Quinoa, famous for protein and fiber content, still contains less protein and fiber than, say, oatmeal. It's okay - hyperventilating paleo bloggers have raised concerns about saponins -- but the whole "superfood" frenzy about quinoa is just a tad off base. It's okay, not bad for you, probably better than white rice or processed food, but most of what quinoa has going for it is simply that it is real and unmodified. If it "took over the world", it would be sweetened, boiled, extracted, and fried into chips with none of the nutritional benefits people are seeking therefrom anyway.
It's gluten free, which is important for some people (a lot if you buy into wheat belly). It's another source of a complete protein, which is important for vegans.
Not all popular health foods get converted into crap. There might be unhealthy variants of these, but fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish and soy tend to be popular and healthy. I'd even say that processed foods which are based on these, like french fries, are better than those based on sugar (like a chocolate bar).
It's about perspective. In a world where people eat fabricated sugars and fat, you're doing a disservice to it. It is, categorically, healthy.
Would you use Oatmeal in place of rice though? I couldn't picture a healthy curry or stir-fry that used Oatmeal instead of Quinoa in place of rice, could you?
"Quinoa is a low-calorie, gluten-free, high-protein grain that tastes great." (emphasis mine)
I'm a vegetarian, high-mileage distance runner who has every reason to enjoy quinoa. "Tastes great" is not one of the reasons I eat it. I choke it down as best I can because it's good for me.
Really? I find it tastes close-enough to rice that I can substitute it easily in my vegetarian cooking. For example, this recipe for quinoa-stuffed tomatoes I love:
Mix 3 c. cooked quinoa with parboiled broccoli, cauliflower, or some other veg in a casserole dish. Combine 1/4 c. pesto, 1/3 c milk or cream, and one egg, mix and pour over the quinoa/veg mixture. Top with chunks of goat cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 min at 350.
A go-to dish for me. Really easy and tasty. Measurements are basically guesses, I usually just eyeball it.
In case you've never heard of it, Scott Kurek relased a book called Eat and Run a year ago, it's packed with very nice vegetarian/vegan recipes and a very nice motivator for any runner.
Thanks for the ideas and the recipes. I'll admit that my experience has been off the Whole Foods food bar (and a few other places). It wasn't tasty enough to try at home, so I never bothered. Enough folks here tell me I'm crazy that I'll give it a go at preparing it myself.
For the next episode of "Ask HN: food preparation", how about a way to make tempeh edible? That I have tried at home enough times that I gave up. :-)
A particular concern with quinoa, given its narrow (native) growing area, and the poverty endemic to that area, is that worldwide demand for the crop has out-priced its growers' and their communities' ability to afford it in order to feed themselves. A select few brands set aside some of each harvest specifically for that purpose (and also put some of their profits back into improving the farms, sending the farmers' children to college, and that kind of thing), but so far, that's decidedly not the norm.
Why is this a problem? If quinoa sprouted literal diamonds we wouldn't be upset that the farmers were selling them instead of making their own jewelry.
Having your crops be too valuable to eat is a good problem to have; these farmers incomes have more than sextupled. That easily lets them sell the crop and buy other food like everyone else.
I completely disagree. Quinoa as a food stock is not a saving grace for the farmers that grow it. It does grow where little else grows, but it does not yield a lot of nutrition compared for the labor invested as a lot of other crops.
With the price rising they can actually afford a better living. For them, getting a little richer than they are means consuming less quinoa, and more meat, more fruit and vegetables. And they can afford stuff other than food, which seems to be a novel idea.
"In Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, a village of beleaguered peasants seeks to protect itself from marauding bandits by hiring a squad of samurai. To show their esteem, they offer up precious white rice to the warriors, saving only lowly millet for themselves. "
This is debatable.[1] After hearing about this through NPR I initially thought that it was terrible; however, after doing more reading it seems to be unclear what kind of effect this is actually having on their economy.[2]
Every farmer has a decision: Eat the grain, or sell the grain. They sell it if the money has more value to them than eating it. Unless they're indentured servants or slaves, they are doing this for their own benefit. If they'd starve as a result, they just wouldn't sell the crop.
Yes, but Quinoa is farmed in countries ruled by populist left-wing democracies. If the poor subsistence farmers were somehow being screwed by this massive inflow of cash, do you really think Hero Of The People types like Morales or Maduro wouldn't find some way to protect them? It's not like we're talking about corporate dictators here.
I mean, there's a lot of faults in Latin American populist leftist politics, but this kind of thing is the sort of stuff they're supposed to excel at.
