Quinoa - The Wonder Grain

Several years ago, when my husband was first diagnosed with a wheat allergy, I began searching for suitable replacements for my baking and cooking. I had seen bags of Quinoa in the grocery store before but never paid very much attention to it. After reading a cookbook geared towards allergen-free baking and reading about Quinoa, I decided to try it out. Wow! This is one tasty and handy ingredient to keep in the pantry. We've learned how to make tortillas (so easy) with Quinoa flour, use it in all of our soups and stews, and enjoy hot Quinoa cereal with maple syrup on chilly winter mornings. I've also found commercially made Quinoa crackers which can be crushed up for breading on meats and can turn out a quick crust for desserts.

Quinoa is one of the precious few vegetable sources of a complete protein complement. It contains all of the necessary amino acids that humans need in thier diet. This is great news for vegans and vegetarians as well, because it really adds some variety and flexibility to the diet. For those who are allergic to soy or don't like the taste, they will be pleasantly surprised by the light and slightly nutty flavor of Quinoa. For those who cannot tolerate barley, you can substitue with Quinoa and in most dishes (like soups), it won't change the flavor at all. It just adds superior nutrition and great texture.

Complete Nutritional Profile of Quinoa here

One note about using Quinoa in soups and stews - it looks a little weird when cooked. Kind of like tiny, white, curly hairs. That's the best way I know of to describe it. It doesn't have an odd texture in your mouth or anything like that, it just is funny looking.

Also, most books say that Quinoa flour isn't really great for breading, but I've discovered that if you cook it first (like a cracker or torilla) and then smash it up, it works really well!

Raw Quinoa fresh off the plant has a very strong bitter coating of saponins. Most Quinoa that you buy in stores has had this coating striped off before packaging. Mechanical abrasion is used to remove it but you still need to rinse the whole berries before you cook them. Prepackaged quinoa has usually been polished or pre-rinsed, but relying on preprocessing is risky. Saphonin dust often remains in polished grain and it does not taste pleasant.

To clean, put the quinoa into a fine strainer and run water through it, or stir it in a bowl of cold water and pour it through a clean kitchen towel. Repeat the process until the water runs clear and is no longer sudsy. This is not necessary with Quinoa flour.

My Easy and Delicious Vegetable Soup Crock Pot Recipe

In the morning, fill your crockpot about half full with prepared vegetable broth, turn the pot on high and add a handful of washed whole Quinoa, 1/4 cup of dry brown rice (not minute or instant rice), a Tablespoon of wild rice, a handful of mixed dry beans (I like mini fava beans, white beans, kidneys, garbanzo beans, and anasazi beans), 1 cup of chopped carrot, 1/2 cup of chopped celery, and add in whatever other veggies you'd like - we use torn spinach leaves, parsley, diced turnips and beets, and onions. Season with just a touch of sea salt, some black pepper, and celery salt. Let it simmer all day and viola' perfect dinner soup! One tip - if you want to add peas, wait until a few minutes before serving and then just toss in some frozen ones, that works the best.