So what's up with this stuff? A person on another board posted that she eats it for breakfast--just add raisins and some cinnamon, pour boiling water on it and fluff it up. I did that and. . .nothing, nada, zip. I ended up putting it in the microwave in an attempt to get it to absorb the water. It did a bit, but I ate crunch quinoa. Anyone know what I should have done to make this a delicious breakfast alternative?

I've never heard of just pouring boiling water on it. It needs to be cooked, somewhat similar to rice (unless you sprout it).

I got this recipe in an email the other day but before that, I had never heard of quinoa being for breakfast. I've used it as a rice substitute for dinner/lunch before though.
http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=245

Quinoa Cereal with Fresh Fruit

Try quinoa for a high protein breakfast treat.

Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
sea salt to taste

Topping
1/4 cup rolled oats
A combination of your favorite fruits, pumpkin seeds, and sliced almonds:
1/4 cup blueberries
1 TBS pumpkin seeds
1 TBS sliced almonds
Top with 1/2 cup soy milk and 1 tsp honey


Directions: Preparing Quinoa

Placed well-rinsed quinoa with water and salt in a saucepan, cover and bring to a boil.
Turn the heat to low, keep covered, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Combine 1/4 of the quinoa recipe with rolled oats.
Top with blueberries, pumpkin seeds and almonds and serve with soy milk and honey.
Serves 1


Healthy Cooking Tips:

When quinoa is cooked the grains become translucent, and the white germ will partially detach itself, appearing like a spiraled tail. If you are using pre-packaged quinoa, it is best to follow the directions on the package.

sounds like your confusing quiona (which is awesome) with couscous (which is also awesome)

quiona needs to be cooked. couscous is already cooked...

Yes, ditto what Nessa and Nelie said - cooks pretty fast (about 10 min), but yes, you must cook it.

The best thing about quinoa is that it's much higher in protein than most grains.

Bulgar wheat (cooked and dried cracked wheat) also cooks up like couscous, but quinoa needs to be cooked, definitely.

Wheat berries are great too. Just cook until soft (I put them in a crock pot with 1 part wheat berries to 4 parts water and cooked in a crockpot on low overnight 10 - 12 hours). I used them as a breaksfast cereal (yummy), and also used them to extend taco meat, and I made a traditional ham salad substituting most of the ham with tvp and wheat berries.

I love trying the different grains.

Thanks! I wasn't confusing quinoa with couscous, but maybe the person who mentioned it on the other bulletin board was. I even went back to check and, yup, she wrote "pour boiling water over it." One of the reasons I thought it would be a good idea to have it for breakfast was because of the great protein content so I was happy to read it was so easy to do, but, alas, that was not to be. Since I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel, all I have is a crockpot, a microwave and an electric kettle so pouring boiling water over something was such a great idea. But maybe I'll try it in the crockpot on high and see if that will work.

Quinoa porridge is a great breakfast!!!

Nelie, I make mine with similar ingredients regularly, except vegan of course, with maple syrup, agave or other sweetener in place of honey but I cook in all the ingredients instead of topping it that way. I also cook it in soy or almond milk a lot of the time instead of water, without salt. I may add a pinch of salt and cinnamon, cardamom to it later though.

I make quinoa - boil it for 6 minutes turn off fire, cover and let sit. YUMMY!

Sheila - I'm sure you could do without one more appliance, but have you ever thought of getting a rice cooker? You can cook all sorts of grains in it. You can even cook some beans/lentils in it.

I actually cooked quinoa this morning in the crockpot on high while I was at the gym. Worked great! I put in some cinnamon and some dried antioxidant fruits (you get them at Costco). I topped it with a little agave syrup and a few sliced almonds--delicious! Thanks for the great "porridge" idea. The fact that it works well in a crockpot is a real plus for me right now.

The crockpot has been working really well for all the legumes I've been eating. I just cook them all day instead of the time it says on the recipe--made some wonderful African Peanut Potato Stew and Lentil/Barley soup. In fact, it's so easy, I might even stick with the crockpot methods even after my kitchen is done.

Hey there, new to the forum, I just bought some quinoa from the health food store in my area because I heard good things about it, but I have yet to find a good supper recipe, I would like to make some tonight, any ideas? Thanks ladies!

I think this dish looks pretty awesome!

Pineapple Cashew Quinoa
http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum...c.php?id=61288

I just make quinoa and substitute it for rice. You could make some saucy lentils and pour it over the quinoa or use it any other way you'd use a grain.

Ive seen recipes for this and they looked fabulous. Must try some!

Chocolate & Zucchini had a recipe for a Red Quinoa salad that I've adapted and made many times to rave reviews. Check out Clotilde's original on her website, or try my adaptation below:

*1/2 box Red Quinoa, prepared according to directions and chilled
*1 pkg Smoked Tofu (I can reliably find SoyBoy brand at Whole Foods, but if you can smoke your own, it's infinitely better), cut into small cubes
*3 Roasted Red Peppers (I roast my own, but you can get away with ones from a jar), sliced / diced
*1 cup Pistachios (I buy them preshelled / toasted / unsalted)
*Seeds of 1 pomegranate (OPTIONAL: I love the way the pomegranate seeds taste in here, but my roommate prefers that I serve his on the side )
*White wine vinegar to taste
*Smoked Paprika to taste

To prepare, simply prepare the quinoa and let it chill. Add remaining ingredients, then flavor with vinegar / paprika, and let it hang out in the fridge overnight. Mmmm....