Slow Cooker Lentil Quinoa Stew

This hearty lentil stew is an easy to cook, high protein meal that suits those on low carb diets – such as the South Beach diet and low GI diets. Both lentils and quinoa are high in fiber and protein.

Ingredients:

2 cups brown lentils
1/2 cup quinoa
7-1/2 cups water
1-2 medium potatoes, diced
1/2 small sweet potato, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teas wheat-free tamari (or soy sauce if you aren’t on a wheat-free diet)
2 tablespoons miso
2 tablespoons tomato paste
mixed herbs (any of: oregano, thyme, tarragon, marjoram, sage, cumin)

Instructions:

Rinse and drain lentils, being sure to pick through them to make sure there are no stones. Rinse and drain quinoa. Add to slow cooker.

Dice potatoes and sweet potato, and chop garlic. Add to slow cooker along with herbs (dried or fresh and finely chopped), tomato paste and 6 cups of the water.

Cook on high for 3-1/2 to 4 hours. When the stew thickens and cooks down after about 2.5 hours add 1 additional cup water. Usually the lentils and quinoa will cook before the potatoes do, and potato cooking time will vary depending on how big the pieces are. Once everything is cooked, turn off the heat, add tamari and let set a further half hour.

Mix the miso and remaining 1/2 cup of water, then add to the stew and mix well.

Serves 6.

Serving Suggestions:

• Serve with grated parmesan on top
• Serve with toasted sesame seeds or gomasio (toasted sesame seeds and salt) on top for a vegan alternative
• Use barley instead of quinoa

Related products you might be interested in:

• Crockpots
• Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That Are Ready When You Are

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Quinoa Salad

If you like couscous salads but are looking for something even healthier, and wheat-free this salad fits the bill. It’s light on the digestive system, but filling. The quinoa provides lots of extra protein and fiber. Like couscous quinoa cooks very quickly, so it’s an easy dish to prepare anytime.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 handful of mixed salad greens, roughly chopped or torn
1 handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
1 handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 large leaves spinach, roughly chopped or torn
3-4 broad beans, shelled
1/4 red or yellow capsicum, finely sliced
1 carrot, grated
handful of almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 teas ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Dressing:
1/4 cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 teas wheat-free tamari (can substitute shoyu soy sauce if you don’t mind wheat)

Garnish:
sunflower and pumpkin seeds to garnish

Instructions:
If you cook a bit extra quinoa than you need, you can use the leftovers the next day in this salad. Otherwise, see my article on How to cook quinoa. Make sure it’s cooled before you mix it in with the other ingredients.

Toss all salad ingredients in a large bowl until mixed thoroughly.

Pour the dressing over and toss briefly to evenly distribute it.

Garnish and serve.

Serves 2.

Cook’s Tips:
This recipe uses very loose measurements because for recipes like this I encourage you to change and adapt them to your taste and the ingredients you have on hand.

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Dried Quinoa

Quinoa is an ancient food that has been cultivated in the Andes mountains for at least 5,000 years. While it has been well-known in South America, it was virtually unheard of in North America until the 1980s. Considered sacred by the Incans, now it’s hailed as a ‘super food’, and has been classified as a ‘super crop’ by the United Nations because of it’s high protein content.

Pronounced KEEN-wah, quinoa is often thought of as a grain, and in fact it is often used in the same manner as many grains, but technically it’s a pseudocereal, a seed. The quinoa plant also produces nutritious edible greens as well as seeds, but the greens are not as commonly available as the seed. The seed can be cooked and used like you would rice, barley or couscous. It also comes as a flour, for baking, and can be sprouted.

Benefits of Quinoa

The amazing thing about quinoa is that it’s very high in protein and contains all 9 essential amino acids. Besides being 15-18% protein, quinoa is also high in calcium, iron, phosphorus and vitamins E and B, and contains a good amount of all-important fiber too.

Because of it’s high protein and complete amino acid makeup, quinoa should be considered a staple in any vegan’s or vegetarian’s diet, but you don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy it. It’s so high in protein that only half a cup will fulfill a child’s protein requirements.. It’s extremely versatile, being used in both sweet and savory dishes, puffed, rolled, and ground into a flour. The real clincher though, is that it tastes great too.

Quinoa is high in saponins, which have been found to have anti-cancer properties. Saponins block the development of cancer and boost the immune system. Saponins, also found in chickpeas and responsible for the layer of foam that appears on the top of the water during boiling, produce a bitter taste. The taste discourages birds and insects from from eating the seed – it’s the plant’s natural defense. Despite their anti-cancer benefits, saponins can be mildly toxic in large quantities. Even though most quinoa sold commercially has been processed to remove most of the saponins, it’s a good idea to rinse well before cooking.

How do you cook quinoa?

Cooked Quinoa

Quinoa is easy to cook, and it takes only 15 minutes. You need 2 cups of water for every 1 cup of dried quinoa.

Put the quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly under running water. Put 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water and a dash of sea salt into a saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat then turn down to simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes. If there is excess water in the bottom of the saucepan, remove lid and continue to cook for another minute or so until it evaporates.

How To Use Quinoa

The cooked quinoa can now be used in savory dishes as you would use use rice or couscous. Added to bread dough or pancake batter it boosts the protein content and adds a nice texture. Or you could add dried fruit, honey, milk and cinnamon for a sweet breakfast porridge.

No matter how you use it you’ll find quinoa as delicious as it is nutritious.

Where To Buy Quinoa

You can Buy Organic Quinoa here for reasonable prices.

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Cooked Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is gaining popularity as a healthy, high-protein, gluten-free alternative grain. It’s light, delicious and extremely versatile. Quick and easy to cook as well. Here are the basic cooking instructions for quinoa.

Cooking quinoa is similar to cooking brown rice using the absorption method. One cup of dry quinoa will make 2-3 cups cooked. Don’t worry about making extra though, if you have leftover quinoa it makes a delicious muesli or porridge for the next morning.

Cooking Quinoa:
First, measure out the dry quinoa. Remember it doubles in size during cooking.

Rinse the quinoa well under cold water and drain. It’s handy to use a fine mesh sieve for rinsing.

Put the rinsed quinoa into a saucepan and add cold water. The quinoa to water ratio is 1:2. In other words, use 2 cups of water for every cup of quinoa. Toss in a dash of salt.

Cover and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, and set the lid just ajar, to prevent boiling over. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. The quinoa goes a bit transparent when it’s cooked, except for a little spiral sprout.

If the quinoa is tender but there’s excess water in the bottom of the saucepan just leave the lid off completely for a few minutes until the water evaporates. When done turn off the heat, put the lid on and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Use a fork to fluff up the quinoa and serve.

Suggestions:

Try this light and delicious Quinoa Salad recipe

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