Quinoa - HELP?!

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Island_Style20
Island_Style20 Posts: 98 Member
in Recipes
So I ended up with this huge bag of quinoa that I've never used before, but figured I'm all day I should make something with it. Does anyone have any simple recipes? I don't have all that much stuff in my fridge/pantry and would like to be able to just make do with what I do have - so send recipes my way please!!
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  • sustainablehealth
    sustainablehealth Posts: 9
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    I love Rebecca Katz, she is an amazing uber healthy, uber tasty chef. Her cookbooks are great. Try this recipe! It's great!

    http://www.guideposts.org/video/recipes/healthy-cook-couscous-quinoa-salad-healthy-cook
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
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    It's pretty easy to use it in any recipe you would use rice in, you can put it in casseroles if the little seed rings prove freaky, I make a Quinoa veggie salad that is just making pasta salad and substituting quinoa for the noodles. Mixed with rice it is less noticeably different so with my family I find it easier to sneak it in that way and get them some extra nutrients, lol. I made a "rice pudding" with it once that was pretty tasty, haven't tried making a tapioca/quinoa dessert instead of tapioca/rice which is what i used to do. Anyway, there's a few ideas.
  • molzeppa
    molzeppa Posts: 8 Member
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    If you search the recipe board for quinoa, you'll find a bunch of posts with recipes.
    Good luck! I'm going to try one I found soon. :)
  • beccabur
    beccabur Posts: 4
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    Not a simple recipe (lots of ingredients, lots of dicing) but oh so good!!

    http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/08/mango-and-black-bean-quinoa-salad.html

    Also, consider using quinoa instead of spaghetti with traditional marinara/meat sauce. Quinoa is NOT a low calorie food but it's a super healthy food and won't spike your blood sugar.

    One hint when cooking it..... always rinse it in cold/cool water first. Some say it can take on a bitter taste otherwise. Also it's about a 2 to 1 (water to dry quinoa) ratio when cooking. 1 cup of quinoa makes 3 cups cooked. Salt goes a long way with quinoa so go easy there.
  • Amy1N
    Amy1N Posts: 10
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    You can use quinoa just like you would use rice. You can use it to thicken up a soup. You can put it in a salad. You can mix it up with some eggs. It's very versatile. Since you've never used it before, you should check out this site: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-quinoa-63344

    There are lots of recipes for quinoa on there too. If you just do a search, tons of recipes will pop up.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    You can pretty much take any rice or pasta recipe and use quinoa instead of the rice or pasta. My favorite way to it is cooking it in vegetable broth and seasonings (basil and tarragon are my favorites), then melting vegan cheese on it (like daiya brand, yum). You could use real cheese if you like that...or you can make it like a baked potato, sour cream and butter and bacon and green onions, etc...or make it like stir fry and add veggies and tofu (or meat)...it's very versatile and an excellent source of protein and all your amino acids. The instructions normally call for it to be cooked in water, but you can make it super delicious just by cooking it in something other than water...like broth...or watered down soup...or a water/wine mix...start with whatever flavors you like and go from there...
  • judcost
    judcost Posts: 33 Member
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    I actually had Quinoa for the first time this week end. My friend did it in the rice cooker (1 portion Quinoa with 2 portion water). She sautéed mushroom and brocoli (i would add onions and green onion or any other type of veggie you like) then she stir the cooked Quinoa with the sautéed veggies. I personally would add herbs for more taste. We ate it with salmon. Hope this helps.
  • rachelmorgan77
    rachelmorgan77 Posts: 131 Member
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    I love quinoa - I find it the easiest thing to make in my pantry right now. So here's what I do... simploy boil your quinoa in some chicken broth (you can use water, but the broth improves the taste). Then you saute some veggies - I use whatever I have laying around - mushrooms, eggplant, tomatoes, squash, okra, celery, etc. with some garlic. Once both of those are done, mix them together with some parmesan cheese. All done! You can also toast your quinoa before you boil it, it enhances the flavor a little, but it just depends on your time limit.
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
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    Quinoa's awesome as a stuffing - I did quinoa stuffed bell peppers last week. Cook some quinoa, some ground beef, and whatever veggies you like, mix together, season, and stuff in bell pepper halves. Top with cheese and throw in the oven for 8 minutes to get the cheese nice and melted.
  • rmhand
    rmhand Posts: 1,067 Member
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    When making Quinoa make sure you rinse it in a mesh strainer first, there is a bitter coating on it that rinses off with water. Just rinse it under running water for a few minutes then cook it as directed.
  • rasmu2
    rasmu2 Posts: 2
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    cook quinoa following the direction. Once cooked set aside. Cut up onion and garlic and red bellpeppers (or any other veggies you have in the house, cut into tiny pieces). Take a stirfry pan (or any pan) put in a tablespoon or two, depending on how much you are cooking, of olive oil let it cook for 5 minutes (to your taste) and add quiona. (Take one cup of quiona and one cup of veggies)

