Once again many of you guessed exactly what last week’s What Is It Wednesday was. It was black quinoa.
Now, I will admit that my family has had a hard time adjusting to quinoa. It has not been on their list of favorite foods and I have really had to get creative in the ways I fix it.
I thought that they might like the black quinoa a little better than regular quinoa, but I was wrong. They actually said that they like regular quinoa much better.
They thought the black quinoa had a much stronger taste. The texture was also a bit different than regular quinoa.
I used it in my Mexican Style Quinoa and they all ate it, but told me to stick to the regular quinoa next time.
What are your thoughts on quinoa? Do you think their is a difference between the regular and the black quinoa?
No idea on black quinoa; we only have regular and red around here. My kids LOVE quinoa with pesto on it. In fact, I made some this morning because they will eat it hot or cold and it’s going to be crazy hot here by dinnertime.
Also: this is the ONLY green food my son eats! He won’t even eat pesto on noodles, interestingly enough. But they both really enjoy pesto (right from the jar) on quinoa. Hope your crew does too if you try it!
I have not had black quinoa, but I usually mix white and red together (I do notice a difference between the two). My hubby is the one who has had a hard time liking it, but we recently tried this recipe (using wine vinegar, not balsamic) and loved it! https://content.markbittman.com/recipes/sweet-potato-and-quinoa-salad
We’ve only tried the regular and red quinoa. I like to mix it into rice and soups to boost nutrition.
Before I began cooking quinoa, I read an article on it and the writer indicated that the more colorful the quinoa, the stronger the taste. That being said, we have only had light colored quinoa to date. Since I like to try new things, I would like to try red and black/blue quinoa, but based on your experience, I won’t plan on feeding it to the kids right away.
I’ve never tried black either. I’ve never seen it and didn’t know what it was when you showed the picture last week. Now it makes perfect sense. If you find red, I would give that a try.
We really love Quinoa, the one difference that I noticed in your receipt is that you don’t rinse the quinoa. Every time I have cooked it, before steaming I always put it into a fine sieve and rinse well. When toasting I would toast it first then transfer it to a fine sieve and rinse well. If you don’t it will be bitter.
@Maria, Thank you for mentioning that. I forgot to put that step in the recipe. Several readers have pointed that out and I will update the recipe to include that. I have been visiting family this week and have not had much time online to update it but I will. You are right, rinsing it is an important step.
I was thinking these were chia seeds! We haven’t tried black or red quinoa. I do make regular quinoa in the rice cooker and that turns out great! I’d like to try the black and red soon, once it’s available in our bulk section at Sprouts.
I made Trader Joe’s Tricolor quinoa, which includes the black variety, for my kids who have always absolutely loved other colors of quinoa, only to hear them say “it tastes funny”. I have to admit I would describe the flavor as blue cheese-like or even moldy. I realize I didn’t rinse it prior to preparing in rice cooker, but I didn’t think that would be responsible for the flavor we all tasted. Very curious if anyone has experienced similar taste?