Can you elaborate on this a bit? I can't comprehend the concept of people growing a crop not being able to afford to eat it - if they're the ones growing it, then they don't have to buy it at all, just sell less of it. And surely the high international demand for quinoa means that they're making much more money in trade than previously.
> Quinoa is a plant that produces a tremendous amount of seed. So you have potential, with intensive selection, to identify variants that have unusual characteristics.
Will it still be as nutritious after all that selection though? There was an article pointing out that when farmers select for bigger, shinier, more marketable fruit, it's often at the cost of actual nutritional value:
Unlike vegetable and fruits, how quinoa looks probably doesn't matter to consumers at all. Given this is the case, selection criteria will focus more on nutrition numbers which they can advertise easily (20g OF PROTEIN!!!) than looks.
Meh... Cannabis seed is more nutritious, and has more uses, as does the cannabis fibers, that quinoa pales in comparison.
Cannabis is easier to grow as well.
If our governments weren't so afraid of people getting stoned the economic benefits of cannabis would make it a major cash crop capable of outperforming quinoa in every aspect.
Some puzzling stuff in this article. We're apparently to believe that Colorado's transportation infrastructure is far behind that of the Bolivian Andes?
A quick search revealed that quinoa is between £4.50 and £8 a kilo in the UK and brown rice is £1-£4 (depending on quality).
To the rice you could just add some bran (£2/kilo, but you don't need much) and another, cheap source of protein to make it similar to quinoa's nutirtional values.
Quinoa is the perfect rice substitute. I switched over to Quinoa about 3 years ago instead of rice. Even though it's super expensive (especially in Australia) it has health benefits that far outweigh other suitable grains that can be used as a rice substitute. Steam some vegetables, put them into a bowl with Quinoa, cook a nice massive mushroom and sit the Quinoa on-top and then sprinkle some Himalayan Rock Salt over the top and you've got yourself a delicious healthy meal.
Why? It has some nutritional benefits and it tastes OK, but that's all. I wouldn't want to eat it all the time. This is a crap story, with this bolted-on conspiracy near the end that quinoa is losing out because it can't compete with Big Ag. Give it a chance to succeed or fail on its own merits - because it might well be a fad, like Acai berries were two years ago.
Quinoa gives me such gut-wrenching pain that I can no longer convince myself to eat it.
My girlfriend is vegetarian which is why I have such great armchair-scientific experience in describing this potentially-foul food.
I've been told to wash the Quinoa to remove the saponin from it before cooking, which worked on occasion. But when you get that gut-pain from eating Quinoa even once it's an incredibly strong deterrent from ever trying it again.
Having eaten razorblades is a pretty accurate description of how I can feel for hours after having eaten even a small portion of Quinoa.
That could be one reason why it isn't taking over the globe. Because some people can get violently ill after eating it. Last I heard, nobody has a chance of developing horribly painful symptoms after eating rice.
Same here. Sauté some onions and garlic in the pot. Right as those finish up dump in the water and quinoa and cover. Turn the heat to simmer and wait the few minutes for it to cook down. Using broth or stock of some sort instead of water adds even more flavor.
For anyone looking to add a nutritional grain to their diet at a low cost, I highly recommend millet. It has similar nutritional value to quinoa but because it isn't trendy (and thus doesn't have the same supply issues) it can be 80% cheaper than quinoa in most stores.
Here's how to explain the graph showing a bump and then a downturn in American consumption.
Tastes funky; hard to cook; unfamiliar consistency. Enthusiastic people (my wife) buy it and it sits on the shelf, they don't know what to do with it, lose interest.
Isn't quinoa technically a fruit? One problem with it is when you cook it, unlike say rice, it's tough to refrigerate or store it without it turning into a gelatinous mess.
[+] [-] scythe|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] etler|12 years ago|reply
100 calories of Quinoa
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=83+g+quinoa
100 calories of Oatmeal
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=26+g+oatmeal
However if you look at the vitamins, oatmeal wins.
I also wouldn't call Quinoa a super food, but it does fill a gap left by other grains and is definitely a worthy addition to a healthy balanced diet.
[+] [-] latch|12 years ago|reply
It's gluten free, which is important for some people (a lot if you buy into wheat belly). It's another source of a complete protein, which is important for vegans.
Not all popular health foods get converted into crap. There might be unhealthy variants of these, but fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish and soy tend to be popular and healthy. I'd even say that processed foods which are based on these, like french fries, are better than those based on sugar (like a chocolate bar).
It's about perspective. In a world where people eat fabricated sugars and fat, you're doing a disservice to it. It is, categorically, healthy.
[+] [-] DigitalSea|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zobzu|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mikestew|12 years ago|reply
I'm a vegetarian, high-mileage distance runner who has every reason to enjoy quinoa. "Tastes great" is not one of the reasons I eat it. I choke it down as best I can because it's good for me.
