Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Ingredient Spotlight: Quinoa

Today’s Ingredient Spotlight features quinoa!  While quinoa is commonly referred to and used as a grain, it’s actually a seed.  And, botanically it’s more closely related to beets and spinach than it is to wheat or grains. 

File:Red quinoa.png

Of course about 3 years ago you probably had never heard of quinoa before; at least I had not.  But, of late, the popularity of quinoa has skyrocketed.  Quinoa pudding, tacos, popcorn, pizza crust, waffles, granola, soup, pasta, crackers & ice cream

I can’t say that I have jumped onto the quinoa bandwagon.  But, I have pinned some delicious looking quinoa recipes:

Pizza Quinoa Casserole – A yummy cheese-filled casserole from The Spiffy Cookie!

Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes – From A Pretty Life.  You don’t have to twist my arm twice with blueberry pancakes! 

Quinoa Cookies – A cookie made with flour, quinoa, fall spices, oatmeal and chocolate chips!  Sounds like a winner to me. From  Two Peas and their Pod

Chocolate Chip Blueberry Breakfast Quinoa – Sounds like a fun alternative to oatmeal!  The blueberry chocolate combo is brilliant – from How Sweet It Is.

Kale, Sausage & Quinoa Scramble – Switch up breakfast with this new scramble featuring quinoa among kale and sausage.  From Style & Grace.  

So, here’s what I want to know:

  • Have you tried quinoa?
  • Do you cook regularly with it? 
  • What are your favorite recipes featuring quinoa? 

If you have favorite recipes, bring them by Tiffany’s Blog – Eat at Home – and link them up as part of Ingredient Spotlight Wednesday!

2 comments:

  1. I love quinoa, the fam, not so much yet. :) I like to make a small batch of quinoa, and add chopped up cucumbers, broccoli and carrots. I add a little olive oil and fresh garlic. So yummy!

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  2. I've recently tried quinoa for the first time and introduced some of my family members to it :D The very first thing I tried was a quinoa granola (not such a hit, it was tasty but it didn't stick together at all so it was just a bunch of crispy, tasty small quinoa 'grains' :D) and after that I've mostly used it as a base for a salad (once with balsamic vinegar and some veggies and once with pesto and some veggies).

    Quite tasty and much more filling than I'd expected :)

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Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear from you; especially how you're finding JOY in your kitchen.

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