Eating Down the Quinoa

Don’t food shop for one week.

That was the premise behind Eating Down the Fridge, a seven-day culinary adventure spearheaded by Washington Post food blogger, Kim O’Donnel, from an idea inspired by eGullet co-founder, Steven Shaw.

Even though previous commitments during that early March week prevented me from following it to a tee, I still decided to embark on eating down my fridge–as well as my freezer and pantry–with a hearty commitment. It proved to be an odyssey of minimizing my household food waste while maximizing my understanding of my personal eating and cooking habits.

One of the questions I posed to myself when the week began was which foods would turn out to the tried and true, those that I relied upon the most. I also questioned whether one food would emerge from the pack as my most favorite. I wondered whether by week’s end I would discover the answer to that proverbial question, “If you could only bring one food with you to a deserted island, what would it be?”

I found that, again and again, I turned to my favorite condiments—lemon juice, cashew butter, coconut milk, sea salt, Syrian zahtar—to embellish dishes I was making from bits of this and bites of that. Yet, as the week progressed, I noticed that when I was looking for a foundation food from which I could create a dish—whether for breakfast, lunch, or dinner—I would instinctively turn to my go-to grain, quinoa. By the end of the week, it was this food that I declared to be my culinary coxswain, as it was quinoa that steered me through a week of delicious and nutritious meals.

What is quinoa?

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wha) is a grain that’s not a grain. It’s a grain in the sense that it is served like one, used in recipes similar to rice, wheat, or oats. Yet, from a botanical perspective, the quinoa plant is not related to these foods; rather it belongs to the goosefoot (Chenopodium) family and is cousins with spinach, beets, and Swiss chard. While the leaves of the plant can be enjoyed, it is the seed to which most people refer when they say “quinoa.”

Quinoa seeds are small spheres surrounded by an off-white opaque ring. Not only does its combination of colors and the “tail” it forms when it’s cooked make it visually intriguing, but its complementary features contribute to its wonderful texture: the inside is chewy while the ring provides a slight crunch, a subtle popping sensation.

While quinoa has been growing in popularity in recent years, with people praising it for its taste and health benefits (let alone that it is gluten-free), the reverence with which it is treated still pales in comparison to the role it played in ancient South American societies. This food, called the “Mother of Grains, ” was held as sacred by the Incas. Tales are told that when the Spanish conquerors came to South America they forbade its harvest in an attempt to suppress the Incan culture.

Nutritional Qualities

Quinoa is lauded for its protein content. Not only does one cup of cooked quinoa contain over 8 grams, but it also contains a full range of all eight amino acids—those we need in our diet because our bodies cannot create them. Therefore, it is considered to be a complete protein, something relatively unique in plant foods.

Yet, protein is not the only nutrient that quinoa has in abundance. Based upon a nutritional analysis using the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, one cup is also a very rich source of magnesium (30% DV*), fiber (21% DV), folate (20% DV), copper (18% DV), iron (15% DV), and zinc (13% DV) among others (this same one cup contains about 220 calories).

Photo © Alex Carrillo

Selecting, Storing, and Preparing

Quinoa is available in white, red, and black varieties. The white is sweeter while the red and black have a nuttier flavor. The white is the most popular, the one that was introduced into North American markets first, and certain to be the easiest to find in stores. Natural food markets are your best bet for finding this wonderful ancient grain (most feature it in their bulk bin section).

While quinoa is a bit more expensive than other grains (for example, brown rice), it is still a bargain when you think about the nutrients it contains. On a trip to two markets recently, I found organic quinoa in bulk to be about $4.00 per pound. With one pound yielding over 7 cups of cooked quinoa, this makes a one-cup serving cost about $0.60, a great value for all the nutrients it provides you with let alone the enjoyment you’ll receive.

In addition to the whole “grain” you can also find quinoa available in its flour and flake form. Quinoa pasta—usually made from a combination of quinoa and corn flours—is sold in many natural food markets.

Store your quinoa in airtight containers. It is best to keep it away from direct heat and light. To keep it freshest, store it in the refrigerator.

One of the tricks to making delicious quinoa is to wash it well before cooking. It naturally contains saponin compounds, which can impart a rather soap-like taste if not rinsed away. The best way to wash the quinoa is to put it in a strainer—I like to use a mesh one with a handle—and run cold water over it while rubbing the seeds together with your fingers. Do this for about a minute, or until you see the water running clear.

Ways to Enjoy

Quinoa is so easy to make, which is one of the reasons for its allure. Unlike brown rice, which takes about thirty to forty minutes, quinoa can be cooked in about fifteen.

Once you wash your quinoa, put it in a pot, adding about 2 parts water for each 1 part quinoa. Bring it to a boil, cover, turn down to a simmer, and then cook for about fifteen minutes. If all the water hasn’t been incorporated into the quinoa, cook for a few extra minutes.

You can store leftover quinoa in the refrigerator. Ideally, I like to use my leftover grains within one day although sometimes I eat those that are two-days old if they haven’t been mixed with any other ingredients.

As I alluded to earlier, it was quinoa’s versatility that allowed it to play a stellar role in my menu during the Eating Down the Fridge week. For breakfast, I’d make quinoa porridge; for lunch, a quinoa cold salad; and the days I had it for dinner, it was usually as part of a curry or soup I made.

Here are some basics ways to enjoy quinoa:

Side dish
Freshly cooked quinoa makes a great side-dish alternative to rice, pasta, or potatoes. Instead of cooking it in plain water, you can use broth to impart a deeper flavor.

Some of my favorite ways to enjoy quinoa for dinner include serving it with a vegetable curry, adding it to chili, or making quinoa pilaf.

If you want to add variety to the look, taste, and texture of your meal, cook the different colors of quinoa together.

Breakfast porridge
Place leftover cooked quinoa in a pot, adding a bit of milk. Usually I use oat milk but you can use cow’s milk or the non-dairy milk alternative of your choice. Add dried fruit like raisins or prunes and some nuts or seeds (I’m especially fond of cashews, but enjoy whichever are your favorites). You can also add a tablespoon or so of coconut milk to give it a creamy texture. If you like your porridge to be sweet, add honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar. Sprinkle with cinnamon and/or nutmeg if you desire.

If you’re making your porridge quinoa from scratch (rather than from leftovers), try substituting juice for some of the cooking water to impart extra flavor and sweetness. Sometimes, I’ll also add some cardamom or nutmeg directly to the cooking water in order to infuse the quinoa with additional fragrance.

Cold lunch salad
Leftover quinoa is great to enjoy for lunch. Think of it as a canvas upon which you can add your favorite foods and flavorings to create a healthy delicious cold salad. Here are three ideas of how to enjoy:

* Mediterranean-style salad: Quinoa with garbanzo beans, red onion, feta cheese, olive oil, Italian herbs, salt, and pepper.

* Tabouli: Quinoa with mint, parsley, scallions, cucumbers, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

* Chopped salad: Quinoa with diced vegetables and chicken breast tossed with a vinaigrette dressing.

As you experiment with quinoa, you’ll find it to not only be delicious but easy to prepare and versatile as well. You may even discover, with or without doing your own version of Eating Down the Fridge, that it has become one of your favorite go-to foods, the one that you would elect to take to that proverbial deserted island.

* DVs are the values used by the U.S. FDA to communicate information about nutrition labeling.

Do you have favorite recipes that feature quinoa? If so, consider sharing it with other readers in the Comments section.