The Crunchy Quinoa Problem
I’m not perfect in the kitchen, I’ll admit it. In fact there are two things I have to do to christen a kitchen when I’ve moved to a new place: make chicken broth and set off the fire alarm. For a long time I struggled with rice, yes rice, even though I could make a practically perfect cheesecake. I’ve improved quite a bit with practice though and now rice is no problem for me. I do however still seem to struggle somehow with quinoa.
I love the stuff and I still have a huge bag my parents bought me from Costco during undergrad. My problem is that no matter how well I wash it or how long I cook it for I always seem to find one or two bites of something crunchy and gritty in my damn quinoa! Does anyone know what this is? Is it sand that isn’t getting rinsed out or is it a few bits of quinoa that aren’t cooking? The texture is so off-putting and unpleasant. It tends to ruin subsequent bites for me. I like to tell myself that it’s this specific bag that’s bad so my next plan is to run to the store and try to whip up a batch from a fresh bag and see if the problem repeats or not. Especially since this is my favorite lunch right now. It’s full of good for you grains, veggies and delicious kalamata olives. It’s definitely best for days I go to Bikram yoga when I need to have energy well into the late evening. I can’t go into hot yoga with a full stomach; it makes me feel ill, so I need to eat something with tons of grain at noon and then some fruit around 3pm. Then I’m good to go through all 90 minutes in 105 degrees. I’m about to start my “Bikram Yoga Challenge” which is making it to the studio 10 days in a row. When I embark on my quest I’ll let you know!
Anyway this is a less involved recipe, because not everything I do is complicated or 5star, I just wanted to share something I do as a “quick” food item. As such there aren’t exact measurements; this is just how my brain operates when I need to find things in the fridge/pantry for lunch.
Olivia’s Quinoa Lunch
- 1 cup dried quinoa, prepared as instructed on the bag except I substitute in chicken broth for water.
- 1 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes – mine are from a jar and so they are packed in their oil. You’ll need to keep this in mind if yours aren’t.
- 4 diced zucchini
- 1 diced orange bell pepper
- 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
- 1 diced shallot
- Salt and pepper to taste; pinch of fresh lemon zest
Prepare the quinoa as your bag instructs. Odds are it’s going to be 2 cups of water for every cup of quinoa, bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. See? Simple. Let me know if you do it differently though! I’m still trying to solve that gravel issue.
Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the sundried tomatoes in their oil. The oil should be enough to sautee the rest of the ingredients, if yours don’t come packed in oil then use one of your choice (olive/grapeseed/canola) for this. Add in the shallots and sauté for 7-8 minutes over medium heat. You want to get flavor from the shallots but not burn the tomatoes. Then add the remaining vegetables and olives for another 6-8 minutes.
Remove from the heat and mix in with the quinoa. Toss in the basil, salt, pepper and lemon zest. Enjoy a big bowl for lunch over a few days. The best part is that this is good cold or warm!
I thought I was alone in this issue with quinoa! I have no idea what that awful sandy/gritty texture is, but I’ve gotten it now from 2 different brands. It really puts me off to eating the stuff.
I kept wondering about that too! It turns out it is sand. Quinoa grows well in sandy areas and as a result you occassionally get some in your food.
I read on this one blog site where this lady recommends rinsing your quinoa first before you prepare it. She said it helps to cut down some cooking time as well as make it fluffier and taste better. Have yet to try it yet though…
I suspect it is actually just uncooked quinoa. All it would take is for 3-4 out of the thousands to be stuck on the pot or stir spoon and it won’t get cooked and stay crunchy.
My guess is both: sand and under cooked quinoa. I let mine soak in the water for an hour before turing on the heat. Seemed to help it cook evenly. I use flaked quinoa more often than the grains.
crunching my way through quinoa at the moment. It is my first time cooking it. Not enjoying it too much. Will look into buying some flaked quinoa.
