Raw Quinoa in Smoothies, Is it Okay?

There is some confusion over whether or not raw quinoa is safe to use in blended smoothies. Before reading any further, never use quinoa straight from the bag in smoothies. Raw quinoa right out of the bag is not safe to consume and will not taste good at all. Raw quinoa has a natural coating of saponins on them that make them virtually unpalatable.

To Consume Raw

If you want to only eat raw quinoa, you must either sprout the quinoa or soak it beforehand. I would recommend sprouting the quinoa to make it most digestible. Soaking goes a long way, but I find sprouts to be much more healthful in comparison to simply soaked seeds. Whatever you choose to do, be sure to rinse the quinoa off before adding it to your smoothie to prevent any sort of bitter taste transferring over.

Cooked Quinoa

I prefer cooked quinoa so much more so than sprouted quinoa. It is far better tasting in my opinion, sprouts tend to have a bitter earthy taste that I find unpleasant. Cooked quinoa on the other hand is usually pretty creamy tasting due to its texture. Due to this, it makes for a great smoothie addition as a thickener along with offering a nutrient boost.

Since I only drink smoothies in the morning, I will cook quinoa the night before and eat some for dinner along with saving some for future use. When I wake up in the morning, cooked quinoa will already be waiting in the fridge to be ready to go for smoothie use. Whichever smoothie recipe I end up choosing, quinoa makes for a great addition to any drink.

Sometimes little bits of quinoa will not be blended up, but this is no big deal. Quinoa goes down easy whether it is blended or not. Something like a grain of rice would be annoying, quinoa is not.

Verdict

Cooked quinoa added to smoothies is a good addition. It requires extra work and planning on my part to add to smoothies, but it makes for a thicker and more nutritious drink at the end of the day. Sprouted quinoa actually requires more work and planning, that is a major count against it. Along with this, I prefer the flavor of cooked quinoa far more than sprouted quinoa.


Anyone else ever add quinoa or an uncommon ingredient to smoothies?

By Mat McNeile

Making Gluten Free Quinoa Flour in the NutriBullet

Quinoa flour is perhaps the best gluten free flour alternative there is. Quinoa contains more nutrients and protein than its wheat counterpart, plus it lacks gluten. The only problem with quinoa flour is the high price per bag of the stuff, quinoa flour costs twice as much as quinoa on Amazon.com.

So how do we get quinoa flour without paying an arm and a leg?

With the NutriBullet, we can make quinoa flour at home to save massive amounts of money. First though, we will need quinoa before we can begin making our own flour. Head off to your local health food store if they sell quinoa at a good price, Amazon sells truRoots Organic Quinoa for a great price.

If you are using the classic NutriBullet, attach the milling blade for this job. If using the NutriBullet 900, you can use the regular blending blades for this milling job.

Rinse your quinoa off just to be safe. Most quinoa is pre-washed before being sold, but it is best to rinse the quinoa to remove as much of the earthy flavor from the quinoa as possible. We want to make a flour flavor that is mostly basic, not grassy and earthy.

Once your quinoa is rinsed off and dry, put as much as you can into the NutriBullet blender, but leave a small amount of space. Begin pulsing the blender and repeat this process until the quinoa is finely blended. This will take quite a bit of time. DO NOT RUN THE BLENDER CONTINUOUSLY.  If you attempt to mill the mix in one big blender, you will burn your NutriBullet out. Shake the NutriBullet container a bit if there are problems with the blending process.

When you finish blending the batch of quinoa you have turned into flour, it is time to roast the flour. Follow these steps:

• Preheat your oven to 230°F. 
• Get a baking pan and lay a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper over the pan. Spread the quinoa flour over the sheet.
• Insert the quinoa flour into the oven. Leave to roast for 3 hours. You will smell a grassy smell that reminds one of the scent of burning marijuana :)
•  After 3 hours, remove the sheet from the oven. Siphon your flour into plastic baggies that can be stored in the fridge or freezer depending on how long your storage needs are. If you leave it in the cabinet at room temperature, the four could go bad.

Quinoa flour can be used as a direct white flour substitute. The taste difference between the two is quite minor. Quinoa flour tastes slightly nutty and has a sweet overtone. Great for a whole host of baking needs, but I prefer it mainly for the sweeter things.

I love quinoa, it is a beautiful plant that possesses a ton of qualities that rice, oats, and wheat lack. In nature, the diversity of colors in quinoa amaze me. Someday I would like to grow a rainbow assortment of quinoa in my own backyard.

To read my review of the NutriBullet 900 S Blender, feel free to click this link:  http://www.vegankitchenappliances.com/2014/01/nutribullet-pro-900-series-review.html

By Mat McNeile