Miracle food!

[MyOwnWoman]

I've become hooked on quinoa!! Every morning I eat quinoa with chopped spinach, and I swear - I can't believe how good I feel compared to two weeks ago!

The hopeless depression that had me trapped a couple weeks ago is GONE. I've started losing weight. I have more energy, my body feels stronger, my brain sharper. Quinoa is high in tryptophan and I believe that is what has helped my mood so much. I mean, this morning I was dancing in the kitchen all by myself! I haven't changed anything else the past couple weeks - it must be the quinoa.

It's a seed of a plant related to spinach, chard and beets. And it's one of the few plant foods that is a complete protein, thus ideal for vegetarians.

Here's a discussion of quinoa on my second favorite Web site:
WHFoods: Quinoa

[MyOwnWoman]

Miracle food!

Oh - this morning I added a whole clove of crushed garlic to my quinoa and spinach (the spinach and garlic are uncooked, so of maximum nutrients). Whew! I feel so ALIVE.

[Finding My Self]

Miracle food!

That's brilliant MOW. I am so pleased for you. I will dig my box out of the cupboard! Can you remind mw how it is pronounced though....then I can 'talk the talk and walk the walk'!!!! Isn't it something like 'kee-now' or....?!

[MyOwnWoman]

Miracle food!

FMS - it's "keenwa". I hope it does as much for you as it has for me!

[lushy]

Miracle food!

MOW, I swear we were foodies seperated at birth. I have been on a huge quinoa kick in our house and in fact we will be having it again for dinner this evening with spinach. I LOVE it. Cook it in a little chicken broth and it is so good. I have the leftovers for breakfast as well because I cannot stand sweet stuff in the morning. Tonight I am going to add some cubed zucchini and shredded carrots to it and put on top of the spinach with a nice white fish. Yum!!!

[beatle]

Miracle food!

Some questions

Thanks MOW for that tip. I have long known about this "miracle" food (tho I must admit I thought it was a grain), but have only cooked it once or twice. Thank you for the reminder and the informative link.

Here are my questions:

1) Is it okay to cook it the day before and eat it in the morning, or does it lose some of its nutrients if you do not eat it right away? (I barely have time for a banana in the morning, much less cook up a pot of quinoa and spinach!)

2) Do you steam or fry the spinach (or put it in the pot with the quinoua)? And can you use frozen spinach? (fresh spinach is a rarity in the shops here.)

3) I have some quinoa in the pantry that is a few months past its best-by date. Do you think it matters?

Sorry for such trivial questions, but I am a novice at this.

[MyOwnWoman]

Miracle food!

Oh - Lushy, that reminds me - did you notice that CM has Heirloom Farms pomegranate juice on sale - 2/$5. I'm just having some with Gerolsteiner (my favorite naturally sparkling mineral water). YUM.

I'm going to have to try other ways with quinoa - with the fish sounds divine! And I've not tried it cooked in chicken broth - sounds good. Though I did make a chicken veggie soup and put leftover quinoa in it.

I make a pot of quinoa every 3-4 days and reheat each morning.

[beatle]

Miracle food!

oh, one more question...

any other suggestions for easy recipes using quinoa?

[beatle]

Miracle food!

ha ha, guess our posts crossed. But some of the questions remain pertinent.

[MyOwnWoman]

Miracle food!

Beatle - I answered one of your questions above, before I saw your post.
How sad that you can't get fresh spinach! I'd have to move. LOL
I chop a huge handful of fresh baby spinach and mix it with the hot quinoa so it's just wilted. I'm sure frozen would be fine... just don't cook it too much so you get max nutrients! Or are there any other greens you can get fresh? Chard maybe?

I wouldn't eat it if it's past the best by date. Grains and seeds can go rancid, and it's just not worth the risk of putting rancid food in your body (IMHO).

[lushy]

Miracle food!

Beatle I am not an expert but I think eating it the next morning is just as nutritious. I actually leave my spinach uncooked and just throw it in when the quinoa is cooked. It wilts down enough. Of course you could use frozen, I just prefer the texture of fresh. If you were to use frozen (thawed of course) I would mix it in while the quinoa is cooking to soften it up a little more once you have squeezed all of the water out of the spinach.

I have used quinoa that was past its best by date and it was fine. I guess cook it up and see if has an off taste. Cooking it in chicken broth really is yummy. And I saw a recipe to cook up quinoa, add whatever veggies you like and stuff red peppers with this mixture and bake. So much you could do with it.

Thanks for the pomegranate tip MOW. I will be going there today......

[MyOwnWoman]

Miracle food!

Beatle - put it in any soup. Like I said above, I added it to chicken soup instead of noodles or rice. it's so delicate and delightful in a brothy soup.

I'm going to look for more recipes... I have a couple good vegetarian cookbooks, I'm sure I'll find some good ones. I'll let you know.

[MyOwnWoman]

Miracle food!

We keep crossing posts!!

VERY IMPORTANT TIP: Rinse your quinoa very well before cooking. The seeds have a coating that acts as a natural insect repellant, and tastes very bitter if you don't rinse it.
I think that there may be some now that has somehow been cleansed of this - like maybe the bulk quinoa available where Lushy and I shop - but I rinse mine anyway, just to be sure.

[beatle]

Miracle food!

Thanks for the tips again. I have a pile of veg cookbooks (being a semi-vegetarian, with all-vegetarian kids), but I don't tend to use cookbooks much (too lazy, I suppose). I will however take a new peek at them. Certainly they will contain quinoa recipes. And we do adore stuffed peppers... never thought about using quinoa before. lovely tip.

[MyOwnWoman]

Miracle food!

I'm the same way with recipes, but I need to get over it. My daughter and I need some new dishes for dinner. I found a recipe in my moosewood cookbook for quinoa stuffed peppers. I think I"ll do that this week.