Quinoa is one of my favorite super foods. I always try to cook quinoa at least once a week. After a wonderful weekend with some good friends visiting from North Carolina, I had some leftover shrimp ceviche which I had cooked as an appetizer to serve our friends after their long drive. I thought what better way than add some delicious shrimp ceviche over a bowl of quinoa.
Cooking Quinoa:
- Rinse the quinoa in cold water.
- Add one cup of quinoa, and two cups of water to a pot and bring to a boil (I used organic chicken broth to give it more flavor).
- After it reaches a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 12-15 minutes.
- Let stand for about 3 minutes to then fluff lightly with a fork.
- Gently combine red pepper, fresh cilantro, hearts of palm , shrimp ceviche and the cooked quinoa.
Quinoa is good source of protein. In fact, it’s a complete protein, which means it contains all the essential amino acids. This is unusual for a plant-based foods so it may be helpful for planning vegan and vegetarian diets. Quinoa is also a good source of minerals, including magnesium, iron, and selenium. It also contains B-complex vitamins, including folate, and vitamin E.
One cup of cooked quinoa has:
- 222 calories
- 8.14 grams protein
- 3.55 grams fat
- 5.2 grams fiber
- 32.62 grams starch
- 31 milligrams calcium
- 2.76 milligrams iron
- 118 milligrams magnesium
- 318 milligrams potassium
- 2.02 milligrams zinc
- 1.167 milligrams manganese
- 5.2 micrograms selenium
- 0.198 milligrams thiamin
- 0.204 milligrams riboflavin
- 0.762 milligrams niacin
- 0.228 milligrams vitamin B6
- 78 micrograms folate
- 2.2 milligrams vitamin E.
Nutritional Information Source: here.