Quinoa
Haaailing from the Andean region of South America, this high protein (14g protein for every 100g quinoa), high in dietary fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron, gluten free food, packed with essential amino acids is considered worldwide as being one of the most important foodstuffs in the early pre-Columbian Andean civilizations and has continued to be so for over 6,000 years. Did you know that this delectable grain is also an unusually complete food for all of your eating needs? You can eat this tasty food and rest easy knowing that your body is humming along nicely thanks in part to...quinoa!
Like I said up top, anyone who has the Inland Empire DVD is probably already aware of this wonder food because of the special features included with the movie. On the second disc of the DVD set David Lynch, always the groundbreaking and eccentric auteur, cooks for himself and for us a bowl of quinoa (see the comparison I’m making here? It’s also kind of like Robert Rodriguez’s 10 Minute Cooking School...except without all of the unappetizing cooked pig flesh) while regaling us with a story from a trip he took into...um, somewhere in the Middle East, I think (I’m not sure, it’s actually been a while since I’ve seen this particular special feature video).
So that’s what piqued my interest in quinoa, for all of you wondering why I’m going on about it. Within a week of seeing the video by Mr. Blue Velvet I found a local farmer’s market that, conveniently for me, has tons of the stuff. So I jumped on the chance to make some of the stuff for myself.
Cooking quinoa is astoundingly similar to cooking ordinary rice, in that you take two parts water for every one part of quinoa. Firstly, though, if the quinoa you find is still covered by saponins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponins) then remove the stuff by soaking the grain in water for a few hours, then changing the water and resoaking again, or rinsing it in ample running water either in a fine strainer or in cheesecloth. Hopefully you’ll be able to find quinoa that is presoaked. So once that’s done with let’s say that you wanted to make one cup of quinoa, well then you would cook it in two cups of water. Bring to boil the two cups of water and add the one cup of quinoa after turning the heat to a low simmer. Cook for 14-18 minutes (I usually do about 16 and a half to 17 minutes). Voila! You now have cooked and delicious quinoa!
Or, for a more appetizing look,
Looks de-lish, now doesn’t it? And just wait until you see the cooked stuff in front of you, it’ll look even tastier! Also, those tiny curls coming off of the actual quinoa are the germs of the stuff and are totally edible (there’s no way it would be worth it to eat the stuff if you had to get rid of each and every one of those things). They should have a slight “bite” to it, like al dente pasta, and really add some flavor and fun to it.
So look around your local supermarket or farmer’s market and see if you can snag yourself some of this amazing stuff. You won’t regret it, trust me (and check out Inland Empire, it’s full of weird, crazy goodness).
Hmm, I enjoyed this entry, perhaps I’ll have to make this unique food exploration thing a weekly event. Yeah, that sounds cool (I wonder if I’ll stick with it...any suggestions from you fine people?). Coming up next week...Couscous.
Also, for those of you who are interested, a basic recipe I found while hanging out on the Food Network web site (amazing, aren’t they? But I wouldn’t use much of the oil, it never seems to be worth it):
Quinoa and Veggies
2 cups quinoa
1 cup wild rice
1 tablespoon olive oil or peanut oil
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup diced chives
1/2 cup diced orange bell pepper
1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cayenne or crushed red pepper
In a large skillet, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the quinoa and cook, stirring occasionally, until it expands out of its shell, about 10 minutes; be careful not to overcook it.
In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally until done, about 20 minutes.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, chives, bell peppers, salt, and cayenne pepper. Cook, while stirring, for about 3 minutes. Add the quinoa and rice and stir until hot. Serve immediately.
