Since writing my four Quinoa cookbooks, “Coking with Quinoa”
“Quinoa for Families”, “Everyday Quinoa” and “Quinoa, Flakes, Flour and Seeds” plus a chapter in my “Superfoods” book, I have been amazed at just how popular the use of quinoa has become.
Quinoa is a wonderful ingredient to have in our pantry, it comes in grain, flake, flour and puffed form and lends itself to so many delicious ways to cook with whether savoury or sweet.
For anyone who is not familiar with Quinoa and its benefits this is an insight into what it is, how to prepare it and why it is good for our health.
What is Quinoa:
You may be asking what is Quinoa? For those of you that are not familiar with it, Quinoa pronounced Keen-wah is a grain, a grain that is considered to be almost a complete food, very high in protein, full of vitamins, totally gluten free, wheat free, cholesterol free, usually organic, of great benefit to everyone and just simply delicious in the many ways that it can be prepared.
Although commonly referred to as a grain it is in actual fact the seed of a leafy plant called Chenopodium Quinoa of the Chenopodium/Goosefoot plant family and is distantly related to the spinach plant.
I will always refer to it as a grain so as to give an idea of the size of it.
There are many varieties of quinoa and as mentioned before is available in grain, flakes, flour and puffed form.
The colour of the grain can vary but the most common are white, red and black which can be purchased separately or the three colours together in packs labelled tri-coloured quinoa.
Health Benefits of Quinoa:
Quinoa has the highest amount of protein than any other grain, it is a complete protein containing all 9 amino acids, with a particularly high content of the amino acid lysine which is essential in our diet for tissue repair and growth, making it in my mind a must for vegans who may be concerned about the amount of protein that exists in their daily diet.
Quinoa is also a very good source of manganese, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, copper, zinc, vitamin E, B6, riboflavin, niacin and thiamine. It has more calcium than cow’s milk, is an excellent antioxidant, rich in dietary fibre and has more iron than any other grain. It also has the highest content of unsaturated fats and a lower ratio of carbohydrates than any other grain plus a low Glycaemic Index level. The health benefits are impressive
What does Quinoa look like:
The grain(seed) itself is tiny and round with a fine band around it ending in what looks like a minute “tail”. As it cooks the “tail” spirals out and almost detaches itself. It becomes very distinct from the rest of the grain in the shape of an outer white ring that is clearly visible. When cooked the grain becomes very soft in the centre whilst the “tail” retains a bit of crunch giving it a texture all of its own.
When the grain is cooked it has a very delicate texture and it expands to almost four times its original volume which in the long run makes it quite economical.
How to cook Quinoa:
Quinoa should be cooked before consuming; it is not pleasant and should not be eaten uncooked.
Quinoa has a huge range of uses and lends itself beautifully to so many dishes. When cooked it has a very delicate texture and is lovely in soups, sweets, makes wonderful salads, pasta, breads and delicious vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. Perfect for and an absolute must for Vegetarians, Vegans and Coeliac Sufferers.
Quinoa is covered in a soapy like substance called “saponin” which creates a bitter coating on the grain,
This bitter coating is attributed to its survival over many centuries as it has protected it from very harsh growing conditions of the South American countries where it is mainly grown.
However due to its rise in popularity and high demand it is now grown in many other countries including Australia.
This bitter soapy coating must be removed before cooking the grain. Most grain available these days comes pre-washed and ready to cook. Even so it is a good idea to always rinse your quinoa before use as it may still have a slight residue of “saponin” still left on the grain which will make it taste bitter.
The flour and flakes also have the bitter taste and as they cannot be rinsed before use like the grain, it is important to add flavours when using them such as vanilla, herbs and spices.
This is all explained in my books.
Preparing the grain is very easy, it is simply a matter of placing it into a fine sieve, rinsing under cold running water and rubbing it lightly between your fingertips drain well and then it is ready to cook.
Make sure that you do use a very fine sieve as the grains are so tiny and will otherwise go straight through.
Quinoa cooks very quickly and you can cook it by simmering in water, stock, juice or milk.
One part quinoa, two parts liquid and ten minutes on the cooktop is usually all the time needed to prepare quinoa as a basic cooked grain. However, quinoa cooked in liquids other than water such as milk, juice or broths can take a little longer to cook. It can also be cooked in the microwave.
Cooked Quinoa will keep in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to a week which is great to have on hand for a quick nutritious salad or an addition to soups or other meals. It can also be frozen.
