Quinoa



J

Jarkat2002

Guest
I have found a recipe for Peruvian Chicken Ragout that calls for Quinoa. I have never heard of this
grain before (I had to google it) and don't have it in my pantry (yet). I'm not even sure it's
considered a grain, some sites say yes, some say no. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup ... can I
substitute barley instead? Or rice? Would it still be 1/2 cup and would I cook it before adding it
to the soup? The recipe does not call for the quinoa to be precooked. Thank you! ~Kat

"I think I would like to call myself 'the girl who wanted to be God'. Yet if I were not in this
body, where would I be--perhaps I am destined to be classified and qualified. But, oh, I cry out
aginst it." --Sylvia Plath
 
"Jarkat2002" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have found a recipe for Peruvian Chicken Ragout that calls for Quinoa.
I
> have never heard of this grain before (I had to google it) and don't have
it in
> my pantry (yet). I'm not even sure it's considered a grain, some sites
say
> yes, some say no. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup ... can I substitute barley instead? Or
rice?
> Would it still be 1/2 cup and would I cook it before adding it to the
soup?
> The recipe does not call for the quinoa to be precooked. Thank you!

Oh man, quinoa is great! See if you can find it at your local grocery store (it is in mine). The
thing with quinoa is you have to rince it before cooking it. There is a bitter substance on the
surface that is thought to be produced by the grain (yes, it is a grain) to protect it from insects.
Once you rince it it is fine. Also, quinoa is one of the ancient grains and contains all the
essential amino acids. Therefore it is considered a complete protein.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Jarkat2002 <[email protected]> wrote:
>I have found a recipe for Peruvian Chicken Ragout that calls for Quinoa. I have never heard of this
>grain before (I had to google it) and don't have it in my pantry (yet). I'm not even sure it's
>considered a grain, some sites say yes, some say no.

If you have a Whole Foods Market or any natural food store that sells stuff in bulk, you are likely
to find it there. I like quinoa. It has a nice mouth feel, much firmer than rice or barley.

>The recipe calls for 1/2 cup ... can I substitute barley instead? Or rice? Would it still be 1/2
>cup and would I cook it before adding it to the soup? The recipe does not call for the quinoa to be
>precooked.

You would use it the same way you'd use rice. If you would pre-cook rice, then you should pre-cook
the quinoa. And rinse it (it has a slightly bitter flavor on the surface) after cooking.

You could also substitute couscous.

-A
 
>You could also substitute couscous.
>
>-A

ahhh ... thank you ... couscous I have! :D

~Kat

"I think I would like to call myself 'the girl who wanted to be God'. Yet if I were not in this
body, where would I be--perhaps I am destined to be classified and qualified. But, oh, I cry out
aginst it." --Sylvia Plath
 
>Oh man, quinoa is great! See if you can find it at your local grocery store (it is in mine). The
>thing with quinoa is you have to rince it before cooking it. There is a bitter substance on the
>surface that is thought to be produced by the grain (yes, it is a grain) to protect it from
>insects. Once you rince it it is fine. Also, quinoa is one of the ancient grains and contains all
>the essential amino acids. Therefore it is considered a complete protein.
>
>

I'll get some on my next food co-op trip! ~Kat

"I think I would like to call myself 'the girl who wanted to be God'. Yet if I were not in this
body, where would I be--perhaps I am destined to be classified and qualified. But, oh, I cry out
aginst it." --Sylvia Plath
 
If you're going for the authentic Peruvian dish, try to find quinoa.

It is pronounced keen-wa.

If you're going to get technical botanically, quinoa isn't a grain in that it isn't in the grass
family and doesn't have the same sorts of leaves or seeds that grass has. Other than that, it cooks
like a grain, looks like a grain, has the nutritional components of a grain and is found in the
grain section of the store. I call it a grain, and no one corrects me.

Look for quinoa in health food stores.

Rinse the quinoa first. Put it in a sauce pan with 3 times as much water. Cover. Bring to a boil.
Lower to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes. Lift cover and have a look (and taste). Sometimes it needs
a tad more water or a few more minutes to cook through. In other words, cook it like rice.

You could substitute cracked wheat (my first choice) or cous cous or kasha or short grain brown rice
(my second choice). Barley would be too soft.

Quinoa is a favorite of mine. In fact, my substitutions usually go the other way around. The recipe
will call for cous cous or cracked wheat, and I use quinoa instead. I make quinoa tabouli now
without thinking that the recipe originally called for cracked wheat.

--Lia

Jarkat2002 wrote:
> I have found a recipe for Peruvian Chicken Ragout that calls for Quinoa. I have never heard of
> this grain before (I had to google it) and don't have it in my pantry (yet). I'm not even sure
> it's considered a grain, some sites say yes, some say no. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup ... can I
> substitute barley instead? Or rice? Would it still be 1/2 cup and would I cook it before adding it
> to the soup? The recipe does not call for the quinoa to be precooked. Thank you! ~Kat
>
>
> "I think I would like to call myself 'the girl who wanted to be God'. Yet if I were not in this
> body, where would I be--perhaps I am destined to be classified and qualified. But, oh, I cry out
> aginst it." --Sylvia Plath
 
[email protected] (Jarkat2002) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I have found a recipe for Peruvian Chicken Ragout that calls for Quinoa. I have never heard of
> this grain before (I had to google it) and don't have it in my pantry (yet). I'm not even sure
> it's considered a grain, some sites say yes, some say no. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup ... can I
> substitute barley instead? Or rice? Would it still be 1/2 cup and would I cook it before adding it
> to the soup? The recipe does not call for the quinoa to be precooked.

Kat,

Some things to consider:

1. Quinoa has a very distinctive taste and very strong taste for a grain. You can substitute all
you want, but it will taste different. Not bad or good, but different. The taste of quinoa can
actually overpower other tastes. If I was to guess what to substitute, it would be wild rice.
Maybe brown rice. (See #2 below.)

2. Quinoa cooks fairly quickly and barley cooks slowly. Keep this in mind when trying to substitute
an uncooked grain.

3. I don't believe Quinoa expands as much as barley or even rice when cooked. This is hard to
estimate because quinoa is a very small, round seed. So even if it expanded 100%, it would be
hard to see. (The grain to water ratio is the standard 2:1, so it has to expand when it soaks up
the water.)

If you really want to follow the original recipe, I'd try to locate quinoa at health food type
stores or on line.

Hope this helps,

Ken
 
>Kat,
>
>Some things to consider:
>
>1. Quinoa has a very distinctive taste and very strong taste for a grain. You can substitute all
> you want, but it will taste different. Not bad or good, but different. The taste of quinoa can
> actually overpower other tastes. If I was to guess what to substitute, it would be wild rice.
> Maybe brown rice. (See #2 below.)
>
>2. Quinoa cooks fairly quickly and barley cooks slowly. Keep this in mind when trying to
> substitute an uncooked grain.
>
>3. I don't believe Quinoa expands as much as barley or even rice when cooked. This is hard to
> estimate because quinoa is a very small, round seed. So even if it expanded 100%, it would be
> hard to see. (The grain to water ratio is the standard 2:1, so it has to expand when it soaks
> up the water.)
>
>If you really want to follow the original recipe, I'd try to locate quinoa at health food type
>stores or on line.
>
>Hope this helps,
>
>Ken
>

Thank you for all of the great information ... I can't wait to give quinoa a try :) ~Kat

"I think I would like to call myself 'the girl who wanted to be God'. Yet if I were not in this
body, where would I be--perhaps I am destined to be classified and qualified. But, oh, I cry out
aginst it." --Sylvia Plath
 
> >
> >Hope this helps,
> >
> >Ken
> >
>
> Thank you for all of the great information ... I can't wait to give quinoa a try :) ~Kat

Kat,

One of my pet peeves is when people ask for advice/help on a n.g., get many replies, and never do a
quick "thank you" reply back.

Well, thank you for saying thank you.

As I said before, if you put quinoa (pronounced keenwa) in a soup or stew to thicken it, you'll
definitely taste it. It's not a neutral taste like couscous or white rice. (Flame away all you
couscous and white rice lovers, but try quinoa and you'll know what I mean.)

Ken
 
"cynthia mason" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Could you cook it in a rice cooker?
>

I have many times. Seems to work fine for me.

-Jay

--

"[Robert Smith's] music makes you cry, even if you haven't broken up with
your girlfriend or ran over a kitty in the road and deep fried it in your
oven for lunch."
 
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