What the heck is 'keen-wa'!?!?! Well, it's Quinoa for starters :-)

Despite being around in Australia for ages now, quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is still pretty unfamiliar to most Aussies.  I was introduced to it more than 15 years ago when I was training to be a naturopath.  Yes, a naturopath, but don't panic, I realised the error of my ways a couple of years in to the course when I managed to get a high distinction in iridology.... by correspondence (:-O) so I woke up and smelled the delicious aroma of evidence based practice, and went back to uni for another 4 years to learn about diet, disease and health properly.  Anyway, I digress....

Quinoa is the seed from a grassy sort of plant from South America.  It is high in fibre, gluten free and has an awesome protein profile, providing just about the full compliment of amino acids necessary for the body to make it's own proteins.  Plus it has a decent amount of carbohydrate too.  Also, it tastes pretty good - nutty is the broadest description of its taste (funny how unfamiliar foods are usually described as either 'nutty'or 'like chicken'!!) but when it's in recipes it smells pretty similar to tahini (ground sesame seeds).  It has quite a mild taste really- it will take on whatever flavours you prepare it with.  And its super easy to use - you cook it and use it just like rice!

Some of the ways that quinoa can be used are:

• with stir fries
• as a sweet porridge with honey and fruit
• in pilafs and risottos (instead of rice)
• instead of cous cous
• in cakes and cookies
• in casseroles and soups to absorb some of the liquid and make them more well-rounded meals
• mixed through salads cold to add more nutrition and energy to a work-lunch salad

I sense that you're still a little anxious about trying something new...... so here's a step by step guide... and then a yummy recipe I devised last night, with inspiration from this months Better Homes and Gardens magazine's chocolate special (theirs had way too many steps for my liking).

Okay, firstly, this is what half a cup of quinoa looks like raw.... and cooked (I think they look a bit like little planet Saturns, with the visible germ being the asteroid belt)

Rinse it well first.  Quinoa naturally is covered in saponins which are toxic to bugs and can be an irritant to humans.  These are removed during processing but some residual may be left behind and may give you a stomach ache if its not rinsed off.

The ratio of quinoa to cooking fluid is 1:2, just like rice and you can use stock or herbs or milk or fruit or anything in the cooking fluid, it will just absorb the fluid and the flavours.  It usually takes 10 minutes on a gentle simmer to cook through, but keep cooking if you can still see white in the centre of the seed - it should be transleucent.

Chocolate Quinoa Cake

Ingredients

Method

2/3 cup white quinoa 1 2/3 cups water 100g dark chocolate 80g margarine or butter 1/3 cup milk 4 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla essence 1 cup almond meal 1 cup castor sugar 1 cup self-raising flour 1 ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Rinse quinoa gently and wash away excess husks.  Bring quinoa and water to the boil and simmer, covered for 10 minutes or until centres completely transleucent.  Take off the heat and add the chocolate and butter and stir until melted.  As mixture cools, add vanilla essence and milk.  Once mixture is cool enough, put into a food processor and blend with eggs until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Pour mixture into large greased ring tin and cook at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes.  Allow to cool and serve with ice cream.   YUM!!

This cake was super delicious, but it is definitely a sometimes food!

Have a great weekend!!

Fiona xx