Friday, February 13, 2009

One Grain at a Time

--Quinoa--
This super grain is grown in South America and gaining in popularity. White quinoa is mild and fruity, red quinoa is more nutty and black quinoa has a stronger bitter bite. When cooked, the germ emerges as a tiny, curly tail. Quinoa is versitle, gluten free and contains a balanced set of amino acids making it a complete protein. Perfectly suited for beginner grain users and easy to find at Sprouts, The Good Apple and many other health food stores.

Varieties:
Red, White, Black

Cost:
About 33 cents per half-cup serving--$3.00 per lb.
1 lb = 2.2 cups dry = 4.5 cups cooked = 3 cups flour

To Cook:
1 cup grain to 2 cups water. Simmer 15 minutes or Pressure 6 minutes on high, natural release.

To Store:
- Dry - indefinitely in an air tight container in a cool, dry place. For long term storage freeze for 48 hours before storing.
- Cooked - refrigerate for up to 10 days, or freeze up to 6 months.

To Use:
-Dry grains give crunch to granolas and baked goods.
-Cooked grains can be used by adding to soups, salads and breads.
-Cooked grains also make great pilafs and rice dishes.
-Eat cold or hot as a breakfast cereal, great with yogurt.
-Add cooked grains to any recipe with ground beef .
-Flour can be substituted for up to ¼ of the total in a recipe.

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) uncooked
Calories 370
Carbohydrates 64 g
Dietary fiber 7 g
Fat 6 g
Protein 14 g
Vitamin E 2.4 mg—12%
Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.4 mg--24%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.3 mg--19%
Niacin 1.5 mg—8%
Vitamin B6 0.5 mg--24%
Folate 184 mg--46%
Calcium 47 mg—5%
Iron 4.6 mg--25%
Magnesium 197 mg--49%
Phosphorus 457 mg--46%
Potassium 563 mg—16%
Zinc 3.1 mg --21%
Copper 0.6 mg—30%
Manganese 2.0 mg—102%
Selenium 8.5 mcg—12%

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for breaking this down for me. I am a total groupie!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! This really helped. Just bought a bunch after having it once at my moms and um... yeah... not totally sure what to do with it. Now I know!

    ReplyDelete

It's rude to eat and run. Humor me with conversation please!

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