The Quinoa or Quinua by many unknown people is a true super food, those who were lost because of the conquest of America, but fortunately in the XXI century , many went to the rescue of these foods.
The Quinoa is a plant from the Andes, with large properties and health benefits, fairly simple to grow with very good yields and cooking nice flavor.
The Quinoa is a seed close relative of Amaranth, the same as well as being able to play an entire plant contains many complex carbohydrates what resembles a cereal, a lot of protein and good fats like omega 3 and 6.
- It is easy to use and that makes it ideal, has many more proteins and fats than any cereal and a calorific value similar to or slightly above.
- Also it has a high percentage of fiber and seed is speak of insoluble fiber.
In addition to a good group of micro-nutrients such as minerals iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and zinc and a good amount of vitamin B complex and vitamin E which is well known for its role as an antioxidant.
Benefits of Eating Quinoa:
Quinoa how food has several advantages, including the power used as a substitute for traditional cereals.
- It is suitable for celiacs because it does not contain gluten, because of its low glycemic index is very suitable for the diet of diabetics or those who want to control their weight by eating healthy.
- It can be used in all types of diets being highly recommended in vegetarian diets given its high level of protein.
- It is also useful in diets for athletes, and weight loss because it has good minerals, fiber and lots of protein.
- The ratio of omega 3 and omega 6 plus the high amount of fiber also make the machine a good food to keep cholesterol at bay.
How to grow Quinoa :
Prefer a slightly acidic soil with good drainage, it is grown in full sun. Ideally, given broadcast sowing small seed and cover with a centimeter of mulch, then when the plants are a few centimeters thinning is done so they can grow in conditions.
- It is a very drought tolerant so no plant should be watered followed. It has few pests thanks to saponins off and give it a bitter taste, only some insects that can attack the leaves.
- It is not useful for growing in pots because of the large size little plant and yield per plant.
- It is ready to be harvested when the plant begins to dry nail tested with seeds if you can not mark it is that this list is cultivated in spring and.
- Then they throw on a clean cloth and go collecting, sifting and cleaning the seeds for their care and consumption.
A later is usually washed by soaking several times in clean water to remove the saponins and bitterness, to do this we must then extend the seeds and ensure dry them well before storing.
How to Cook Quinoa and Recipes :
- If this washed Quinoa is like rice practically or do not know but the first thing is to soak for two hours and rinse with water to remove the saponin and bitterness.
- You can also use ground into flour to make biscuits or add masses as in various preparations.
- The most traditional way is to cook it as if it were rice, for this boil two cups of water with a little salt when it is boiling add a cup of quinoa and clean and waited 15 or 20 minutes when we see a white ring is this prompt.
We must be careful that it does not go, once early stir to separate the seeds and drain them if there is excess water, let it cool a bit and then used in various preparations from salads to desserts. A few years ago the FAO boost the use of this food because of its great benefits.
- 1 medium red onion
- 1/2 kilo of the quinoa
- 200 grams fresh cheese
- 1 tablespoon crushed yellow pepper
- 1 sprig of black mint (aromatic herb from Peru, can be replaced with fresh sheets and cilantro albhaca)
- 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 medium potatoes
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1 cup evaporated milk (if you can not milk powder will do)
We wash the quinoa as we saw earlier, then saute the onion cut into small cubes, add the garlic and yellow pepper. The sofrito add to the quinoa in a pot with ½ liter of water and bring to boil. If dry, add water much very slowly and oregano.
While having the potatoes peeled and diced when Quinoa this prompt add the potatoes and cook when this soft add the cheese and salt, turn off let stand a couple of minutes add the milk and stir and ready to serve.Well I hope you find they liked this super complete information on this super food.