Anyone do any cooking with quinoa? I have heard / seen people mention it but not real sure what to do with it.

I have a question...

Is it low carb?

I tried it and don't care for it & I thought I would. I was hoping I would!

I cook it all the time. I cut up cucumbers, cheese chunks, tomatoes, minced garlic and salt and pepper... Mmmm good. Also taste good with either mint or cilantro..

I love quinoa! I rinse it and then microwave on high in a covered casserole dish- 3 parts liquid to 1 part grain for 20 minutes. I prefer broth for the liquid. I love it cold mixed into green salad with cucumber & tomato.

Good for you, trying something new. I LOVE that this simple grain cooks fast (15 minutes), has Protein instead of empty carb calories, is filling but band friendly, and has a kind of mildly nutty flavor that takes on the flavored of what you add to it and a chewy texture, hard to describe but it keeps my mouth busy when I eat it- satisfying :-)

I usually use Quinoia kind of like a rice or cous cous type side dish. I add chicken broth instead of Water, add a few drops of oil or 1/2 tsp butter, a dash of salt and simmer till soft (about 15 minutes. You can tell when Quinoia is cooked when the little "tails" unfurl from around the grain.)

BUT recently at a catered Breakfast, I was offered Quinoia that had been cooked in fruit juice and topped with chopped fruit and nuts. It was so nummy and I loved it so much I recreated it at home and ate it for breakfast every morning for a week.

For the liquid, I used 1/2 pear juice (bottled, from the fruit juice aisle) and 1/2 water. Sweet but not too sweet. While the Quinoia simmers, I chop half an apple and drop it in the pot to soften a little. Could add raisins, pear, chopped dried apricot, whatever fruits you want. My DH and I both love this protein based hot Cereal that's both yummy and nourishing.

As a Bandster, I can only eat about half a cup in the morning so cooking a few cups at a time sets me up with leftovers to use later in the week.

Thank you for posting these tidbits! I always wanted to try quinioa, now I have no excuse not to!

I was wondering if anyone has used it to thicken soups/stews? I have a crock pot recipe that I really like, but it is kinda soupy so I like to add a little rice to thicken it and was wondering if quinioa could be added as a thickener?

Hmmm...maybe try it and let us know how it goes? It could work, but not sure.

I think if I wanted a thickener, I'd probably add one peeled and chopped potato and cook it in the Soup until it disintegrates (and thus thickens the soup.) (The smaller you chop the pieces the sooner it disintegrates.)

I have a great recipe with black beans, cilantro, vegetable broth that I enjoy. It is similar to rice but lots of protein and vitamins.

I cook it with chicken broth and then mix in salsa, olives, and the new Green Giant "steam crisp southwestern style corn". It is wonderful!!(the corn has onion, black beans and peppers)