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Quinoa - The Mother Grain


Quinoa (keen-wah). 

I usually make salads with it, but I have started dry grinding it in my Vitamix dry blade jug and adding the fine powder to smoothies and porridge. My next project is to make bread with it.

I love it, even the sound of it and I am trying to incorporate it into more meals. It is known as a superfood and if you read on you will find out why.




Quinoa
  • First off, it is pronounced keen-wah. I love the way that sounds!
  • The Incas used it for thousands of years. They named it the 'mother grain'.
  • It is actually a seed, not a grain.
  • Unlike rice or wheat, quinoa is a complete protein that contains all 9 essential amino acids.
  • It is high in dietary fibre, phosphorus, copper, zinc and iron. 
  • It contain Vitamins E and Vitamin B2,
  • It's high in magnesium and riboflavin (B2), which can help migraine sufferers.
  • It contains Lysine which is especially important in tissue growth and repair.
  • It's low fat. One cup of cooked quinoa contains just 3.4g fat, 222 calories and 9g of protein.
  • It contains 5 times more calcium than animal protein and 9 times more iron than that found in a single serving of meat.
  • It's a pro-biotic and feeds the good bacteria called ‘microflora’ in the intestines.
  • It's a good source of insoluble fiber, promoting healthy elimination processes, helping maintain colon health and preventing the formation of gallstones
  • In its whole grain form, it is said to be effective in the prevention and treatment of artherosclerosis, breast cancer, diabetes and insulin resistance
  • Quinoa is gluten-free and you can grind it into flour to make bread.
  • Last of all, it tastes great, it has a slightly nutty taste.

Quinoa Recipes
photo/Tinned Tomatoes
  1. Sweet Potato and Pineapple Quinoa Waffles  (The Queen of Quinoa)
  2. Chocolate Quinoa Protein Cereal  (Glow Kitchen)
  3. Vegan Banana and Quinoa Pancakes (Glow Kitchen)
  4. Quinoa and Banana Muffins (Fuss Free Flavours)
  5. Greek Lemon and Quinoa Soup (The Taste Space)
  6. Mushroom & Quinoa Salad with Feta (Tinned Tomatoes)
  7. Carnival Stuffed Squash with Cranberry, Maple, Quinoa and Beans (The Taste Space)
    photo/The Taste Space

  8. Quinoa with Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Leeks & Slivered Almonds (Gluten-Free Goddess)
  9. Portabello Mushrooms Stuffed with Quinoa (Lisa's Kitchen)
  10. Mushroom and Mixed Grain Risotto  (Fuss Free Flavours)
  11. Quinoa and Pea Spice Croquettes  (Cook Republic)
  12. Quinoa Wraps with Sweet Potato, Tofu Feta and a Sweet Tahini Dipping Sauce (The Taste Space)
  13. Black-Eyed Pea and Quinoa Croquettes with a Creamy Mushroom Sauce (Lisa's Kitchen)
  14. Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins with Quinoa (Calla's Cokbook)

Disclosure: Vitamix sent me a Vitamix Dry Blade to try out. I was not required to write a positive review and any opinions expressed are my own.

20 comments

  1. Lovely photo Jac. We eat quinoa as our grain of choice. It tastes good, is easy to cook and is so good for you - an all round win. We've grown it a few times too, but it's too much of a faff to winnow and then clean off the bitter saponins.

    I bought a bag of quinoa flour once, but for some reason I thought it made things a little bitter so decided I wouldn't use it again. Will be interested to find how you get on.

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    1. Hey Choclette, I will be mixing the flour with other flours I think. Growing your own. You are keen :)

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  2. Thank you Jac, it seeems I always mispronounce it!! hehe!!

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    1. I didn't have a clue at first, but now I quite enjoy saying quinoa, just for the heck of it :)

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  3. Awesome post! I LOVE quinoa & I was searching for some good quinoa recipes lately. We had quinoa at least twice a week; Great that I can find all the yummy recipes here. Thanks for sharing! :)

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    1. Glad it has inspired you Kit. I really must eat it more often. I slip a bit in the winter.

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  4. Great idea to use quinoa to make a powder that you can put in smoothies and stuff.

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    1. Thanks TB, I had been thinking about it for a while before I got my dry blade.

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  5. I love quinoa - what a great collection of recipes!

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    1. Thanks Pam, I was impressed when I saw all the amazing recipes out there. It was hard to narrow it done to just a few.

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  6. Thanks for sharing my recipe as well as all the other ones :) Jessica from Calla's Cookbook

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  7. Ooh Keen wah, I will be saying it all day now..the correct way. Lovely recipes and health benefits.

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  8. He he, keen wah! I can't continue to call it quoin-noah then?

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  9. I did know how to pronounce it and I have tried it, but I wasn't as taken with it as some of your other commenters, maybe I shall have to try it again with some of the recipes you recommended

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    1. Ach well, you can only try. I have taken a liking to bulgar wheat recently too.

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  10. I eat a lot of quinoa since I have started freezing portioned baggies of it. My post-run breakfast: mix some cooked quinoa with two eggs and then fry in coconut oil in pancake shapes. I would love to try using quinoa as a flour. I hope to hear how you get on.

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    1. Freezing it is a good idea Sarah. Alas my freezer is teeny. I will blog about how I get on with the quinoa flour :)

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I love reading comments, so thank you for taking the time to leave one. Unfortunately, I'm bombarded with spam, so I've turned on comment moderation. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can and respond to them. Don't panic, they will disappear when you hit publish. Jac x