    Quinoa is like tiny pasta, it has no flavor, so you can add anything to it, like homemade pesto with chicken.

    Hope that helps.
  • eleqtriq
    eleqtriq Posts: 76 Member
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    I use it just like rice. I make Spanish/Mexican rice with it when serving tacos.
  • _Wits_
    _Wits_ Posts: 1,286 Member
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    Very easy to make and versatile!

    Cook via the package instructions (I sometimes cook it in broth instead of water for extra flavor)

    Great with some savory herbs added, sauted onions, peppers...I add it to a lot of stuff. Love love love.

    And yes, def rinse it. I went through many bags of quinoa before I realized I was missing this important step lol. Quite a difference in taste =p
  • embersfallen
    embersfallen Posts: 534 Member
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    Do you like Thai/spicy stuff?

    One of my favorite things, is cook the quinoa with a touch of coconut oil ( you can use olive oil too) in the water..along with a lil' chicken broth... and some thai chili garlic sauce/ green curry paste...and just because i like it... dried basil. LOL. If i have a sweet potato, i usually do half a serving of a cut thin sweet potato ( in the broth mix with the quinoa... i'm a microwave girl most of the time LOL ) , and half a serving of the quinoa...

    Add some cooked chicken...and stir fry frozen veggies...( snap peas, onions, peppers, brocolli etc) ...

    L O V E I T! SO tasty... it makes it kinda of like a thai inspired soup...and the flavors go great together!
  • eburgcarol
    eburgcarol Posts: 2
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    Simple Quiona

    2 cups low fat chicken broth
    1 cup Quinoa

    Put both in a pot, bring to boil, turn down to simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes. Add veggies and herbs during cooking. Garlic is good too. Leftovers are good in soup.:smile:
  • jennewbury
    jennewbury Posts: 10
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    I put it in EVERYTHING! Pasta, stir fry, burgers, sauces :) They are pretty yummy!
  • Alliwan
    Alliwan Posts: 1,245 Member
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    i use it any place id use bread crumbs, couscous, rice, etc. We use it in stuffed peppers, eat it with brocolli and chicken and lemon juice, on covered baked pork chops, etc. Its great stuff!
  • Island_Style20
    Island_Style20 Posts: 98 Member
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    Thanks everyone. I ended up making quinoa/black bean burgers that ended up delicious! Still have a whole bag of it though so will try out your ideas!
  • babydoll315
    babydoll315 Posts: 30 Member
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    So I ended up with this huge bag of quinoa that I've never used before, but figured I'm all day I should make something with it. Does anyone have any simple recipes? I don't have all that much stuff in my fridge/pantry and would like to be able to just make do with what I do have - so send recipes my way please!!

    I eat it like rice. I rinsed it, sauteed it in a tiny bit of olive oil so that it got toasty and then added water according to package instructions and boiled. I sprinkled a little bit of chicken boullion powder into it before boiling and it came out really good!
  • rlw911
    rlw911 Posts: 475 Member
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    Could you give the quinoa/black bean burger recipe or post the link, please and thank you? :smile:

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