Quinoa – A Healthy and Versatile Plant Based Protein

By David Gowing

You may or may not be familiar with quinoa (pronounced keen-wah). It is relatively new to most people but has been cultivated in South America for over 5,000 years. The ancient Incas considered it sacred, referring to it as the “mother grain”.

So Why Should You Be Eating Quinoa

Quinoa is used as a grain, but it is actually a seed from a leafy green plant distantly related to spinach.

It is a complete protein, which means it contains all of the essential amino acids, which is unusual for a plant. Amino acids are the building blocks of muscle and are required for proper growth, maintenance and repair of the body. This makes quinoa ideal for vegans and vegetarians who can find it difficult to get adequate protein.

It’s extremely versatile and can be used in salads, casseroles, soups and stir fries. It’s also great as a warm breakfast cereal. It’s much lighter than grains and starchy foods so you don’t feel sluggish or overly full after eating it. Qualities that have made it popular among athletes and celebrities.

Varieties

The most popular and readily available quinoa is the yellowish/white variety, but there are quite a few varieties on the market including red, orange, black and purple. I have tried red quinoa, which is naturally firmer than the yellow/white, it’s nice from time to time, but I personally prefer the more common yellow/white variety.

Vitamin And Mineral Content

Besides quinoa’s excellent protein content it also contains:

- Magnesium

- B1 (Thiamine)

- B2 (Riboflavin)

- B6 (Pyridoxine)

- Zinc

- Phosphorus

Taste And Texture

Quinoa has a protective outer coating of bitter tasting saponins which must be removed before eating. Traditionally this was done by rinsing and soaking for a few hours and then repeating. Fortunately most commercially available quinoa has already been rinsed, removing the saponins. I still rinse the seeds in a fine mesh strainer and then allow them to drain for a minute before cooking.

Quinoa’s texture is determined by how long you cook it. You cook pretty much the same way as you would rice, using double the amount of water as the amount of grain, so 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water. Letting it cook for 10 minutes and then turning off the heat and setting aside to absorb any left over liquid will give you a soft fluffy texture. Or if you want a firmer more nutty texture, remove from the heat after ten minutes and rinse under cold water for a second or two, to prevent further cooking.

Here’s A Tip To Speed Up Cooking Time

I have recently started to soak quinoa in a bowl overnight, and then rinse it and drain before cooking. Soaking overnight really speed up the cooking time, about 6 minutes!

A Basic Quinoa Recipe

There are endless recipes out there for quinoa, but I like this basic one best.

You will need:

- 1 cup quinoa

- 2 cups boiling water (reduce water if quinoa was soaked overnight)

- 1/2 onion

- 1/2 red bell pepper

- 1/2 organic vegetable stock cube

- freshly ground black pepper to taste

- coconut oil

1. Boil water and add stock cube.

2. Heat a small amount of coconut oil in a saucepan or pot over a medium heat.

3. Chop onions and red pepper in a small food processor or by hand if you don’t have a small food processor. Add to the saucepan and saute while you rinse the quinoa.

4. Turn the heat up high and add the quinoa and boiling water. Bring to the boil and then reduce to medium heat again. If you have pre-soaked the quinoa cook for about 6 minutes, having used less water it should be absorbed in this time, otherwise cook for 10 minutes.

5. When the water is almost completely absorbed, remove from heat add ground black pepper, mix in and then leave to absorb any remaining liquid.

This recipe is great as a replacement for rice, pasta or potatoes in any dish. It also holds quite well in the refrigerator, but best to use it up within a day or two or cooking.

So I hope you enjoyed this article and decide to give quinoa a try. I have many more articles on my free health and fitness site (the link is below) including the many health benefits of coconut oil. Feel free to check it out.