If you haven’t tried Quinoa yet I would really encourage you to do so and include it in your diet. It is really delicious and lends itself to many different ways of preparing and enjoying this wonderful and very nutritional ingredient.
These are three recipes from my very first Quinoa book, “Cooking with Quinoa”………. Enjoy!
Roasted Tomato and Fennel Soup with Basil and Garlic Pesto.
1½kg /3lbs 4oz, firm ripe tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 large fennel bulb
2 brown onions, peeled
1 head garlic, sliced in half
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly cracked black pepper
4 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock
80g (3oz) red quinoa grain, rinsed and drained
Pesto
2 cloves garlic
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large handful fresh basil leaves
Pre-heat oven to 190ºC/(375ºF) .
Cut the tomatoes into quarters, place in a deep baking dish and sprinkle with the sugar.
Cut fennel and onions in half, then slice and place together in a baking tray with unpeeled garlic.
Drizzle the vegetables with extra-virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place in the oven to roast. The fennel and onions will take about 30-40 minutes and the tomatoes could need 45-55 minutes.
Once cooked, remove skins from tomatoes and squeeze the garlic out of its skin; discard the skin.
Puree all the vegetables, then place in a saucepan with the stock and bring to the boil.
When soup begins to boil add the quinoa grain, reduce heat, cover and cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes until quinoa is soft.
Meanwhile make the pesto by blending all the ingredients together.
Remove the soup from the heat and stir in pesto. Adjust the seasoning and serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Alternatively you can serve soup as is with a dollop of pesto.
Serves 6-8
Note: This is one of my favourite soups and is absolutely delicious.
Lentil and Chilli Salad with Lime and Fresh Coriander
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cups water
2 x 400g/14oz cans brown lentils
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 shallots/scallions/spring onions
3 long red chillies
½ bunch fresh coriander/cilantro
Salt
Juice of 1- 1½ limes
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Place the quinoa into a small saucepan with the water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Rinse and drain lentils and place into a bowl with the red onion.
Top and tail shallots leaving quite a bit of the green part on and finely slice diagonally. Add to the bowl with the quinoa and finely sliced chillies (remove seeds if you wish).
Finely chop the stalks of the coriander and roughly chop the leaves, add to the salad and season with salt to taste.
Add the lime juice and olive oil, toss well and serve. Adjust the dressing if necessary.
Place in a serving dish and decorate with extra slices of chilli and coriander leaves.
Serves 6-8
Blueberry Friands
125g/4 oz almond meal
1 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
60g (2oz) quinoa flour
125g/4ozs unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggwhites
1 punnet fresh blueberries
Pre-heat the oven to 170º C/325ºF. Grease a 9 cup friand tin with butter.
Place the almond meal, icing sugar and quinoa flour in a bowl, using a whisk mix well breaking up any lumps of mixture that may form.
Lightly mix in the melted butter and vanilla extract.
Beat the eggwhites until foamy and soft peaks form, gently fold into the mixture.
Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared tin.
Place 6-8 blueberries around the centre of each friand and lightly press them down into the mixture.
Bake for about 25 minutes until lightly browned and cooked when a metal skewer comes out clean
Makes 9 Friands
Note: You can substitute the blueberries with raspberries or blackberries if you prefer.
Related Blog
Cookbook guaranteed to get you keen on Quinoa
SEPTEMBER 2011 -It's known as the supergrain. It is very high in protein, full of vitamins, gluten and wheat-free, cholesterol-free and usually organic. So it's only right quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) has a recipe book of its own.
read more »
Rena’s Recipe on Huey’s Kitchen
SEPTEMBER 2011 -One of Rena's fabulous Quinoa recipes was recently featured on Iain 'Huey' Hewitson Channel Ten's program Huey's Kitchen. You can now find the Quinoa Tabouleh recipe online.
read more »
Happiest days in the kitchen
MAY 2011 -For almost 30 years she has been developing recipes, teaching cooking classes and has released the cookbooks Greek Cooking and How to Prepare Stuffings. Her latest book Cooking with Quinoa was released last month...
read more »
Cherrybrook chef Rena Patten serves up delicious quinoa
APRIL 2011 -I had never tried the Bolivian supergrain quinoa until I met Cherrybrook cookbook author Rena Patten and now I am a huge fan. Pronounced "keen-wah", the grain (which is actually a seed) has been used for 5000 years and was much loved by the Incas...
read more »