Quinoa has been enjoyed in its home country of South America for over 3000 years. Recently countries outside South America have also started selling quinoa to an ever growing market. I live in the UK and have seen quinoa in quite a few places including supermarkets in the health food section and in dedicated health food shops.

What is quinoa?

To find quinoa you will need to go to the grain section of the shop or catalogue. It comes from the same plant family as spinach and you can eat the leaves in the same way. The leaves can be cooke or eaten raw. You cannot buy these quinoa leaves in the shops as it doesn’t keep well. The original seed type is the most important type of quinoa because it holds all the nutritional benefits with it.

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What is Quinoa Like?

The Quinoa seeds are little oval seeds 2 – 3 mm in size. The standard quinoa seed is a pale cream colour .You can occasionally get hold of red and black quinoa seeds aswell. You can buy it in small packs and it is usually ready to cook. You can replace any favourite rice dish you have with quinoa very easily. Having said this it does have its own flavour and characteristics that make it quite versatile in the kitchen.

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How do you cook Quinoa?

To cook quinoa the easiest way you take some water and quinoa in a saucepan and bring it to the boil on the hob. Most people use twice the volume of water to the quinoa quantity. All the water will be absorbed by the Quinoa. Sometimes the slightly bitter saponin coating has not been removed. In this case you need to pre-rinse the quinoa to remove this coating before cooking. Nearly all the quinoa you cn buy now has been rinsed before packing but its better to be sure.

Once you have cooked the quinoa you can add it as a base for meat dishes instead of rice. There is no almost no limit to what you can do with it. You will find that it blends well with most foods as it absorbs the flavour of the accompanying ingredients.

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A well known feature is the little halo you get which is actually the germ that becomes more visible with cooking. It has a crunchy feel to the mouth. It has been thought of as having a nutty feel and taste. I’m not sure I agree but quinoa does taste good.

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You can microwave quinoa and put it in casseroles as a thickening agent. To expand the usefulness of this superfood companies are now producing quinoa flour and flakes. You cannot use exactly in the same way as normal flour but it is useful in the kitchen.

What is special about Quinoa?

There are a number of things that make quinoa special. One of the big things is that quinoa is gluten free which is great when so many people have wheat allergies. Vegans and vegetarians eat it to give them the amino acids that quinoa contains. Because of its carbohydrate makeup its helps sufferers of diabetes and otherr illnesses.

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