Quinoa

[Robert Blean]

I have seen some references to using quinoa in BPL forums, as well as elsewhere. I'm not sure how many use quinoa, but obviously some of us do. (I haven't done so yet.)

1) Price — I was looking at prices on the web last night, and at COSTCO today — I was interested to see that my local COSTCO has quinoa as cheap as the cheaper places on the web (even assuming web shipping was free, which it was not) — 4#/$9.99 = $2.50/lb.

2) Recipes — what is your favorite way to use quinoa when backpacking?

— Bob

[Bob Gross]

Doesn't it require a fair amount of cooking?

Where can we buy Instant Quinoa?

–B.G.–

[j lan]

1) That's a good price. Especially considering you can live on quinoa alone and be nutritionally satiated.

2) No real answer here, you could pre cook it part way and dehydrate. I think there are some box quinoas that are more instant. You could also soak while hiking and cook the rest of the way at camp. but I eat pasta made from quinoa flower all the time and it is positively delicious!

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

It takes 15 to 20 minutes to cook, like making rice for example.

You can precook and dry it, also just like rice – that way you have "instant" for trail use. All you need to do then is add a 1:1 water to dry ratio and let rehydrate.

You can buy an instant version in natural food stores but it is more like a cereal than a grain. Think like oatmeal.

[Robert Blean]

The package directions say "Bring to boil for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Turn heat off and cover with lid for 5 minutes."

I'm not sure how well pre-soaking, boil-and-set, or pre-cook-and-dehydrate-rehydrate work with quinoa. (I note Sarah's message saying dehydrate works, but still don't know rehydration time.)

Laurie, Sarah — I presume your books have something to say about this; I have them on order :)

— Bob

[Jason Elsworth]

Sorry to go off at a tangent. But I have just started using buckwheat, which I am cooking using the pot cozy method for 10-15 mins. It comes out a little bit crunchy, but is certainly edible. Buckwheat is a seed as opposed to a grain and has an excellent nutritional profile.

[John Davis]

tastes better than any instant product. My recommendation is to cook at home, dehydrate, add som eprotein (albeit Q is very protein rich) and serve. yum. and easy

[BlackHatGuy]

Love quinoa. I have some Inca Red quinoa and some black quinoa. Wonderful stuff.

[. .]

I am a big fan of quinoa as well and am probably responsible for some of the mentions previously on threads. It has been a consistent part of my palate for some time now and I use it chiefly in place of rice, oats, or other grains, as well as pasta. It is very versatile, is a very complete protein, and has a wonderful taste and texture. 2.50/lb. is a great price. There is also a "flake" version, similar to "rolled" when referring to oats. It cooks much quicker and has similar taste, but the texture is much "looser." This product can be found at Fred Meyer in the PNW, or Co-ops, natural food stores, and perhaps other Kroger-owned grocer chains.

[Javan Dempsey]

Can get regular organic white quinoa @ earthfare sometimes under $2lb, depending on the time of year..

Sprout it like brown rice, any sprouted grain (aside from the few that are kind of toxic)is higher in vitamin content, as a general rule..

If you cook anything else, in a pot or fry pan, or heat up extra water for FB meal, throw the quinoa in the pot afterward and let it keep going. Anything you cooked before will add some flavor.. Doesn't really take long to cook, can finish on the leftover fuel after you boil with an alcohol stove. Get to to a boil, cover, and wrap your pot in some spare cloths for 20 mins.. Or just let it keep boiling while stirring for a while.

Quinoa, Buckwheat Kasha, and Barley are my favorite grains, hands down!

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Rehydration time is similar to rice and pasta: 5 to 10 minutes and ready to eat.

[Laurie Ann March]

I am, as you know, a big fan of quinoa. I've made a lot of recipes with it for both the trail and home. It works well in breakfasts and soups and stews and as a base for a salad. You can use it where you would use pasta or rice. You can add quinoa flour or cooked quinoa to baking to boost the protein.

Here is a blog post I made about quinoa that gives a little more info about red vs white quinoa and there is also a quinoa recipe on the site. If anyone would like one of the new quinoa recipes I've created just send me a note and I'll email a copy to you.