I’ve had a lot more success with it since this posting. It really does come down to rinsing the crap out of it and not undercooking. Good luck!
Just found what I thought was glass in our dinner, which I eventually found was sand in the quinoa. It’s definitely not under-cooked Quinoa – these are definitely grains of sand. The first grain I found was one of those grains of sand that is kind of see through which is why I thought it was glass. Thank God it isn’t!
The sand is about half the size of the quinoa pieces, and so with a decent sieve the sand should go through and the quinoa shouldn’t. I’ll be rinsing thoroughly next time.
Good to know I’m not crazy. Whether it’s the natural or natural and red quinoa, I find bits of grits/sand/crunch. One time I found about the size of the quinoa, but it was hard and clear like glass. Could that be from the sand? Really really like quinoa but this crunchiness is really really bothering me – each time I come across it, I feel like I’m eating dirt. I wash my quinoa and rinse it several times before I cook it. Now I’m going to go thru the grains/seeds before washing. Really really don’t enjoy this experience with quinoa. It’s my fourth time cooking this.
I have 3 lbs more of quinoa left.
I’ve found the gritty sand in the black and red quinoa more often than the white. I was really put off quinoa for a while because of this! Nothing worse than having to carefully chew each mouthful in fear that it’s going to be gritty.
Glass is often formed by super heating sand (lightening strike) and rapid cooling which disrupts recrystalization into perfect lattice structure. Glass is simply an inconsistantly (amorphous) structured solid and silicon is a common major component of both sand and glass. Quartzite sand, as well as many other types, can be clear. So it could be either or both. It is not likely to be man made glass and is definitely not uncooked quinoa. Rock in you food is not good for your teeth. Anthropologists roughly determine the age of prehistoric skulls by tooth wear caused by eating food that was interlaced with sand/ rock. I have observed these granules in most quinoa, from multiple sources, that I cook. I think the best way is rinsing and swirlling in bowl of H20, allowing rocks to settle out and scooping floating quinoa from top.
Really sounds good. I tried this morning but almost 98% of the Quinoa settled at the bottom and only about 1 Tbsp or less is floating in the water. However, when I rinsed and poured the Quinoa into my sieve I did see some tiny tiny tiny black stones at the bottom of the bowl
along with some smaller sized Quinoa. I am not looking forward to cooking the Quinoa again.
I cooked it 3 times already; but with the grit and pain when I bit down on a small stone I’m ready
to throw out my remaining 3 lbs of Quinoa. I tried cleaning it manually and picking out all the little pieces of ‘what I think is not the Quinoa’ and getting a sore neck and shdrs for only 3/4
cup of Quinoa I called it quits. Not worth the pain. There must be something else. But many
thanks for your suggestion.
I rinse, I cook thoroughly, I changed brands. Every time I eat it I crunch down on a piece of this tiny mystery “glass”. Nothing is more unsettling than thinking a piece of my dental filling is coming out into my mouth.
I found this online today after entering “crystals in quinoa” in the search engine. Apparently, these are calcium oxalate crystals that form on the leaves of the plant when it grows to help it retain moisture in arid climates. I love quinoa and don’t want to stop eating it, but until I find a way to sort out these little pieces I will be avoiding it!
I did not have this problem with the quinoa I bought from whole foods (their “generic” brand, 360 or something like that). The brand I had problems with was the one from Sam’s.
I bought some from Sam’s as well – same result: very gritty. Will not buy again.
I have this grit problem with the delicious prepared quinoa salad from Costco. I, too, was in a panic thinking that I had eaten glass! I loved the salad so much I kept buying it and hoping the gritty bites would disappear, which they didn’t. Thanks to all of you who have explained this to me. Now I don’t feel crazy. If anyone has a good recipe that mimics the one at Costco I will try to make it myself and soak, rinse, soak, rinse etc etc until I can enjoy quinoa again! Or I will try Whole Foods’ 360 brand as suggested. Great discussion board!!