What is quinoa and how to cook it?

What is quinoa? According to the ‘skinny chef’ website, quinoa is the seed of green leafy plant relatives to spinach and Swiss chard. In food kingdom, it usually classified as whole grain member together with oat and barley. As a food material, it comes with tons of healthy benefit. A cup of quinoa loaded with 127 calories, 21.4 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 2 grams of fat, and 4.5 grams of protein.

Many people choose this grainy food not only because of its healthy benefits, but also because of its yummy taste. The texture and taste of quinoa bits similar to oatmeal crossed with brown rice. Its rich taste contain creamy, fluffy, nutty, and crunchy in a bite. This food material can be cooked in wide various different ways and great to be cooked as part of your daily meals.

What is quinoa: The benefits

1. Great source of protein. Amazingly, this quinoa rich in protein and it contains nine essential amino acids, perfectly great for a vegetarian diet plan. Combining quinoa with mushroom or smoked tofu, will enrich the proteins.

2. It’s good for your cardiovascular health. Besides protein, it also contains high magnesium and iron. Magnesium helps reducing the rates of hypertension, relax the blood vessels, and reducing the risk of getting heart arrhythmias or heart disease. Meanwhile our body needs iron as an essential part in red blood cell development.

3. Reducing gallstones development. According to a study that published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, consuming foods that rich in fiber especially the insoluble one, it can lower the risk of gallstones development by 17 percent. By consuming this food regularly, it keeps your digestive system healthy.

How to cook quinoa?

• It’s simple to cook quinoa, all you have to do is rinsing the seeds in cold, run water to remove any unwanted debris or residue. Some of pre-packed products are also “pre-washed”, look at the package label.
• Add one cup quinoa and two cups water to a saucepan. Heat up the pan and bring it to boil. Reduce the heat. Usually it takes 15 minutes to cook those seeds.
• The grains are ready to eat or next process when it becomes translucent.

This cooked quinoa can be used as breakfast porridge, adding fruit or nuts will enrich the taste. It also add to your favorite soups, or just combine with roasted red pepper, chickpeas, coriander, and scallions.