Quinoa

Also, you can pre-cook and dehydrate quinoa. I usually do this as a whole meal. Like Quinoa and Spinach Soup or Quinoa and Lentil Stew. With boiling water poured in and the baggie or container added to a cozy, it will come back in about 10 – 15 minutes. That way you use less fuel than cooking it at camp.

Edited to add…

Someone mentioned that they weren't sure it would dehydrate/come back well. There was a fellow over on Backpacker who took my recipe for the soup and photographed the whole process… then on the second page he photographed it after rehydration in the field.

Red Dog's Soup Adventure

[Anonymous]

" It comes out a little bit crunchy, but is certainly edible"

Buckwheat comes in different textures: Coarse(whole groats),
medium, and, IIRC, fine. If you are using whole groats, you might consider a finer grind. My memory is hazy on the fine, but it would be easy to put medium(if that is what you are currently using) in a blender to grind it finer. This is especially at higher elevations. Finer texture = greater surface area exposed to hot water = quicker/more complete cooking.

[Javan Dempsey]

With any of this stuff, soaking will help a) it cook faster b) cook more consistently

At least, that's my experience..

Just like thick rolled oats, soak for a few hours, then cook like quick oats, nothing beats that stuff, and it comes out creamy and not soggy.

Wheat berries too.

[Jason Elsworth]

Thanks for the buckwheat advice guys.

[adam blanton]

one more thing on the buckwheat, I'm a big fan of Soba noodles which are made from buckwheat flour. I'm not sure how this would compare to cooking buckwheat straight up.

Also, it's not common but make sure you don't have an allergy to buckwheat. A coworker of mine once ate soba noodles without knowing they contained buckwheat… man that was quite an ordeal.

[Laurie Ann March]

There are loads of other great grains out there such as spelt, barley, millet and amaranth. All can be pre-cooked and dehydrated to make them more "instant" on the trail.

Aside from grains you might want to consider pulses/legumes such as lentils as they can be a great substitute as well especially if you pre-cook and dry them.

Last but not least is wild rice. Gibbs Wild Rice is a great American company that sells an instant wild rice and a very yummy wild rice cereal.

[. .]

Can anyone comment on any potential nutritional sacrifices in preparing grains in this way?

[Laurie Ann March]

tbe nutrient loss is very nominal

[Brian UL]

Soak your quinoa overnight:
take about 1 cup quinoa, cover with water add a tbl spoon of something acidic like lemon juice or yogurt.
This will leach out the anti-nutrients that are the seeds natural defense against being eaten.
This goes for all grains.

[Dicentra OPW]

Black? I haven't seen that yet! Cool.

Here's one of my quinoa recipes. You can also use instant rice or couscous if you don't want to bother with cooking and drying the quinoa.

Unstuffed Peppers
Serves 1

1/3 cup (cooked and dehydrated) quinoa
3 tablespoons dried roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon cilantro
1 tablespoon tomato powder
1 tablespoon sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon dried mixed vegetables
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon vegetable bouillon
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

At home: combine everything in a zip locking bag

In camp: add enough hot water to cover. Stir and place in a cozy. Allow to stand for 5 minutes
or until the vegetables are rehydrated. Stir well and eat.

[Max Hoagland]

Just make sure to rinse it, which is hard to do while backpacking, although you could strain it through some bug mesh. Soaking will have the same effect (don't cook in soaked water). BTW, you can't expect to get all your protein requirements from quinoa alone, it has more of all the amino acids than other grains (it is a pseudo grain which is why it has more protein), but you still need other protein sources that may have different amino acid compositions than quinoa.

[j lan]

Almost all quinoa these days is pre-rinsed.

[Monty Montana]

I thought so too, James, until I tried some from Whole Foods ($2.50/lb). I didn't rinse it, and man was it ever bitter! Trader Joe's quinoa, which is more expensive, is pre-rinsed and cooks up faster…in about 10 minutes as I recall. So the point is to save yourself some grief by testing it out at home first to make sure it doesn't need rinsing when out on the trail. Happy Trails!

[Dicentra OPW]

I think the general rule is that if you get it in bulk bins it is not rinsed, but the boxed stuff usually is. I buy mine at TJs (or PCC) in the box and never rinse it. Check the labels.

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