Clean Eating Garlic Parmesan Quinoa Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What to put in quinoa to make it taste good? ›

Meat or meat broth works very well. We primarily cook our quinoa in pork broth with bits of leftover pork chop in it, and the rich flavor from the meat tones down the flavor of the quinoa. Strong flavors like onions or spices work too. In a soup, you can add spices and other flavors like celery, carrot, etc.

Quinoa's got the carbs covered, so you'll likely want to add some additional protein (eggs, lentils, beans, tofu, chicken), a fat (olive oil, nuts, butter, cheese), and, ideally, some kind of fruit or vegetable (broccoli, berries, squash, spinach).

They believe doing so improves the taste of quinoa after it is cooked. Rinsing quinoa is preferable, especially if you are sensitive to the bitter taste of saponin.

Now that your quinoa is rinsed or toasted, it's time to cook it. For 1 cup of uncooked quinoa, you'll want to use 2 cups of water—this will yield 3 cups of cooked quinoa. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the temperature to medium-low and pop the lid on securely.

You can eat one-two cups of cooked quinoa in a day. You should avoid eating it if you experience stomachache, itchiness or vomiting after consuming it. A study by Harvard Public School of Health has reported that eating a bowl of quinoa daily is healthy and without any side effects.

Quinoa is rich in both fiber and protein, contains a much higher amount of other nutrients, and has a similar fluffy texture to the rice. A cup of quinoa contains twice more protein and about 5 g more fiber than white rice. Quinoa contains fewer calories and carbohydrates than white rice.

3. Toss it in salads. Quinoa is a complete source of protein and makes a great addition to a healthy salad. The combination of fiber, protein and healthy fats can turn a light side salad into a robust entrée.

Start with a base of cooked quinoa then add your preferred bean or lentil and your go-to cooked veggies. Next up: a source of fat. Hummus, seeds, cheese, avocado, tahini, your favorite dressing, whatever sounds good to you. This meal comes together in a flash when you batch prep quinoa, veggies and beans in advance.

Rinsing quinoa definitely starts to hydrate the seeds. Flavor – In terms of flavor, the unrinsed quinoa definitely had a nuttier, earthier flavor, but I didn't find it bitter at all. The rinsed quinoa was definitely milder and the flavors more muted.

Do you need to soak quinoa before cooking it? In short, no, you don't need to soak quinoa. However, doing so is said to remove phytic acid, which may make it easier for people to digest quinoa. If you just want to remove the bitter flavor from quinoa, rinse it under cold water for about a minute.

How to get rid of quinoa smell? ›

That smell is from the saponin, the coating I mentioned earlier, but if you do as Polisi and other quinoa experts suggest and soak the quinoa rather than merely rinse it, you've solved that problem.

Store cooked and cooled quinoa in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Quinoa and Carbs

It's not a low-carb food. A cup of cooked quinoa has more than 39 grams of carbohydrates. That's 50% more than in the same amount of brown rice and almost as many carbs as in white rice. If you have type 2 diabetes or other conditions, you may be watching how many carbs you eat.

Happily, the solution to preventing bitter quinoa is very simple. All you need to do is rinse your uncooked quinoa in cold running water for a minute or so until the water runs clear.

Saponin is also what tastes bitter: rinse away the saponin means rinsing away the bitterness. Clear-running water is an indication that the saponin coating each grain has been fully rinsed away. You can also taste a raw grain or two to make sure you've reached a zero-level bitterness.