David Gowing is a personal trainer and former model. He provides insider advice to men and women who are looking to have a lean, fit and healthy body. He also focuses on skin health and anti-aging techniques. Following his own advice David remains lean and defined year round, and doesn’t advocate restrictive diets or living in the gym. For more information check out his free health and fitness site: http://davidgowing.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Gowing
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Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup of mixed red and cream quinoa
1 Turnip
Large knob of butter
1 Tablespoon Milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of grated cheese

Method

Cook the sweet potatoes and turnip until they just start to soften
Boil and then simmer the quinoa in a pan with 1 cup of water for 13 minutes.
Mash the ingredients together with the butter, milk and seasoning.
Put the mash into an oven proof dish and cook on medium in the oven for 20 minutes.
Take the mash out and sprinkle the grated cheese on to it. Put back into the oven for 5 minutes.
Serve and enjoy.

Note: You can add spices and fresh leaves to add to the flavour. Cilantro, Basil are both ideal.

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This recipe is quite different from all my recipes. I love Spaghetti Squash and never thought to base any Quinoa Recipes on it.

The recipe was created by Peggy Lampman and is used with permission. See her own recipe site here – dinnerfeed.com

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash
1 1/2 cups quinoa; black, red or white
3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup packed finely chopped fresh dill
1/3 cups sliced almonds
1/3 cup chopped feta

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375?.
Prick the whole squash in several places, about 12 times, with a skewer or other sharp pointed object. Place whole squash on a baking sheet on middle rack of oven; roast 1 hour.
While squash is roasting, in a medium-sized saucepan, bring stock and quinoa to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, 15-30 minutes. Toss cooked quinoa with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season to taste with kosher salt, if desired, and freshly ground pepper.
Meanwhile, make a pesto by combining garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, dill and feta.
When squash is baked and cool enough to handle, cut in half lengthwise with a sharp knife. Scoop the seeds and fibrous strings from the center of the squash and discard.
Scrape the prongs of a kitchen fork over the squash flesh to shred the pulp into spaghetti-like strands. You should have 3-4 cups.
In 4-6 serving bowls or dishes, divide quinoa, then top with shredded squash and center a spoonful of pesto on top of the squash.

Squash Roast Time: 1 hour

Active Time: 30 minutes

Number of servings (yield): 4-6 main course servings

Copyright © Peggy Lampman’s dinnerFeed.

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The basic recipe below can be adapted to include many different vegetables. I always use fresh although I am going to try a baked beans baked quinoa recipe soon as the idea sounds so good.

Baked Quinoa – Basic Recipe

Baked Quinoa – Main ingredients

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

Salt to taste

Ground pepper to taste

4 eggs

1 ½ cups milk – dairy, goats, rice, quinoa milk – you choose

To the main ingredients you can add fresh vegetables. My favourites are sweet peppers, chillies and tomatoes. But you can use asparagus, broccoli, beans, You can also spice the recipe up with fresh basil and coriander.

Baked Quinoa – Method

Turn your oven on to 350 – 370 degrees Farenheit. (330 F for Fan ovens)

Prepare a medium round baking tray with a light coating of oil.

In a saucepan boil the water and add the quinoa and salt. Simmer for twelve minutes.

Take off the heat and place your vegetables and spices in the quinoa mix. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.

While the quinoa mix is resting mix up the eggs with the milk and the ground pepper  until completely combined.

Put the quinoa and vegetable mix into the tray and pour over the egg mix evenly.

Bake for about 30 minutes taking care not to over brown the Quinoa Bake.

Let the Baked quinoa rest for 5 – 10 minutes until it can be sliced and served.

Baked Quinoa Recipe

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Quinoa. You’ve heard of it, mispronounced it even (next time say “keen-wah”). So just what  is it? Well, it’s a seed that you eat like a grain, sort of like cous cous or, indeed, rice. It’s texture is curiously tender yet crunchy and tastewise it’s  gorgeously nutty. The really big news though is that it is a nutritionist’s dream, with an almost perfect  balance of amino acids and a high protein content (12%) which makes it a brilliant food for vegetarians and vegans. The combination of manganese and copper make it a brilliant antioxidant (it makes you look younger!) plus it has tons of iron. I could go on but really the bottom line is that you need to get this into your weekly repetoire. As soon as.

