Quinoa?

[jeninok]

I have been trying to add some Quinoa to our diets, as a substitute for some of the rice and pasta, and in prep to try gluten free at some point soon.

 

Tonight I have a veggie soup that I flavored with Italian type seasonings, and have some tiny mini meatballs to drop into DS and DH bowls. But I would also like to add quinoa as a substitute for the pasta that is normally in minestrone.

 

Would you all cook it first, then stir in?

 

Or can I just add some to the simmering pot the last half hour or so?

 

What else do you do with quinoa? I made some tabouli with it last week and DH liked it, but DS wouldn't touch it!

 

ETA: I am not always so good with cooking simple grains, seriously I ruined two pots of rice last week, But managed to whip up a lemon garlic parmesan cream sauce from scratch without a recipe.

[jessicamcc]

I've added cooked quinoa to meatloaf instead of breadcrumbs and it worked out good.

[Erica in OR]

We bought some to see what we could do with it and have added it to soups without cooking it first. Your suggestion of adding it to the simmering pot for about half an hour sounds like what we've been doing.

 

I'd be interested to hear what else we could do with it too.

 

Erica in OR

[jeninok]

I've added cooked quinoa to meatloaf instead of breadcrumbs and it worked out good.

NM. I'm clearly tired today! I will have to try this.

[garddwr]

Make sure you rinse it well first. Quinoa has a saponin (soap-like) layer on the outside that makes the grain somewhat bitter and hard to digest. I find it best to soak the grain for 20 minutes or more, then rinse, but you can just rinse and cook.

[QueenCat]

Make sure you rinse it well first. Quinoa has a saponin (soap-like) layer on the outside that makes the grain somewhat bitter and hard to digest. I find it best to soak the grain for 20 minutes or more, then rinse, but you can just rinse and cook.

 

 

I buy it pre-rinsed :)

[gingersmom]

The only thing I have done with Quinoa is dump it in the garbage can. I have tried it in several different recipes and it just grosses me out.

 

Sorry I wasn't more helpful. :001_smile:

[nmoira]

It'll be fine if you cook it in the simmering soup for about 20 minutes.

 

I'm not a fan of quinoa as a grain bed like rice, but I don't mind it terribly in cold salads.

 

ETA: I buy pre-rinsed as well. It's not something I like enough to spend any extra time in preparation.

[jeninok]

 

I buy it pre-rinsed :)

 

 

I bought some that said pre rinsed too, but I rinsed it anyway and quite a bit of film and floaty stuff came off. Tonight I just tossed some into the soup pot, it seems to be cooking fine, but certainly doesn't add any bulk. That is probably a good thing though, since I am essentially handing DS a bowl of vegetables in broth for dinner, Im not sure a large amount of new texture/flavor would go over very well!

 

The good news is that in 2 weeks of eating at home 99% of the time, and not dieting but making sure to add tons of produce and healthy fats, I have lost 5 of the pounds that I had gained this fall while all the moving and job change chaos was going on. I also had to tighten those red drawstring things on the inside waistband of DS jeans.

[VeganCupcake]

I eat it for breakfast with fruit and nut butter almost every morning--but the rest of the family is not really wild about it, so I don't usually serve it to them.

[jeninok]

Do you think it would do well mixed in with steel cut oats?

 

ETA: The soup was really really good, it had chicken broth, carrots, kale, onions, garlic, green beans, tomatoes, celery, and green bell pepper....all the odds and ends of produce that I need to use up out of the fridge.

Then I used about 1/4 pound ground beef and 1 egg with breadcrumbs to make tiny meatballs, and tossed in about 1/2 cup quinoa.

 

DS ate two big bowls full, there is tons left over, and I think it probably cost about 4.00 to make the giant pot full. I couldn't taste the quinoa at all, but I do think it helped make it more filling.

[6packofun]

I've tried it a few ways and I mostly like it as a cold salad with a vinaigrette, tomato, cucumber, and feta cheese. Warm, I do like it with parsley and Parmesan (as I would eat couscous), but that's about it. lol

[Kathleen in LV]

I found this great recipe for a quinoa-broccoli-cheese casserole. (Thank you Pinterest!)

 

http://eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/blast-from-the-past-with-a-new-twist/

 

It's pretty easy, and tastes really good. I go heavy on the broccoli & cheese.

 

It's good for people who, like my husband, are a little skeptical about trying quinoa. He was very pleasantly surpised at how good it was in this dish.

[Stacia]

I rinse & cook them, then add sauteed leeks & onions to them. Then, I top it w/ a variety of items (beans, various steamed veggies, fish/chicken/beef) serve it as a one-dish main dish. Yum.

 

I also have a recipe I recently made that had stuff like broccoli, almonds, raisins, etc... in it. I served it as a side w/ fish. Yum. I added the leftovers to a cold salad the next day. Also good. (I can post the recipe later. Don't have it handy right now.)

 

ETA: Recipe here:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/spiced-cod-with-broccoli-quinoa-pilaf-00000000049718/index.html

[Crimson Wife]

I learned the hard way not to use quinoa in crockpot soups/stews because it will disintegrate into mush. I tried to make a gluten-free version of beef & barley soup with quinoa and while it tasted okay, the texture was all wrong.