Ok, Mystery Veg – Part 7 was not a vegetable, nor a fruit, as I said. It’s quinoa.
Quinoa is often thought of as a cereal or grain, but it’s actually it’s a seed – a species related to beets, spinach and even tumbleweeds. Apparently the leaves are also edible.
I had heard a few people talking about it on the BTV forums as an alternative to rice or pastas and even using it for a breakfast food similar to oats, so on my latest trip to the Wedge Co-Op, I decided to give it a shot. The stuff I bought was organic red quinoa and it runs about $3.50 a pound… I bought just under a pound and got a bit more than two cups.
Cooking it was easy, a ratio of 1-part quinoa to 2-parts water in my rice cooker. BUT, I had to stop it early cause it cooked off the water and hadn’t turned itself off yet. You can also cook it in a normal pot just as you would rice it seems.
It’s kinda funky looking when cooked, the hulls sort of break open and there are these little rings that come out. And it really increases in volume. My 1 cup of raw quinoa gave me just over 4 cups once cooked.
The cooked quinoa has a bit of a nutty flavor to it. Mild, but pleasing. I haven’t done much with it yet… but what I did to start was a sort of pilaf I guess. I sauteed some chopped celery and onion in a bit of olive oil (bit over 1/2 cup of each I suppose), then added 2 cups of the cooked quinoa and stirred it up, and just cause I had them sitting there I tossed in about 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts.
Brought some of this for lunch today, and didn’t get a chance to eat it cause of a business meeting… came home and had some tonight… nuked it, gave it a lil butter… and all I can say is YUM.
It’s not really a nutty flavor, but kinda? Closest thing I can associate it to right now is wild rice. I need to get more, cause I have a feeling this is going to become a must-have staple for me. I think I got about 2 cups for the pound I bought, which cooks up to 8-10 cups… so yer looking at less than a quarter per serving, and it’s about 12-14g of protein. So recipes will likely be appearing on formerfatdudes.com before too much longer.
1 comment so far ↓
Yup – LOVE Quinoa. Great in place of cous cous or rice – I look forward to some recipes as I mostly just mix it with whatever is laying about like you did!
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