Quinoa recipes

Quinoa Recipes

Quinoa grain of the ancient Inca gods, and mother of all grains is gaining popularity and has been used for centuries for many different recipes. Below you find a list of a few of the more popular quinoa recipes available, to add to a healthy and varied diet that will improve the quality of life and many aspects of your health such as lower cholesterol.

Quinoa Salad recipes

Below you find a few quinoa salad recipes ready to be prepared as soon as you get the ingredients and follow the steps:

This is how you make the first quinoa salad recipe :

A easy Quinoa Salad:

Ingredients :

250 grams/ 1 cup or of well rinsed and drained quinoa, 500ml water/2cups, Some chopped tomatoes, Italian parsley (only the leaves) chopped, 1 cucumber, some peppers, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt, black pepper.

Preparations :

1) put the quinoa in the water and wait for 2-4houres so it can germinate

2 )cook quinoa for about 10minutes and let it cool

3 )while waiting for the quinoa cooking, chop all the vegetables and combine them in a large bowl, when the quinoa has been cooled down mix that with the rest.

4) prepare the vinaigrette, get a small bowl and mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and if you like to get creative use some lavender or pepper flakes in that mix. But they are optional.

5 )pour the vinaigrette over the salad in the big bowl and toss to coat it

and you got yourself a quinoa salad all ready to go

if you want a alternative here is another quinoa salad recipe you could use. This one is a Mexican dish with avocado, a somewhat more traditional quinoa salad you could say:

A more traditional quinoa salad :

Ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa, 2 cups of homemade vegetable broth, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of sweet corn, 1 cup of grape tomatoes, 2 green onions, 1 jalapeno, ¼ cup of fresh cilantro, ½ teaspoon ground cumin and ¼ teaspoon paprika.

Preparations :

Drain and rinse the can of black beans and sweet corn, Slice the grap tomatoes and green onions, Remove the seeds and membrane of the jalapeno. Put the quinoa in water until it germinates.

Once this is done the real work can begin.

1)Combine the quinoa and vegetable broth and cook quinoa for about 10minutes, then remove from the heat and let it cool down(optional)

    2)While you wait for the quinoa cooking and cooling, combine the black beans, corn, tomatoes, green onions, jalapeno, cilantro, paprika and cumin in a single large bowl,

     3)Prepare the dressing by combining all the dressing ingredients outside the oil in a bowl and mix it up, while doing this slowly add the olive oil so the mixture will combine with the olive oil nicely.

    4) Add the quinoa to the vegetable mix in the large bowl and toss it to combine, then pour the dressing over the mixture and serve, you can serve hot or cold depending if you let the quinoa cool down first or not.

Quinoa Burgers :

Another great quinoa recipe is the quinoa burgers, a great vegetarian alternative for those who want to try something new. Here is the recipe for the quinoa burgers :

Ingredients :

½ cup of uncooked quinoa, 1 olive oil, 1 cup of mushrooms, 1 cup of coarsely grated zucchini,  3/4 cup of coarsely grated carrots, 1 cup of small shallot minced, 1 clove of garlic minced, 1 egg beaten, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Preparations:

1)      Put the quinoa in water and wait 2-4 hours to germinate, then cook the quinoa according to instructions on the package (usually about 10min) when done put the quinoa in a large bowl.

2)      Heat a large and wide non-stick frying pan over a medium fire and add the oil, then mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, shallot and the garlic. Cook about 5minutes until soft. Add the quinoa and stir in egg, cornstarch, salt and the cayenne.

3)      Heat the same non-stick frying pan over medium and press the quinoa mixture into a ½ cup measuring cup, turn and release it into the frying pan and gently press the shape into the patty about 4 in wide, repeat this process and cook about 2patties at a time. Cook until the quinoa burgers are golden and warmed trough, this should be about 4minutes a side,

4)      Top with tahini sauce and roasted plum tomatoes

and your quinoa burgers are ready!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers :

Well with the quinoa burgers behind us let’s take a look at another great quinoa recipe, the quinoa stuffed peppers ! ideal to prepare in advance and freeze for future meals quinoa stuffed peppers provide whole grains and quinoa proteins which are high quality.

