Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

This is the best grain(not really a grain) I have ever tasted, its super high in nutritional value. Posting some info for you all who may be interested in adding it to your stores...

http://www.specialfoods.com/quinoa.html

Quinoa is a cereal grain from Peru, which is closely related to the amaranth; quinoa is in the Goosefoot family, Chenopodiaceae. Our quinoa is definitely organic. The seed is about 1/8 inch in diameter. It is cooked and eaten much like oatmeal.
There are about 1480 calories in one pound of quinoa flour or seeds. The composition of the flour is approximately: 55.3% carbohydrates, 13.1% protein, 5.8% fat, 13.6% fiber, 9.3% water, and 2.9% minerals.




http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/quinoa.html


I. History:

Quinoa or quinua (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is native to the Andes Mountains of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. This crop (pronounced KEEN-WAH), has been called 41 vegetable caviar" or Inca rice, and has been eaten continuously for 5,000 years by people who live on the mountain plateaus and in the valleys of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile. Quinua means "mother grain" in the Inca language. This crop was a staple food of the Inca people and remains an important food crop for their descendants, the Quechua and Aymara peoples who live in rural regions.
This annual species is in the goosefoot family and is related to the weed, common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.), canahua (C. pallidicaule Aellen), and wormseed (C. ambrosiodes L. anthelminticum). Possible hybrids between quinoa and common lambsquarters have been observed in Colorado. Quinoa is also in the same botanical family as sugarbeet, table beet, and spinach, and it is susceptible to many of the same insect and disease problems as these crops. Quinoa is sometimes referred to as a "pseudocereal" because it is a broadleaf non-legume that is grown for grain unlike most cereal grains which are grassy plants. It is similar in this respect to the pseudocereals buckwheat and amaranth.
II. Uses:

Quinoa is a highly nutritious food. The nutritional quality of this crop has been compared to that of dried whole milk by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The protein quality and quantity in quinoa seed is often superior to those of more common cereal grains (Table 1). Quinoa is higher in lysine than wheat, and the amino acid content of quinoa seed is considered well-balanced for human and animal nutrition, similar to that of casein (Table 2).
Quinoa is used to make flour, soup, breakfast cereal, and alcohol. Most quinoa sold in the United States has been sold as whole grain that is cooked separately as rice or in combination dishes such as pilaf. Quinoa flour works well as a starch extender when combined with wheat flour or grain, or corn meal, in making biscuits, bread, and processed food.
Seed coats (pericarp) are usually covered with bitter saponin compounds that must be removed before human consumption. Saponins may also be toxic to fish. Deresination (removal of the pericarp and the saponins by mechanical or chemical means) does not affect the mineral content of the seed (Johnson and Croissant, 1990). The marketable seed is usually white in color. The leaves are frequently eaten as a leafy vegetable, like spinach. Seed imported from growers in South America is sold in the United States in health-food stores and gourmet food shops at high prices.
Quinoa grain has a lower sodium content and is higher in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc than wheat, barley, or corn (Table 3). The determination of the mineral content from Colorado quinoa trials showed a similar relationship, but differences from other grains were less conspicuous.
Table 1. Comparisons of the nutritional quality (% dry weight) of quinoa with various grains.
Crop
Quinoa
Barley
Buckwheat
Corn
Millet (Pearl)
Oat
Rice
Rye
Wheat (HRW)
Source for quinoa: Cardoza, A. and M. Tapia. 1979. Valor nutrivia. In: Quinoa y Kaniwa. M. Tapia (ed.), Serie Libros y Materiales Educativos No. 49. Reported by J. Risi and H. W. Galwey. 1994. Analyses of the remaining crops reported by: Crampton, E. W. and L.E. Harris. 1969. Applied Animal Nutrition, 2nd ed., W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco.
Table 2. Essential amino acid pattern of quinon compared to wheat, soy, skim milk, and the FAO reference pattern (1973) for evaluating proteins.
Amino Acid
Isoleucine
Leucine
Lysine
Phenylalanine
Tyrosine
Cystine
Methionine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Valine
Source: Johnson, R. and R. Aguilera. 1980. Processing Varieties of Oilseeds (Lupine and Quinoa), In: Report to Natural Fibers and Foods Commission of Texas, 1978-1980 (Reported by D. Cusack, 1984, The Ecologist 14:21-31).
Table 3. Comparisons of the mineral content In quinoa grain with barley, yellow corn, and wheat. Quinoa data are based on the average of 15 cultivars.
Crop
Quinoa
Barley
Corn
Wheat
Source: E. Ballon (1987), personal communication, reported by Johnson (1990)

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

been eatin it for years.... its great!

also remember eat/grow more yams and sweet potatoes instead of the plain old spuds. much better for ya

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

Now that gotta mean something, it's even approved by TPTB! :bowdown:

Didn't know that it's not a grain. I eat mine with raisins

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

Wow, loaded with Carbs and calories, could keep a guy alive on it alone. I am surprised at the rice numbers, that must be brown rice eaa? I am a flax seed, rice, oat and lentil person. I drink about a gallon of green tea a day and probably a half gallon of White tea. Been wanting to do the wheat grass but I really think I may be developing a reaction to the wheat. It could be the yeast also.
Where do you get that stuff? I have never seen it in my bulk foods co-op.

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

Can you get it at most food stores or where?

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

waltonfeed.com sells it (although considering they also supply the gov with emergency supplies I don't like to shop there) You can purchase it at any health food store. A 25lb bag will run you betwen $35 and $40. The cool thing is that 1 cup will cook up to 3 cups, so it stretches a long way too.

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

Yea I don't order food, the UPS guys will leave it in the rain.
I will ask at my Co-op, I have never seen it there.

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

I bought mine from this place -

http://sprouting.com/usastore/enter.html

For those of you who don't use credit cards, they also accept checks

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

Any health food store. I don't think I ever saw it at a regular food store

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

Good food. Cheaper if you have a local co-op.

I grew my own wheatgrass about a year Curt, and keeping it free of fungus was why. Tastes like concentrated grass trimmings. ewww But it really boosts health.

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

Quinoa is Amaranth, aka, pigweed. It has many names including lam's quarters. This is the big of the big in South American native foods. Quinoa is of course the seed version of this, just as wild oats are an oat but not nearly as productive.

Just to know if you want to plant and grow it, it'd be the easiest thing you ever did. Lamb's quarters, for instance, is far better than spinach, and since you have to weed it up anyway, why waste it? Jerry?

It's a good protein but does have a green-beany flavor (at least what i"ve tried) You'd forget about it pretty quickly. And yes, it goes a long way on camping, etc, esp as it has carb and protien.

Get some seeds and grow some today...just not in your regular garden.

TS

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

Anybody else Gnawing on Burdock root or drinking Red Clover tea?

Re: Super food, aka. Quinoa
 

I just tried Quinoa for the first time a few weeks ago. Also Amaranth is a very good grain as well. It has simalar characteristics including that it is also a complete protein by itself. Also Amaranth is a warm weather crop while Quinoa is a cool weather crop. I prefer the taste of Quinoa.

Here is a link on these grains

www.saltspringseeds.com/scoop/powerfood.cfm