Don’t panic about how to cook it – it’s quick and very easy (David Lynch in a wonderfully out there quinoa cooking class advises a glass of wine while “all the little quinoas” bubble away) plus you can make it in advance. I cook it in the same way I prepare cous cous  - I lightly toast it on the pan then add hot water and let it bubble way for about 15 minutes until tender. Each seed sprouts a little “tail” and when that happens it’s cooked.

For a very healthy yet surprisingly moreish lunch,  I often have a bowl with a couple of onions pan-fried in butter til golden and almost mushy stirred through then topped with a handful of  steamed broccoli florets with lots of black pepper and a generous pinch of Maldon.  Salads are another way to go and everything you can do with cous cous you can do here. Last night I took what were probably the last of this summer’s runner beans, cherry vine tomatoes, black Greek olives, some salty feta and a handful of toasted pumpkin seeds and put them together to make a very satisfying side to go with a courgette omelette. Today, I’ve just finished a bowl of the leftovers  for  lunch.

To keep things light I used a lemon dressing with a little balsamic thrown in for a depth. If you’re making this to have for lunch the next day you can dress it in advance but you might want to add a little extra lemon juice before you eat as the citrus bite tends to dissipate over night.

Quinoa salad with runner beans, cherry vine tomatoes, olives and feta topped with toasted pumpkin seeds

You’ll need:

1 cup quinoa

250gr runner beans – topped and tailed and cut into narrow (1.5cm) diagonal strips

300gr cherry vine tomatoes washed and quartered

A large handful black olives very roughly chopped

200gr feta cheese

A handful pumpkin seeds lightly toasted on a dry pan

For the dressing:

The juice of one lemon (slightly less if it’s a really big one)

1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Begin with the quinoa – toast it on a pan over a lowish heat until it starts to change colour slightly. Add 3 cups of hot water, stir well adding a generous pinch of salt. Allow things to settle down to a simmer. Cook for about 12 minutes until the quinoa is almost tender and the aforementioned tails are starting to appear. Add the beans and cover for about 2 minutes to let them steam. At this stage the water should be completely absorbed, the quinoa grains light and  fluffy and the beans al dente. Let things cool down a bit while you put the dressing together. Mix the juice, balsamic and oil together and add a generous pinch of salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. To finish things off, add the tomatoes, olives and most of the pumpkin seeds to the quinoa and beans. Stir in the dressing and, finally crumble in the feta. Top with the rest of the pumpkin seeds and you’re ready to serve.

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Some of the people came up with all sorts of Manna recipes. There was “What is it” Casserole, “What is it” Soup, “What is it” Pie and even “What is it” Ice Cream. OK I could be wrong about the Ice Cream.

The point about Manna is that it was good enough to provide all their nutritional needs for their journey. It must have included protein, fat, carbohydrates and a full range of minerals and vitamins. And that is the similarity that Manna has to Quinoa.

Nutritional Information About Quinoa and Protein

Quinoa is a complete protein. It contains more protein than all other grains and seeds. The amount of protein varies from about 16% to 20% depending on the variety you are using. This is more than double the protein content of rice which comes in at around 7%. It also is much better than wheat and millet. And who wants to eat Millet anyhow?

Not only is the protein content in quinoa high. It is also of the best quality. It is a complete protein with an essential amino acid balance close to the ideal. Quinoa has a high content of lysine, methionine and cystine. Soya is comparatively low in Methionine and Cystine. (Source – The Quinoa Corporation )

Quinoa and Carbohydrates

Quinoa has a low glycemic index of 53. This means that the carbohydrates are slow to be digested. 1 cup of Cooked quinoa amounts to around 40 g of total carbohydrates. Being low in GI, quinoa will improve blood sugar levels and cholesterol levels. This is ideal for people with diabetes and others with high blood pressure. Quinoa is a slow carbohydrate.

