Quinoa vs Cous Cous

Zaniejane

I still say eat what you prefer to eat:

Just pulled my cous cous and quinoa out of the pantry:)

Yeah, the only ingredient in my true roots organic quinoa is organic quinoa,
My wildroots pearl harvest cous cous is made with wheat flour, garbanzo beans and funnily enough the last ingredient is red quinoa.
There is more fibre and iron in the quinoa. Wheat is a good good food IMO. It's just not very popular in 2013 with all the gluten free propaganda.

1/4 cup of quinoa has 5 g of protein and 170 calories
1/3 cup of cous has 6 g of protein and 170 calories

^ this is why I think I should eat the cous cous. I don't though. I bought this bag of cous cous in December and have hardly used it, but I eat the quinoa at least three times a week. My children make broccoli quinoa salad and I like to eat it as a side dish or in curried soups.

lisalsd1

I prefer the texture of quinoa over cous cous. I cook it the same way I would cook rice. If I want it plain, I usually use a low sodium broth. Sometimes, I'll cook it with tomato soup...or 1 part broth 1 part salsa (which is really good).

MiriCotton

My taste buds prefer Cous Cous, but Quinoa is super yummy! I often use it to substitute rice when making fried "rice." From what I've read Quinoa is actually a seed making it a complete protein which is why it's considered healthier.

zoodocgirl

I still say eat what you prefer to eat:

Just pulled my cous cous and quinoa out of the pantry:)

Yeah, the only ingredient in my true roots organic quinoa is organic quinoa,
My wildroots pearl harvest cous cous is made with wheat flour, garbanzo beans and funnily enough the last ingredient is red quinoa.
There is more fibre and iron in the quinoa. Wheat is a good good food IMO. It's just not very popular in 2013 with all the gluten free propaganda.

1/4 cup of quinoa has 5 g of protein and 170 calories
1/3 cup of cous has 6 g of protein and 170 calories

^ this is why I think I should eat the cous cous. I don't though. I bought this bag of cous cous in December and have hardly used it, but I eat the quinoa at least three times a week. My children make broccoli quinoa salad and I like to eat it as a side dish or in curried soups.

You're not comparing apples to apples here. Your "cous cous" is actually a blend of couscous (simply small pasta), garbanzo beans and quinoa, which you are comparing to..... quinoa alone. The protein in your couscous blend is primarily coming from the garbanzo beans and quinoa. The cous cous is just the pasta part. It's no more or less nutritious than any other pasta noodle.

I love the taste of both and cook with them frequently, but quinoa is certainly healthier (although currently fraught with socioeconomic issues for the growers of it who can no longer afford to eat their ancestral staple due to our mass consumption).

dbanks80

Ok I tried it and it is VERY good! I i like it better than cous cous. I like the texture the slight crunch to it!!!

JenSD6

Is quinoa easy to cook with?

Extremely. I generally make it in the rice cooker.

ashleymm625

You can stuff it in peppers with the usual suspect (feta, ground beef, etc)

thats what i did tonight with stewed tomatoes and ground turkey

ashleymm625

Ok I tried it and it is VERY good! I i like it better than cous cous. I like the texture the slight crunch to it!!!

glad you liked it!

Zaniejane

I still say eat what you prefer to eat:

Just pulled my cous cous and quinoa out of the pantry:)

Yeah, the only ingredient in my true roots organic quinoa is organic quinoa,
My wildroots pearl harvest cous cous is made with wheat flour, garbanzo beans and funnily enough the last ingredient is red quinoa.
There is more fibre and iron in the quinoa. Wheat is a good good food IMO. It's just not very popular in 2013 with all the gluten free propaganda.

1/4 cup of quinoa has 5 g of protein and 170 calories
1/3 cup of cous has 6 g of protein and 170 calories

^ this is why I think I should eat the cous cous. I don't though. I bought this bag of cous cous in December and have hardly used it, but I eat the quinoa at least three times a week. My children make broccoli quinoa salad and I like to eat it as a side dish or in curried soups.

You're not comparing apples to apples here. Your "cous cous" is actually a blend of couscous (simply small pasta), garbanzo beans and quinoa, which you are comparing to..... quinoa alone. The protein in your couscous blend is primarily coming from the garbanzo beans and quinoa. The cous cous is just the pasta part. It's no more or less nutritious than any other pasta noodle.

I love the taste of both and cook with them frequently, but quinoa is certainly healthier (although currently fraught with socioeconomic issues for the growers of it who can no longer afford to eat their ancestral staple due to our mass consumption).

"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.

zombieyoshi

... 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.

stephv38

You need to rinse quinoa before cooking. It helps with the kind of bitter taste it can have.

zoodocgirl

"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.
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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

I say couscous (one word, btw) is MUCH tastier than quinoa.

Hannah_Hopes

i don't know. but they are both really fun to say.

:laugh: :flowerforyou:

mike_ny

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

... 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

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

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.