Quinoa cooked ?

ladyark

I just bought some organic quinoa and and i made a big bowl of it to use during the week. My problem is im not sure how to log it or account for it .

It says 1 serving is 1/4 cup dry. Well i need to measure it cooked since i made a big batch. Is my serving size still a 1/4 cup cooked or less due to expansion? I find it confusing and i really want to log what i eat properly. Thanks for any help you can give me .

p.s. its definatly a taste to get used to. Ive tried it sprinkled on my salad cold ( not bad) and warm with veggies ( tolerable).

elinakalna

I absolutely love quinoa! Not easy to get in the supermarkets, but worth to look for. Don't think I would eat it plain tho.
Think my favorite recipe is form BBC good Food : http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10505/spiced-quinoa-with-almonds-and-feta
It is great for cooking in bulk to last couple days. Doesn't last very long in my house tho. I do add 200g of feta, calculated calories and added to MFP database.
I do use it instead of rice in many one pot dishes. There are quite a few good recipes of you look around.
If it tastes bitter, you should wash it before cooking. That rinses of saponines that gives it a bitter taste.

kat5556

When I make Quinoa I use 1 cup dry to 3 cups waters so then 1/4 cup dry ends up being 3/4 cup. I like to grill some veggies on the George Foreman (but you could do them on a regular grill too, probably even better) then diced them and add to the Quinoa with some spices. It's very good. Also you can add tomatoes, onions and black beans. SkinnyTaste.com has some other good recipes too.

I agree with the poster above - make sure you wash it first or it will be bitter. I use a strainer since it's so tiny - it will go right through a regular colander.

AnitraSoto

In the database, if you search "quinoa cooked" lots of things come up (like Bulk - Quinoa, Cooked). Looks like 1/4 cup dry makes 1 cup of cooked for about 222 calories :-)

ladyark

I absolutely love quinoa! Not easy to get in the supermarkets, but worth to look for. Don't think I would eat it plain tho.
Think my favorite recipe is form BBC good Food : http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10505/spiced-quinoa-with-almonds-and-feta
It is great for cooking in bulk to last couple days. Doesn't last very long in my house tho. I do add 200g of feta, calculated calories and added to MFP database.
I do use it instead of rice in many one pot dishes. There are quite a few good recipes of you look around.
If it tastes bitter, you should wash it before cooking. That rinses of saponines that gives it a bitter taste.

Im going to keep trying it different ways and i bought it pre rinsed so i didnt have to deal with that. I have found it at Walmart and publix buti got mine at whole foods.

I will check out the site but, still need help with the original question

JesterMFP

I prefer to log things like quinoa (and pasta, rice etc) dry, so I measure it first then cook it. Too late now, I know, but you might find that easier next time.

You should be able to find entries in the database for cooked quinoa though. I saw one for "Quinoa, cooked" that then had a measurement of "1 cup, dry" which makes no sense to me, but I'm sure most of the "cooked" entries will be correct for cooked quinoa. 1/4 cup dry would make a lot more than 1.4 cup cooked, so the nutritional content would be different. You could look at the data on http://nutritiondata.self.com and compare to get a more accurate estimation. They have both cooked and dry listed.

Did you make it plain? You might find it tastier if you cook it with stock/broth or add herbs/spices/seasoning to it. It's quite bland on its own, much like pasta or rice, it's better when you add something to it!

ladyark

In the database, if you search "quinoa cooked" lots of things come up. Looks like 1/4 cup dry makes 1 cup of cooked for about 222 calories :-)

Thanks...i did see that but wasent sure. Sometimes they have so many variations/ cals for the same thing. So i will stick to that what you wrote and use 1/2 cup cooked .

AnitraSoto

:-)

I love it with a little lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil dressing and then add feta cheese, chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley, chopped cucumbers and scallions.

Hubby (who is not on a diet) loooooooves it for dessert with a little butter or margarine, half and half, brown sugar, a touch of salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. I have tried this and it is amazing, but I would eat too much because it is so good!

wisters

Costco sells organic prewashed Quinoa in bulk! Plus, they have been selling a Quinoa salad that is pretty good too.

My personal fav Quinoa recipe so far:
1 part Quinoa (usually a cup)
2 parts chicken broth (low sodium)
sauteed mushrooms--usually a cup of diced, maybee 1.5 cups if I have it (any kind you like/can afford) in extra virgin olive oil (maybe a tablespoon of the oil is what I use)
minced garlic 1 tbsp I like a lot of garlic, and this can certainly be decreased
crumbled goat cheese 1/2 cup (feta works too)
1/3 to 1/2 an avocado

I prepare the the quinoa in the broth. Separately cook the mushroom, garlic and oil together. Stir that into the quinoa once it is cooked. I stir in the cheese and finally. Plate up my desired serving size (1/2 a cup or 1cup depending on if it is a side dish or a stand alone meal) desired and add the sliced avocado to the top and enjoy.

I will try to add the meal to my recipes with all of the nutritional info later if wanted