Quinoa has been enjoyed in its home country of South America for over 3000 years. Recently countries outside South America have also started selling quinoa to an ever growing market. It seems to be widely available over the counter in most food shops now. If not you can always buy it online.
What is quinoa?
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Quinoa is often called a grain and is usually catalogued in the grain section of shops. It comes from the same plant family as spinach and you can eat the leaves in the same way. You can eat the leaves as well as the seeds. Of course the leaf version is only available where it is grown as it does not store or travel well. The seed version however is increasing in production and is recognised by nutritionists as one of the most beneficial foods in terms of mineral and vitamin content.
What is Quinoa Like?
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Quinoa seeds are quite small and have a hard shell to them. The standard quinoa seed is a pale cream colour .You can occasionally get hold of red and black quinoa seeds aswell. You can buy it in small packs and it is usually ready to cook. You can replace any favourite rice dish you have with quinoa very easily. You will find that it adds its own character to any recipe you use it with.
How do you cook Quinoa?
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The simplest way of preparing quinoa is to cook it on the hob in boiling water. The proportions for cooking are 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. All the water will be absorbed by the Quinoa. Some quinoa still has a coating of bitter tasting saponins. In this case you need to pre-rinse the quinoa to remove this coating before cooking. Most shops now sell without the coating.
Once you have cooked the quinoa you can add it as a base for meat dishes instead of rice. You can also include it salads and soups. It takes on the flavour of the foods you cook it with and adds it own little bite to the taste.
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When the quinoa is cooked you get a little “tail” that is the germ of the seed. This has a very pleasant crunch to it when you eat it. It has been thought of as having a nutty feel and taste. I’m not sure I agree but quinoa does taste good.
You can microwave quinoa and put it in casseroles as a thickening agent. To expand the usefulness of this superfood companies are now producing quinoa flour and flakes. You do have to go careful with the quinoa flour because it is not a straight substitue for wheat flour.
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What is special about Quinoa?
There are a number of things that make quinoa special. Being Gluten free you can include it into almost any special diet and it will not cause any health complications. Vegans and vegetarians eat it to give them the amino acids that quinoa contains. Because it realeases the carbs slowly over time it is know to benefit a number of food related health problems.
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