Quinoa Fat Content

Quinoa has a much higher fat content than rice and whole wheat pasta. It comes in at about 15% of the total calories. This does not make it a high fat food. The fat content of a nrmal diet should be in the range 25 – 35% according to the American Heart Association. So quinoa is well inside this range. Eating just 1 cup of cooked quinoa will supply you with about 10 percent of your daily fat requirement.

At the same time this cup of quinoa is giving you good amounts of fibre, folates, manganese and phosphorus.

So quinoa is probably as good as Manna in terms of supplying you with a good balanced range of nutritional benefits. It is one of natures superfoods that is fast gaining recognition in the media. You can create all sorts of quinoa recipes – many more than you can with Manna.

If you don’t know the next part of what happened with God’s people let me tell you that got bored of eating Manna everyday. So they asked God for an alternative. He gave them a months supply of Quail. I think I will stick with quinoa!

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I had little idea that my article would create such a stir with around 5,000 people so far reading it and a fair few comments sent to me by email. I anticipate that this will be my last contribution to the debate. My view is that quinoa is a slow carb and is perfectly acceptable to eat on the four hour diet. Unless someone can convince me otherwise that is what I believe to be true. I will continue for a few more weeks to finish my weight loss and include quinoa in about one meal per day.

I had a few readers ask me what my actual meal plan is when I include quinoa. Well rather than give you a blow by blow account let me list the meals that I eat for the 3 meals I eat a day.

As Tim Ferris recommends I just have a few meals that I eat over and over again. The binge day gets over any cravings I might have. I attended a wedding yesterday which was a great opportunity for a huge binge so I went for it. That was a lot of fun.

So here is my meal plan or menu plan for the four hour body diet.

Drink lots of water all day.

Other drinks are Black coffee, coffee with cream, green tea and red wine.

I have no snacks at all. Just the 3 main meals each day.

Breakfast Meals (About 7.00 a.m.)

Bacon, spinach and lentil omelette

Beef steak with vegetables and black eyed beans

Scrambled Egg and fried bacon with mushrooms and peppers

Dinner Time Meals (About 1.00 p.m.)

Cooked Meat with salad and Tinned Mixed Bean Salad – (This does not change)

Evening Meals (About 7.00 p.m.)

Chilli Con Carne served with vegetables and quinoa

Stir fry Cajun Chicken with vegetables and quinoa

Beef Medallion steak with curried mixed beans and Vegetables

Binge Days – I eat anything I want and do not restrict portions at all. I also have the odd beer instead of wine.

The only problem I have found is the time to prepare all these meals. To overcome this I cook enough Chilli for 2 days. I also do this for the Cajun Chicken Stir Fry.

I have not been able to find Macadamia oil so I use Olive oil which I enjoy and use anyway.

This is my interpretation of the four hour body diet with the addition of quinoa. If you have read the book then you know that the information is scant to say the least. But it does work.

Please feel free to comment below and share your experiences with this diet. I read all comments. (I won’t allow trash and spam so don’t write it- sorry)

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Here is how the weight loss has gone.

Week 1 – 4 days on diet – lost 6 pounds. Then had the required binge day.

Week 2 – 6 days on the diet – lost 2 pounds. Second binge day.

Week 3 – 6 days on the diet with quinoa on four days – lost 2 pounds. Third binge day.

So it looks like I will lose around 2 pounds a week on the Tim Ferris Diet. This is just the right amount. Not too fast so that I crave other food. Not so slow that I give up.

The Four Hour Body Diet – Quinoa Mystery.

Those who read the previous post about the four hour diet and quinoa will remember that the author said that quinoa was not a permissible food on his diet. You can eat it on the binge day but not on the diet days. As one of quinoa’s main benefits is that it is a protein and a slow carb I was puzzled to see why it is excluded. My weight loss experiment whilst not very scientific show that eating quinoa is not stopping me losing weight. If I continue for a few more weeks and lose 2 lbs each week I will be satisfied with that. For me I will include quinoa in the normal way.

What About The Binge Day?

