Quinoa
also known as "the mother grain"
(pronounced keen-wa) is a south american fruit,looks and cooks like a grain and is similar to couscous.

It contains ALL the essential amino acids,
making it a perfect protein food,it's low in fat and rich in minerals.
It's energy is slower releasing than all the other grains because its carbohydrate content is higher in amylose.
Nutritionally its quite unique,containing more protein than a grain and more essential fat than fruit ,rich in vitamins and minerals, providing almost 4 times as much calcium as wheat and plus extra iron and B vitamins and vitamin E.
The majority of its oils is polyunsaturated.
Quinoa is about as close to a perfect food as you can get!
The quality of its protein is better than meat!
Quinoa is safe for diabetics and those with coeliac disease and gluten sensitivity.

To cook: Presoak the grains in some water for 15mins or as long as you wish,
You will notice they have raised white parts after soaking,
pour into a sieve to discard the water,(keep for plants or whatever) then place in a saucepan with some water and cook like rice ,for 15 /20 mins should do then take off the heat leave with lid on to puff out in the heat of the saucepan.

You can buy quinoa as grain,flakes,flour,crackers ,bread etc.
it may take some getting used to ,some people say it dosnt have much of a taste at all.
I absolutely love it,
Sometimes I eat it just with a tablespoon of coconut oil melted in and some sea salt, it's absolutely delicious
and I love the fact its sooo nourishing too.

Quinoa is a great food but I think its been a bit hyped up a bit too. Amaranth is also excellent nutrition wise. All whole grains are very nourishing when prepared properly (before modern food processing).

An important note with grains is that they only store well whole. Once ground into a flour sensitive oils and nutrients disperse throughout the starch and easily oxidize. Freshly ground or rolled makes a big difference flavor wise in my experience as well. Luckily quinoa and amaranth can be made into a porridge whole.

You should try soaking them for 12 or 24 hours…….they come up all soft and fluffy! Takes 5 minutes less to cook and by soaking them from that long you have activated enzymes and this makes them even better for you. Makes them sprout and they start growing and then you get all that goodness. Well worth the hassle of remembering to do it in advance.

I soak mine in water with a couple of table spoons of apple cider vinegar. Lemon is good too.

If you make quinoa, boil it with homemade stock…..yummm!

I usually chuck in a carrot or celery when I boil them up (if I don’t have homemade stock about).….adds some nice flavour.

i never tried Amaranth, i will find some and try it. thx

I'm glad to see people adhering to tradition when it comes to foods, Nourishing Traditions and the Weston A. Price foundation has been a godsend for me.

My favorite grain based food is sourdough rye waffles. I freshly grind organic rye, add nothing but salt and some homemade sourdough starter, let it ferment for a day or more, and cook em up in a cast iron waffle maker in big batches and freeze them. No eggs or thickener necessary. I pop them in my toaster oven and they taste so incredible good with just butter and salt. Its as convenient and as healthy food can be.

Also a big fan of Fermented oatmeal porridge. I make big batches, and after its not too hot I add some sweet miso as a starter and let it ferment for a day and it develops a complex delicious flavor... Miso supposedly helps a lot with heavy metals and detoxification.

Fermented food is great for giving your body a little break with digestion while providing easily assimilated nourishment. Let the friendly bacteria do some work for you.

OMG. Im loving this thread. I accidentally ordered a side of quinoa at my organic cafe about 2 months ago. I've been eating it ever since. It is soooooo good, especially when you sprinkle some apple cider vinegar or spray some Braggs amino acids on it. Yuuuummmmmmmmm......

that sounds like a good bread making idea for the amaranth too, just soak it overnight. I will have to try that. It's good popped with honey like a candy I know that.

I put about 6 hopi red dye amaranths in the garden 2-3 years ago, they'd come up every here and there just as weeds since. I was just looking for some pretty and practical weed stuff to surpass the junk weeds... last year i made an effort to tend some of them a bit and this year... they are overtaking and out pacing all the other weeds in the garden!! Major!! There are probably 500 of them but only 100 or so will have room to grow really. It's going to be a red amaranth bounty year!!

I'll' get you some pics when they are bigger, right now only 3-4 inches tall. the stuff is tasty that's for sure. Real pretty, they got about 5 feet tall last year, zillions of seeds I should be able to collect a bushel or two this year easily.

the leaves are real good in salad too btw, very tender.

yes, thats where i learnt about soaking stuff...my favourite cook book. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />