Quinoa Yuk!

[rogesse]

This year I've grown, harvested and winnowed the stuff then soaked it in water for 20mins before cooking - nice texture and nutty taste then the really bitter icky after taste

I must be doing something wrong, I'm sure it's supposed to be tastier than this

Please, any suggestions - there's quite a lot of it and I don't want to have to put it in the comp bin and hear OH say 'I Told You So'

[Jeanied]

Quinoa which has just been harvested has a lot of bitter saponin which needs lots of rinses in water to get rid of - I've not done it myself but I'm interested in hearing how its done! Apparently amaranth does not have this problem - again I'd love to know - we may have an idea for new crops and ways of growing in the Middlesex area?

[zazen999]

We lovingly grew it last year; and the lot went in the bin......bleugh.

I thought it looked like fish eyes. And as I'm a veggie I can't be doing with that AT ALL.

OH was RIDICULOUSLY happy to mow the lot down this time last year.

[snuffer]

Excuse my ignorance but, what is quinoa? I'm assuming it's some sort of grain/cereal crop. Am I correct?

[zazen999]

Excuse my ignorance but, what is quinoa? I'm assuming it's some sort of grain/cereal crop. Am I correct?

Yes, found in health food shops [well, you'd certainly lose weight if that was on the plate - YUK ]

[weekendwellies]

I use quinoa quite a bit.
Like rice or pasta it is quite bland on its own, but takes on the flavour of the sauce,etc that you have with it.
A favourite of ours is to have it done with a stock cube, or with herbs instead of plain water.
I also mix it in with rice dishes to make a different texture to the rice, and then just have your curry, bolognese, or whatever, with it.

[bluemoon]

As has been said it does need tons of washes. I grow it because my best friend is vegan, but I refuse to buy rice because of the issues of transportation/disenfranchised peasants/packaging which surround it. It's almost impossible to feed a vegan without rice unless you use quinoa so I grow a little and just use it on the days when she comes for a meal. Basically you just use it as the filler, it has little or no flavour of its own (though the gold coloured type is slightly nuttier than the white) and it needs to be cooked with strongly flavoured things. Last Hallowe'en OH stuffed some potimarron pumpkins (small ones which had ripened at about cricket-ball sized) with quinoa and mushrooms and one or two other bits and bobs, and it was delicious. OH is a bit of a kitchen genius though, he wouldn't just have fed 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, he'd have managed a pudding.

[snohare]

Quinoa is one of the rare grains that is a "complete food" - it has all the amino acids needed for the human body. It doesn't taste of much, but speaking as someone who due to a damaged gut hovers permanently on the edge of starvation, I can tell you it is a really nutritious food.
If you go to the Real Seeds website they tell you exactly how to get rid of the soapy tasting saponins that make it taste so bad. Personally I have always had mine from a health food shop and it tasted fine so it must be possible !

[rogesse]

Perhaps more rinsing is needed - I intend to persist!

A good family friend is both diabetic and celiac which prompted the experiment. Mind you the amount I've harvested is probably cheaper (and tastier) from Barretts!

[Two_Sheds]

Excuse my ignorance but, what is quinoa? I'm assuming it's some sort of grain/cereal crop. Am I correct?

It's like a sloppier version of couscous - I hate it

It's almost impossible to feed a vegan without rice unless you use quinoa

Potatoes? Couscous? egg-free Pasta? (most of it is)

[annacruachan]

It's almost impossible to feed a vegan without rice unless you use quinoa

To follow on from Two Sheds - bulgur wheat, buckwheat, whole wheat, barley, oat grains, bread, pastry made with vegan margarine. It's much more difficult to feed someone with coeliac disease.

[gojiberry]

Have never tried it but as I'm not keen on cous cous or bulgar wheat I think I will give it a miss, especially as my plot is always full and I am always short of space.

Ian

[bazzaboy]

Don’t know it, never grown it, but will give it a try next season… Wiki has an interesting (anonymous) article about it and have nicked a few odd info points below:
• not a grass or cereal but related to beets and spinach;
• leaves edible (and favoured over the seed by some) but seldom available commercially;
• originates from South America: to the Incas it was a sacred crop and basic food (grows well at altitude up mountains!) so, typically, the invading conquistadors forbade its cultivation, deeming it to be Indian food and non-Christian….
• Its composition has many beneficial health characteristics (listed in the article) and it is under consideration as a basic food for long duration space flights to Mars etc (so guess TwoSheds won’t be wanting to go on those…);
• the bitter coating of Saponin has the advantage that the crop doesn’t get eaten by birds (or many humans by the sounds of it…); attempts to develop a variety with reduced or no saponin coating have all been consumed by birds, ha! As well as being bitter, saponin also acts as a strong laxative….
• In 1992 the rock group Tangerine Dream released an album called Quinoa…
Full article at Quinoa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So does it really grow 6-to-8 FEET tall? Hmmm, that’s a challenge… But any veg which it is recommended (different article) to tie up in a muslin bag and put through the cold wash cycle of an automatic washing machine has got at the very least to be a talking point over lunch! Hey ho…. “enjoy!” Taste of socks... b.

[snohare]

In 1992 the rock group Tangerine Dream released an album called Quinoa…

Here was me a fan, and I never knew !!
Still, they did release an awful lot of albums.
Personally I wanted to grow it this year just as a cover crop/green manure if not for the leaves and grain - but didn't manage. Oh well, better luck next year...

[Two_Sheds]

Personally I wanted to grow it this year ... but didn't manage.

I guess Aberdeenshire doesn't have the same climate as S.America How does your sweetcorn do?