I understand the thinking about the binge day and it does help you to know that you can go wild one day a week. The Biggest Loser Show had a top trainers tip this week which talked about having a “Day Off” once a week. I found myself thinking about what I would eat on Saturday from Wednesday onwards. I must think about food more than I realised. As someone who eats pretty healthily I do not want to stuff myself with burgers and chips on binge day. I wouldn’t eat that anyhow. So I have eaten my normal foods with perhaps a cake or a pudding as an extra. I put on 4 pounds after the binge day this week. It takes some faith to believe this will fall of by Monday as Tim Ferris says. For me it takes till Wednesday and then there are 3 days left to lose extra weight.

Do I Recommend This Book?

I was asked by someone whether I was recommending this book. I read constantly and as I have the first book The Four Working Week, I was always going to buy this one. The Four Hour Body Diet is clearly well researched and full of great ideas. Some of the suggestions and plans for muscle building had me scratching my head with wonder. The book as a whole is best taken for the parts you want – If you read it from cover to cover then you will not get the best from it. Tim Ferris suggests this approach himself in the book. I still haven’t been brave enough to read the chapters on Better Sex.

So if you are buying to build muscle and great abs then just read those parts. If you want to try the 4 Hour Body Diet then you only have about 4 chapters to read – the first 2 and the 2 that specifically explain the diet. The writing style is not to my taste but the content is good so I do recommend this book.

More details about the Four Hour Body Diet Here

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The style is the same but the content is quite different. It is also in my opinion controversial. Nevertheless both books are very interesting to read and stimulate the reader to take action in their life.

My First Four Days On The Four Hour Body Diet

One of the sections in the new book is the four hour body diet. I have put on a few pounds and decided to try it out for a month and lose the 20lbs that the book claims I will lose. After 4 days I have lost 6 pounds in weight. So that’s a good start. I am on my cheat day today. Then I will go back to six more days on the slow carb part of the diet.

The diet is a slow carb diet. This means you have to cut out all bread, rice, pasta and other starchy food. You also can’t eat any dairy foods or fruit. What you can eat is meat, vegetables, legumes and pulses. This is more limiting than it sounds but is quite workable. I had a bacon and spinach omelette for breakfasts, a salad and meat portion for lunch time and a stir fry meal for dinner.

The Mystery Of The Four Hour Body Diet And Quinoa

Being a Quinoa devotee I obviously turned my mind to including quinoa in this weeks menu. It turns out that quinoa is NOT allowed on the diet. You can only eat it on the cheat day. There is a post on Tim Ferris’s blog that tells you that certain foods are not allowed.

This is a mystery to me as I would say that quinoa is a slow carb food. I thought it would be ideal as part of the 4 hour body diet.

There is no explanation of exact why quinoa is not allowed. This is the mystery I am talking about. Why not eat quinoa?

Quinoa As A Slow Carbohydrate Food.

Most cooks think of quinoa as a substitute for rice or cous cous. In terms of cooking you can do this. In terms of nutrition quinoa is worlds apart from other seeds and grains. There are also 2 distinct types of carbohydrate. Rice and cous cous are soluble carbohydrates which can make you gain weight due to the way your body processes this type of carbohydrate.

Quinoa is an insoluble carbohydrate. This type of carbohydrate take a long time to break down in your body. Hence the name slow carbohydrates. There is little chance of your blood sugar going up. You will also not get hungry again when you eat quinoa and other slow carbohydrate food items.

Many experts consider quinoa to be a vegetable protein source, not a carbohydrate. Which again brings me round to ask the question – Why can’t you eat quinoa on the four hour diet? I might even join the Tim Ferris Forum to find out, we will see.

What I Am Going To Do?

I have decided to follow the example of Tim Ferris and use my own body as an experimenting medium. For next week I will not add quinoa to the diet and then check my weight next Saturday. Then I will add quinoa to one meal per day in the following week. I know its not very scientific but I want to see if quinoa really will have such a negative affect on my weight loss. Watch this space.

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