesan cheese for Italian. You can also leave it plain with just salt & pepper.

My regular grocery stores don't have it, I have to go to Whole Foods to get it. They sell it in bulk and in pre-packaged boxes. I have only used the bulk kind.

Deb, thanks i can handle that, I looked for it in my market, but drew a blank and had no idea what it was or where to find it. I couldn't pronounce it so i couldn't ask someone to help me. I am gonna try it one of these days. what are the benefits from it?

It's pronounced "Keen-wah". But, lots of people say "keen-oh-ah". You can always write it on your list & point to it--some store workers may not recognize either pronunciation!

It's usually somewhere with other grains and packaged foods--like rice and packaged rice dishes.

It's biggest benefit is that it's got more protein than any other grain. Plus, easy to cook and it is a whole grain.

Great, all ready added it to my shopping list, now if i don't forget the list at home, lol

Hi Rosie!

If you're not able to locate it in the areas where they keep the grain, see if they have an international section in your store and try and find it there.

Another resource would be Trader Joe's [I'm not sure if they have one in your neck of the woods] I know they have them on the east coast, but th east coast differs from the west coast and that could compromise the possibilities of their having it in stock. You may be able to request that they order some in for you though.

As a matter of fact... if your regular store, "Market Basket" right?, doesn't have it then ask your bulk foods manager if they can special order it in for you. Stores a lot of times will accommodate a customer's request [it's a sure sale for them], so if all else fails, or before all else fails you may want to start with that approach [asking your store to bring in what you're wanting to purchase] the worst thing they can say is no or that they can't get the product in.

[or... in the tougher parts of town they could go as far as running you out of the store, chasing you with a bag of half eaten, peanut butter filled pretzels over head; but that's too far fetched. I think they put a federal ban on activities like that last week or so so you should be safe. ]

LOL, Thanks Jason, my nephews boyfriend works at a Trader Joe's, hes a manager there if all else fails I'll ask him to bring me some.

At the Trader's on the west coast it goes for 3.99 per/lb and it's on the isle with the pastas, sauces and such.

I'm glad you said that you have a Trader's buy you!

Jason, I picked up a bag of Organic Quinoa they had it at Market Basket where i shop. It was $4.59 for a 14oz bag.
Wonder what i'll do with it?

Yea Rosie!

You'll have to let us know which recipe you try and how you like it.

I will definitely try some thing simple, like my granddaughter says grandma can't cook, lol
Do you eat it Michelle?

Hi Rosie,

I'm burning both ends of the candle. My family and I are visiting family right now a I haven't been able to get to a computer for the past couple of days to check and see what's been going on, but I see that you did find it at Market Basket.

I gave them a call on Thursday to see if they had it or could get t in for you and at first they didn't know what I was referring to, but shortly came back to the onversation and told me that they found it in the store. So I'm glad they found it.

However, you may want to consider Trader Joe's because Last I checked, they were 3.99 per/lb. [Which is fine so long as we're considering the $150 per month on food spending. We want to make sure that it doesn't compromise the budget too much.

[every little bit helps.]

Jason thanks for going out of your way and calling the store. Well i cooked it up this morning.
It said on the package to rinse it first in a strainer. well i stood there looking at these little itty bitty things and wondered if they would just flow right threw the holes of my strainer, so to be safe i lined the strainer with paper towels, now i'm wondering where every thing will rinse off to its all just sitting in a strainer full of water. lol (grandma can't cook)
Well i ended up just cooking it like oatmeal and i couldn't think of any thing fancy to do with it so i ate it like oatmeal i added honey to it.
Not for nothing but I think i will just stick to plain old oatmeal. its cheaper and nothing fancy.
Jason is it suppose to be eaten like oatmeal?
Hope your enjoying time with your family; Hurry back

Hey Rosie,

I am thoroughly enjoying my family!

I would say that eating it like oatmeal is my least favorite ways to eat it. I don't find that it delivers the flavor that I care for in that form.

I prefer it savory.

did you get a chance to see my article on quinoa?

I've got to run but I'll plug back in as soon as I'm able. We should be back in town by tomorrow late afternoon/early evening.

God bless guys.

Rosie -

One of the easiet ways to rinse quinoa is to line a small colander with a coffee filter. Then you don't have to worry about the quinoa washing through the holes - or the paper towels getting stuck to the grains!

And quinoa really has a very nutty, earthy taste - so it is a lot better (in my opinion) if it is cooked savory rather than sweet.

A real easy thing to do would be to throw some minced garlic in olive oil on the stovetop - then toss in the rinsed quinoa and sautee until the grain is golden. Then add vegetable stock to it, and a little soy sauce. Cook for about 15 - 20 minutes until the liquid is abosrbed.

This is a very simplified version of the recipe I posted earlier - but it will give you an idea of what the grain tastes like, and it doesn't take a whole lot of prep time.

Thanks Michelle, hope your having a good week end

Hey Rosie,

Another way my wife and I cook the quinoa when we're in a hurry is to put allof the ingredients in the same pot with it and bring it up to a boil cover it and reduce it to a very low simmer until all ofthe liquid is absorbed and then we tend to leave it on for a little bit longer to give it that character and texture that we're so used to in our grains. We don't think there's many worse things than soggy grains so we remedy that by seasoning them well and not over saturating them.

Unlike a lot of the recipes, where they will say 2 parts liquid to 1 part grain, we've found that the flavor is far more intense when we add more like 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 parts liquid to 1 part grain. It keeps the flavor from being diffused too far into the dish.

Some of the things you may use in your quinoa are slivered tri-color peppers, onions, garlic, peas, raisins, cilantro, mint, etc.

Let me know how that turns out.

I made quinoa this week to accompany some adzuki beans. I just cooked the quinoa in beef broth instead of water and added some garlic & onion powder. Veggie broth would work just as well, I'm sure. I use it, too, but I had a can of beef broth on hand.

Sorry veggies, I'm still omnivorious.

Maybe I'll give it another try.

I am happy to say that I baked traditional macaroni and cheese for a pot-luck last week with gluten free quinoa and cornmeal noodles, and it was a big hit. The macaroni noodles were new at my local coop, and the brand name is "Ancient Harvest." They also had quinoa and cornmeal lasagna pasta which I would like to try...

Shay

Niice Shay,

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to see if I can find that over this way. Sounds very interesting and tasty.

Did the noodles take any getting use to? or did they taste like regular pasta?


How would you describe them?

Good question, Jason. The noodles were on the firm side (perhaps one could experiment with cooking them a little longer?)and had a slight cornmeal flavor. I also used Quinoa flour instead of wheat flour for the cheese sauce, which turned out slightly thicker, but just as tasty as the traditional sauce.

Although I topped it with Japanese bread crumbs, if I had had the extra time, I would have ground up some spelt bread for the topping, to make it completely wheat free.

Let me know if you try the noodles - I'd love to hear about some other successes with the mac and cheese, as well as other uses...

Shay