Quinoa

[SteelBlue]

Pronounced "Keen Wah". I just discovered this "grain" recently when a friend recommended it to me. To be honest, in my 37 years of life I don't think I've ever even heard of it. But there it was in the bulk bins at my local grocery store. Anyway, it has a great nutty flavor is a great protein source, containing all essential amino acids. It cooks just like rice and you can substitute it for rice in any recipe with great results. I've been eating it in place of oatmeal in the mornings.

It is 3X more expensive than wheat, barley or oats, but that isn't saying much. It's still quite a cheap meal overall. Here's a blurb from Wikipedia (sorry Babs).

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and followed in third place by maize. In contemporary times this crop has come to be highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete food. This means it takes less quinoa protein to meet one's needs than wheat protein. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered as a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.

And here's the wikipedia article on quinoa for a general overview:

[TripletDaddy]

Wow, this is an awesome blast from the past. I ate so much of this on my mission in Bolivia....almost every day at lunch.

One, how in the world did you find this?

Second, if you are really wanting to get hardcore about Andino cuisine, try to locate some chunyo--freeze dried, blackened potatoes. they are disgusting, so on second thought, don't track it down.

One bit of clarification......quinoa is pronounced KEE-nu-ah, not keen-wah. Also, if you are speaking Quechua, the first syllable would require a moderate uvular pronunciation. This is hard to describe, but the best I can usually describe Quechua to folks is that it often requires a lot of clicking noises, just like in The Gods Must Be Crazy.

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

Wow, this is an awesome blast from the past. I ate so much of this on my mission in Bolivia....almost every day at lunch.

One, how in the world did you find this?

A friend of mine discovered it recently while reading a food article on a flight to Europe. Apparently it's growing in popularity stateside.

So, did you like the stuff or did eating it everyday turn you off to it forever? Also, do you have any tips for quinoa meals? So far I substitute it as rice or I just eat it like oatmeal.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

A friend of mine discovered it recently while reading a food article on a flight to Europe. Apparently it's growing in popularity stateside.

So, did you like the stuff or did eating it everyday turn you off to it forever? Also, do you have any tips for quinoa meals? So far I substitute it as rice or I just eat it like oatmeal.

I ate it a ton, but have a soft spot in my heart for Bolivian food because it brings back so many memories. I certainly will still eat it. There is a place here in OC that is run by Bolivians and it is one of the most authentic places I have eaten stateside. So I still eat Bolivian food, just the stuff that I like--no chunyo for me.

I rarely cooked on my mission. We ate at members or paid a lady to make our meals, which is fairly common in South American missions. So I do not have any recipes.

Quinoa was served as a sub for rice, as you indicated. It is a staple amongst the Quechua but is sometimes seen as folksy or "campesino" by city folks (Quechuas are seen a bumpkins, kind of like "hillbillies," so city dwellers dont want to eat hillbilly food). That being said, many Bolivians are only about 1 or 2 generations from native Quechua grandparents or great-grandparents, so eating it is in everyone's blood. I was lucky to serve amongst the Quechua for almost 7 straight months, so I ate more than my fair share.

My meals consisted heavily of fried eggs, chicken, pasta/rice/quinoa, potatoes, soup, and platano. I was actually pretty happy with my meals in my mission.

By the sounds of it, you have already eaten quinoa in many more interesting ways than I ever did.

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

It is a staple amongst the Quechua but is sometimes seen as folksy or "campesino" by city folks (Quechuas are seen a bumpkins, kind of like "hillbillies," so city dwellers dont want to eat hillbilly food).

That's what my friend was telling me. Kind of funny that it's catching on in the US in health food circles. Now you can say that you were quinoa before quinoa was cool.

[Surfah]

I have been eating quinoa for awhile now. My roommate is a health nut and has been cooking this in his rice cooker for sometime. I don't care much for the red quinoa though. I prefer rice. But my last name is also Chinese.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by surfah33

I have been eating quinoa for awhile now. My roommate is a health nut and has been cooking this in his rice cooker for sometime. I don't care much for the red quinoa though. I prefer rice. But my last name is also Chinese.

I've never met anyone named Chinese before.

Speaking of food, when are we going to meet at the Ft. Union Home Depot for brauts?

[Surfah]

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

I've never met anyone named Chinese before.

Speaking of food, when are we going to meet at the Ft. Union Home Depot for brauts?

Seriously we need to set that up.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by surfah33

Seriously we need to set that up.

I am free pretty much any weekday from noon-2:00.

Say the word and I'm there.