Quinoa is a pseudo-grain crop similar to buckwheat. The birthplace of this wonderful plant is considered South America. Like buckwheat, quinoa is not a cereal but the seeds of a flower, therefore it does not contain gluten. The easiest cooking method is making porridge.
The usefulness of quinoa is that the composition of its amino acids is complete unlike wheat or rice. Besides, the pseudo-cereal has low-calorie content, moderate glycemic index and contains a lot of protein – up to 14-16 g per 100 g of dry cereal.
The unique taste and texture of quinoa allow you to cook many delicious dishes on its basis like to cook porridge, and use quinoa in salads or side dishes for vegetable meals. This cereal is especially loved by vegetarians because of its amino acid profile, and important vitamins and microminerals contained in this food product.
If you care about your health or just want to try something new from food, you can check out the list of simple recipes for quinoa.
Quinoa with Salmon and Miso Sauce
To prepare this dish, take 7 oz or 200 g of quinoa grits, 2 salmon steaks, one cup of chopped broccoli and one cup of chopped peas. Prepare the vegetables:
- julienne carrots
- julienne squash and zucchini
- sea kale
Also take 1 teaspoon of miso paste, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar.
Boil quinoa according to the usual recipe. Steam the broccoli. 1 minute before cooking, add chopped peas to broccoli, then remove the vegetables from the double boiler. Fry the salmon steaks, put them on plates and cover with foil. Combine the ingredients in the pan for the sauce. Arrange the quinoa in plates, add the vegetables, and then pour each serving of cereal with sauce.
Quinoa Burger
For the next simple recipe for quinoa, you will need 3.5 oz (100 grams) of quinoa cereal, 0.7 oz (20 g) of oatmeal, 2 tablespoons of cornmeal, 0.7 oz or 20 grams of Parmesan cheese, 1 grated carrot, 2 eggs, one clove of garlic, lettuce, as well as mayonnaise, ketchup, and rolls (for serving).
Boil quinoa, then mix cooked cereal with oatmeal, add eggs, grated cheese, grated carrots and cornmeal. Form cutlets from the resulting mass. Preheat the pan, fry quinoa burgers on it. Fry the buns with a toaster, then serve a burger with salad, mayonnaise and ketchup (to taste).
Quinoa Diet Soup
To prepare a diet soup, take 2 carrots, 3 tablespoons boiled porridge, 3-4 inflorescences cauliflower, 1 shallot, 5 tablespoons chopped green onions, 1 tablespoon of water, 1 tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil and salt.
Vegetables should be cut into pieces, put in a saucepan, pour water and simmer over low heat. Meanwhile, fry the onions in a pan.
5 minutes before cooking, grits, salt and fried shallots should be added to the soup. It is recommended to boil the dish for a minute and remove the pan from the stove. If desired, ready soup can be decorated with fresh herbs.
Quinoa Porridge with Broccoli
This simple recipe for quinoa is suitable for everyone who leads a healthy lifestyle, especially for people who play sports. You will need:
- 6 oz (170 g) of quinoa groats
- one cup of chopped broccoli
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- maple syrup or honey
- lemon juice
- garlic
- almond
- salt pepper
Boil the broccoli, while boiling quinoa in the usual way. Preheat the pan and fry finely chopped garlic on it with olive oil, then add the chopped almonds. Mix the sauce (mustard, lemon juice and a drop of maple syrup or honey). Add quinoa to the pan and let it soak in the sauce. Then add broccoli and mix.
Quinoa Vegetable Stew
This dish can be cooked in a slow cooker, in the oven or stewed in a saucepan.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of quinoa
- 2 cups of water
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 small bell pepper
- one zucchini
- 100 g broccoli
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tablespoon green peas
- olive oil to taste,
- turmeric and salt to taste
Pre-soak the cereal in water, and cut the vegetables into pieces. Put the slow cooker into the “Frying” mode and fry the turmeric in the heated oil for a minute, and then add the garlic and carrots to it. Once it becomes light brown, pour zucchini, bell pepper and salt into the slow cooker.
Fry vegetables for 5 minutes, and then add peas and broccoli to them. Then put the slow cooker into the “Extinguishing” mode and cook the dish with the lid closed for about 10 more minutes.
Meanwhile, boil the cereal over low heat and pour into a plate. Ready vegetables add to it and mix. If desired, the dish can be decorated with sesame seeds or herbs.
Quinoa with Seafood
Groats go well with seafood. To cook this dish, boil 7 oz (200 g) of quinoa. Blanch a handful of inflorescences of broccoli and fresh green peas for 3 minutes, and then pour over with cold water.
Defrost 7 oz or 200 g of a seafood cocktail and fry them in olive oil. You can add one tablespoon of dry white wine to the pan.
Combine all the ingredients, seasoning the dish with soy sauce, lime juice and olive squeeze. Stir the salad and serve until it has cooled.
Quinoa with Tofu
This dish is based on Chinese fried rice. Instead of rice we will use quinoa cereal.
Ingredients:
- 14 oz or 400 g of hard tofu
- 6 oz (170 g) of white quinoa croup
- 4.2 oz or 120 g of Romano salad
- 5 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 stalk green onions
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 2.2 us fl oz (65 ml) of Hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of white rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
- ginger
- 1 tablespoon of white and black sesame seeds mixture
- vegetable oil
- 2 us fl oz (60 ml) of water
- ground black pepper
Boil the quinoa grits. Rinse the tofu and then pat it dry with a paper towel. To cut in cubes.
Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in warm water in advance, then drain the water, gently squeeze the mushrooms out of moisture, remove the hard remains of the legs and cut the caps into strips.
Peel the ginger and garlic, cut into small cubes. Rinse the stalks of green onions, separate the white part from the green and cut into rings.
Cut Romano lettuce leaves into wide stripes. Peel the carrots from the top layer and chop with straws. Chop cilantro. In a bowl, mix Hoisin sauce, sweet soy sauce, white rice vinegar and water. Set the bowl aside.
In a pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat until hot. Add the tofu cubes and fry on all sides until lightly toasted. Then transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel so that the vegetable oil remaining on the tofu is absorbed into it.
In the same pan where the tofu was fried, add shiitake mushrooms and pepper. Fry for 5 minutes. Then shift the mushrooms to tofu.
Next, add the white part of the stalk of green onions, ginger, garlic and cilantro stalks to the pan. Fry for 1 minute or until aroma and soften cilantro stems. Add carrots to the pan and continue to fry, stirring, for about 2 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Add Romano salad leaves to the pan and cook, stirring, for another 1 minute.
Add half the white onion rings and sauté sauce to the pan. Stir the contents of the pan. Return the tofu and mushrooms to the pan, stir it again. Continue cooking for another 2 minutes, stirring to warm the tofu. Turn off the stove. Add boiled quinoa and sesame oil to the pan, then mix the contents. Salt and pepper to taste and mix the dish again.
Transfer the contents of the pan to the serving plates with a slide, sprinkle on top with a mixture of black and white sesame seeds, green onion rings and cilantro leaves.
