Quinoa vs Cous Cous

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Replies

  • stephv38
    stephv38 Posts: 203 Member
    You need to rinse quinoa before cooking. It helps with the kind of bitter taste it can have.
  • zoodocgirl
    zoodocgirl Posts: 163 Member
    "Healthy" is a subjective term. I am a vegetarian who doesn't consume a lot of dairy but I eat beans, legumes and vegetables regularly. It is very healthy for me to eat seitan made out of wheat gluten in order to meet my protein macros.
    I rely on wheat for a percentage of my protein intake.
    Just pulled another bag of couscous out of the cupboard. One ingredient: whole wheat couscous. 13 grams of protein per 100 grams for 370 calories. I realize I'm not comparing apples with apples:). I'm comparing couscous with quinoa.

    And perhaps my definition of what is healthy is different than the Op's. I would think that pure semolina wheat granules would be considered healthy even by the clean eating types. Wheat has such a bad rap these days.
    [/quote]

    I feel ya. I'm certainly not anti-wheat or anti-gluten either, and like you, a mostly-vegetarian. I was only pointing out that the previous poster wasn't comparing cous cous to quinoa. She was comparing cous cous + garbanzo beans + quinoa to quinoa.
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    I say couscous (one word, btw) is MUCH tastier than quinoa.
  • Hannah_Hopes
    Hannah_Hopes Posts: 273 Member
    i don't know. but they are both really fun to say.

    :laugh: :flowerforyou:
  • mike_ny
    mike_ny Posts: 351 Member
    They're like apples and oranges for comparison.

    Cous cous is a form of pasta. Whether you get whole wheat or regular, it's still pasta made from wheat. Nutritionally it's the same as pasta. It is super easy and fast to cook, though

    Quinoa is a seed that has all the essential amino acids (protein). Nutritionally, quinoa is a slam dunk compared
    to pasta. Cooking it is similar to rice, and always rinse it it a fine screen colander prior to cooking to remove any of the natural soapy flavored coating that it might still have on it.

    For taste and recipes it's a matter of preference. Both have their places. I have quinoa more often, but cous cous can't be beat when you want to eat in 15 minutes instead of 30-45.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    ... also quinoa has a sharp nutty flavor and a scratchy texture that hurts the roof of my mouth, so I really have to be in the mood to eat it, but couscous always tastes good.

    It shouldn't be scratchy, you may want to cook it longer and use more liquid. It should come out almost the same texture as rice.

    Agreed. I cooked mine for 15 mins. It did not come out scratchy at all. Follow the directions on the box or add more water and let it simmer longer
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    They're like apples and oranges for comparison.

    Cous cous is a form of pasta. Whether you get whole wheat or regular, it's still pasta made from wheat. Nutritionally it's the same as pasta. It is super easy and fast to cook, though

    Quinoa is a seed that has all the essential amino acids (protein). Nutritionally, quinoa is a slam dunk compared
    to pasta. Cooking it is similar to rice, and always rinse it it a fine screen colander prior to cooking to remove any of the natural soapy flavored coating that it might still have on it.

    Yeah, I was a bit surprised that people don't seem to grasp that. Like there's some 100% couscous bush out there being harvested in the ME.
  • brraanndi
    brraanndi Posts: 325 Member
    Tastewise in my opinion -

    Couscous doesn't have a real flavor of it's own so it's pretty easy for me to dump veggies, make a sauce, etc and have an easy dinner. My husband on the other hand hates this and says it can sometimes taste like maltomeal.

    Quinoa has a nutty flavor which I am not a fan of so I simply don't use it.

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