Here is what you need to make quinoa stuffed peppers:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 ribs of celery (chopped)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 cloves of garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)

10 oz  frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

2 cans of 15 oz diced tomatoes, drained and preserve the liquid

15oz black beans, rinsed and drained

¾ cup quinoa

3 large grated carrots

1 ½ cups grated pepper jack cheese, divided

4 large red bell peppers, halved in length and ribs removed

Preparations:

1)      Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium fire, add celery and onions, cook it for 5minutes.

2)      Stir in black beans, carrots the quinoa and a few cups of water and boil it then reduce it to a medium/low fire and let it simmer for  about 20minutes. Stir in 1 cup cheese and season with pepper and salt.

3)      Preheat the oven to 350°F or about 175° C depending on where you live. And pour in the liquid you saved from the tomatoes in the bottom of the baking dish.

4)      Fill each bell pepper with the quinoa mixture and place it in the baking dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake for about 1 houre.

5)      When done uncover and sprinkle each pepper with 1tablespoon of the remaining cheese and bake another 15minutes.

6)      Let it rest for 5minutes and serve on a plate with some of the pan juices drizzled on them.

And you just made Quinoa stuffed Peppers

Quinoa Soup

Ideal for the winter, quinoa soup will provide you with a great source of whole grain and protein to endure the cold, of course quinoa soup also works for any occasion and is great way to surprise your guests with something healthy and exotic, quinoa soup is probably something they never tasted before!

Here is what you need for  a quinoa soup:

quinoa soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 large onion, 3 large carrots, 2 stalks celery, 4 cloves garlic, 1/3 cup quinoa, 4cups canned chicken stock, 14 ounce of organic diced tomatoes, 1 pound of chicken, 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, ½  teaspoon salt and pepper.

Preparations:

1)      Dice the onions, peel and chop the carrots, chop the celery and mince the garlic

2)      Heat the oil in a pot over a medium fire and add in the onions, celery and carrots. Cook until slightly browned on the edges or about 10minutes.

3)      Stir the quinoa and garlic in the pot and cook a few more minutes, raise to a gentle boil.

4)      Reduce the heat to a low fire, and place the chicken tenders in the pot, let the chicken simmer slowly until its cooked through

5)      Remove the chicken then slice and dice the chicken into pieces and set it aside for later use.

6)      Simmer the soup for a few more minutes until the quinoa is fully cooked and tender, then return the chicken to the pot in little pieces.

7)      Add some water then the tomatoes and vinegar, then add some salt and pepper according to your taste preference.

Serve while its hot and your chicken quinoa soup is done.

Quinoa Bread

Quinoa bread is a bit tougher to make then the previous quinoa recipes but quinoa bread is a recipe that simple has to be added to the list, it is worthy of this spot and the page would not be complete without the quinoa bread.

Here is what you need to do for Quinoa bread :

Ingredients:

400g whole meal flour, 100g quinoa flour, 1 ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon fast action years and 2 tablespoons mixed seeds.

Preparations :

1)      Shift the flour together and return the bran into the bowl, add the salt and combine.

2)      Mix the year then pour 47ml warm water, then stir until combined into a very wet dough .  

       3)      Gently tip the dough onto a floured board and shape it into a round. Cover it with a clean damp towel and let it rise for about 2houres.

4)      While its rising, pre heat the oven to 425° F or 220° C and place a cooking pot inside the oven.

      5)      When the dough has risen, transfer the hot pot(be careful) and scatter the seeds over the top, press them into the loaf gently, cover it and return to the oven.

6)      Cook for about 30minutes and remove the lid, then cook another 15minutes until its golden on top.

Let it cool and enjoy quinoa bread