[+] [-] kevinconroy|12 years ago|reply
http://www.makebetterfood.com/recipes/quinoa-burrito-bowl/
[+] [-] Pxtl|12 years ago|reply
http://cookieandkate.com/2011/stuffed-tomatoes-with-quinoa/
[+] [-] sammyo|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LargeWu|12 years ago|reply
A go-to dish for me. Really easy and tasty. Measurements are basically guesses, I usually just eyeball it.
[+] [-] zem|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] VeejayRampay|12 years ago|reply
In case you've never heard of it, Scott Kurek relased a book called Eat and Run a year ago, it's packed with very nice vegetarian/vegan recipes and a very nice motivator for any runner.
[+] [-] loceng|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kroger|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mikestew|12 years ago|reply
For the next episode of "Ask HN: food preparation", how about a way to make tempeh edible? That I have tried at home enough times that I gave up. :-)
[+] [-] capkutay|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] etler|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] r00fus|12 years ago|reply
I probably wouldn't eat it daily for exactly the same reasons you state.
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] sgdnogb2n|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rosser|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] YokoZar|12 years ago|reply
Having your crops be too valuable to eat is a good problem to have; these farmers incomes have more than sextupled. That easily lets them sell the crop and buy other food like everyone else.
[+] [-] bayesianhorse|12 years ago|reply
With the price rising they can actually afford a better living. For them, getting a little richer than they are means consuming less quinoa, and more meat, more fruit and vegetables. And they can afford stuff other than food, which seems to be a novel idea.
[+] [-] dxbydt|12 years ago|reply
"In Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, a village of beleaguered peasants seeks to protect itself from marauding bandits by hiring a squad of samurai. To show their esteem, they offer up precious white rice to the warriors, saving only lowly millet for themselves. "
[+] [-] wf|12 years ago|reply
[1] http://marcfbellemare.com/wordpress/2013/01/quinoa-nonsense-...
[2] http://ain-bolivia.org/2011/05/bolivian-quinoa-questions-pro...
[+] [-] mathattack|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Pxtl|12 years ago|reply
I mean, there's a lot of faults in Latin American populist leftist politics, but this kind of thing is the sort of stuff they're supposed to excel at.
[+] [-] Gormo|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] klipt|12 years ago|reply
Will it still be as nutritious after all that selection though? There was an article pointing out that when farmers select for bigger, shinier, more marketable fruit, it's often at the cost of actual nutritional value:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/opinion/sunday/breeding-th...
[+] [-] jsnk|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] D9u|12 years ago|reply
If our governments weren't so afraid of people getting stoned the economic benefits of cannabis would make it a major cash crop capable of outperforming quinoa in every aspect.
[+] [-] jessaustin|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] switch007|12 years ago|reply
To the rice you could just add some bran (£2/kilo, but you don't need much) and another, cheap source of protein to make it similar to quinoa's nutirtional values.
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] DigitalSea|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] simplexion|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anigbrowl|12 years ago|reply
Why? It has some nutritional benefits and it tastes OK, but that's all. I wouldn't want to eat it all the time. This is a crap story, with this bolted-on conspiracy near the end that quinoa is losing out because it can't compete with Big Ag. Give it a chance to succeed or fail on its own merits - because it might well be a fad, like Acai berries were two years ago.
[+] [-] GigabyteCoin|12 years ago|reply
My girlfriend is vegetarian which is why I have such great armchair-scientific experience in describing this potentially-foul food.
I've been told to wash the Quinoa to remove the saponin from it before cooking, which worked on occasion. But when you get that gut-pain from eating Quinoa even once it's an incredibly strong deterrent from ever trying it again.
Having eaten razorblades is a pretty accurate description of how I can feel for hours after having eaten even a small portion of Quinoa.
That could be one reason why it isn't taking over the globe. Because some people can get violently ill after eating it. Last I heard, nobody has a chance of developing horribly painful symptoms after eating rice.
[+] [-] jonny_eh|12 years ago|reply
Also worth a read: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_exa...
[+] [-] twistedlogix|12 years ago|reply
Indians have been using many millets like Finger Millet, Foxtail Millet, Little Millets, they are rich in proteins, gluten-free and all that.
It is only now that we are using polished white rice and have become highly vulnerable to lifestyle diseases like Diabetes.
[+] [-] rayiner|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] matwood|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] simplexion|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] kevinconroy|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JoeAltmaier|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cgh|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] voltagex_|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blizkreeg|12 years ago|reply
Do I stop eating quinoa?
What is my responsibility?
[+] [-] smegel|12 years ago|reply