hello everyone i'm Nima and welcome to my youtube channel
as you know by the title of this video i will introduce quinoa i will be talking
about what it exactly is where did it come from how can we use it how to define store it
health benefits of it and a lot more so without further ado let's get into it
quinoa was first found in bolivia and peru and it has been used since seven to ten thousand years
ago and recently it gained popularity in the us i would say in the past like 10 5 10 to 15
years and it's considered a super food you may wonder why is it considered a super food well
keep watching this video and you'll notice why and you may also think that quinoa is a grain but it's
it's not a grain it's a seed the reason why we put quinoa in the grain family is because of the way
we prepare and eat it the way we prepare and eat quinoa is just like any other grain it's just like
rice and that's why quinoa is it's technically in the seed family but we call it as a grain you
know quinoa has a nutty taste with a like creamy and fluffy texture to it and there are more than
300 different varieties of quinoa around the world but black white and red quinoa are most
commonly used so i'm going to talk about those in this video and i would say quinoa is one of
the most important ingredients for people who are vegan and vegetarian because it's an excellent
source of plant-based protein how to cook quinoa well first of all you have to rinse your quinoa
before you use it because there is a layer on the surface of the quinoa which if you don't rinse it
and you just cook it right away it adds a strong bitterness to your food and so yeah make sure to
rinse it with either a fine mesh strainer or a pool or a pot just cover it with water mix
it with your hands and change the water until the water is cleaner and the ratio for making quinoa
is basically one to two which means for every cup of quinoa for every cup of dried quinoa you will
need two cups of liquid this liquid can be plain water or stock formal flavor and you basically
will combine water and liquid water and quinoa in a pot and season it with salt and turn on the
heat until it starts to boil as soon as as soon as it boils turn down turn turn the heat down so it
simmers cover the pot and it should take like 12 to 15 minutes it cooks very fast and um yeah just
cook it until all the water has been absorbed and when do you know the quinoa is ready well
you don't even have to taste your quinoa to to see if it's ready or not you can basically
say by looking at it each kernel will pop open when it's ready how to use quinoa well you can
basically use it as a substitute for rice as a starch in any dish you can use it in salads you
can have it for breakfast and many more you know you can you basically use it however you like and
um you just have to keep in mind that the texture of quinoa varies between each type so white quinoa
is the fluffiest and it cooks just very very fast but black and red quinoa have a more like coarse
coarse texture to them and it and its cooking time is like a little bit longer than white quinoa
if you think you've learned something watching this video so far please hit that like button down
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thank you alright so health benefits of quinoa i don't really talk about health benefits in my
videos because i want to focus more on the like culinary and cooking side of the ingredients but
in this video i just have to because the health benefits of quinoa is one of the most important
reasons why we use quinoa and let's just start by protein protein is basically long chains of amino
acids and there are nine essential amino acids that our body cannot produce and we basically have
to consume them with whatever we eat and mostly animal products contain all those amino acids but
quinoa is a complete protein as well and it contains all of those nine essential amino
acids and this is one of the reasons why quinoa is very valuable and is very good for people who are
vegetarian and vegan and quinoa is high in fiber rich in vitamins and minerals and it's also gluten
free so people who have celiac disease can consume quinoa quinoa also has a low glycemic index which
means the energy in quinoa will release in a slow pace to your body so it doesn't make a rapid rise
in your blood sugar how to keep and store quinoa well quinoa just like any other grain has to be
stored in an airtight container in a dry cooled place and if you have cooked quinoa you can keep
it in the fridge up to a week and you can freeze it as well too but it's just better to make it
fresh every time that you want to use it if you've never had quinoa before make sure to buy
some now that you know what it is you know how to make it and you know the health benefits of
it alright this is the end of the video thank you for watching i hope you learned something
watching this video and if you want to support me make sure to like my videos as you watch them make
sure to subscribe to my youtube channel and until the next video i will see you all later thank you