Just a few general questions about expanding my food intake?!
1- Quiona....I know it's a grain and has a lot of protein. Does it taste nutty or grainy? What can I eat with it? Can I use it like I use my brown rice?
2- Polenta....I see it in the health food store (AND they actually carry it at my local Wal-Mart now!!). It comes pre-made, but from what I understand, it also comes dry. Which do you prefer? I hear it's versitile. What do you eat with it?
3- Steel-cut oatmeal....I heard on the John Tesh radio show that it's better than "commercial oatmeal" but takes a LOT longer to cook. If you've had experience w/ both, could you weigh in on the benefits/drawbacks?
+peace love & light+
Answers: I've been a vegetarian for quite some time now and I'm STILL amazed at all the wonderful, nutritious foods that are out there. I just have a few questions about trying some new foods and I could use some advice on how to prepare them/what I can eat with them. You can answer whichever questions you have experience with. I thank you all in advance!
1- Quiona....I know it's a grain and has a lot of protein. Does it taste nutty or grainy? What can I eat with it? Can I use it like I use my brown rice?
2- Polenta....I see it in the health food store (AND they actually carry it at my local Wal-Mart now!!). It comes pre-made, but from what I understand, it also comes dry. Which do you prefer? I hear it's versitile. What do you eat with it?
3- Steel-cut oatmeal....I heard on the John Tesh radio show that it's better than "commercial oatmeal" but takes a LOT longer to cook. If you've had experience w/ both, could you weigh in on the benefits/drawbacks?
+peace love & light+
Quinoa's a great substitute for foods like rice, cous cous etc.
* Great in salads - combine it cooked chilled with pinto beans, pumpkin seeds, scallions and coriander. Season to taste and enjoy!
* For a twist on your favourite pasta recipe, use noodles made from quinoa instead.
* Sprouted quinoa can be used in sandwiches just like alfalfa sprouts.
* Ground up as flour can be added to cookie or muffin recipes too.
With polenta, I prefer the quick-cook powdered variety - made in minutes by just mixing the cornmeal with water and simmering and stirring until it thickens.
Served hot it's known as wet polenta but can also be left to cool and set in a dish and then cut into squares or slices which are fried or grilled to give a light crust. Delicious.
Wet polenta:
*Good mixed with flavourings such as butter, cheese, herbs, cooked onions or mushrooms.
* Nice as a side dish to stews and casseroles.
Fried or grilled polenta slices:
* Also makes a good accompaniment to things like stews, or can be topped with cheese and grilled.
EDIT
Never heard of "Steel-cut oatmeal" before but found these websites: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/...
http://www.netrition.com/mccanns_oats_pa...
http://www.slashfood.com/2006/01/23/slow...
About polenta: pre- made is better because it takes only a minute to cook it. I eat it with fileto sauce and cheese. I don't know about the others ...
Quinoa: It's a mixture of both nutty and grainy flavors. You can use it anywhere you use whole brown rice, and it will taste better. It tastes *really* good with onion and tomato flavors...I even eat it with ketchup! Be careful not to overcook or it will get mushy. Also, I've found from hard experience that you can't use it in sweet dishes or as a flour because it has a very mild bitter taste that doesn't go with sweet things at all.
Polenta: it's a pain in the butt to make from scratch, it takes a long, long time of sprinkling in corn a little bit at a time. Get the premade, and you can either slice and saute it or mash it up with a little broth or water to get something like grits. It's great with marinara or mushrooms, but it's so mild in flavor by itself that you could do almost anything with it. Try using a cookie cutter on the slices for crazy shapes!
Steel-cut oatmeal takes a little longer to cook than regular rolled oats, but it's worth it in terms of texture, it's less gluey than rolled oats. Try sprinkling in a little flax seed and eating it with fruit for more nutrition.
i tried that before
Quiona - in my opinion, the tastiest grain I've ever tried. Great stuff. I just cook it in my rice cooker the same way I make rice. It comes out nice and fluffy and mmmm tasty. Nutty flavour? Um... I wouldn't say that... just tasty.
Polenta - myself, I've only seen it either ready to use or polenta mix for making your own. Just chuck it in something. Throw it in with stir fry. Or fry it separate with garlic and olive oil and put on top of whatever you are eating... rice, pasta...
Steel-cut oatmeal - it's just whole oat grains that have been broken into bits. Yup, takes longer to cook, that's the only drawback. They are less processed, thus contain more nutrients etc.
Rolled oats have been squished with rollers, and quick oats have been partially cooked (steamed I believe), perhaps regular oats have too.
Personally I use either organic quick oats or organic regular oats. You can also buy whole oat grains and cook them just like rice in the rice cooker too -- same goes for all grains. Think of a rice cooker as a grain cooker. I've made wheat grains, and barley grains in my rice cooker too... and hey, barley is SUPER cheap compared to rice.
PS shop local, don't shop at WalMart. Go out of your way to shop at locally owned and operated stores. Lots of info on this and the evils of mega marts like WarMart.
i like chopped onions and mushrooms on my rare T-Bone steak, you should give it a try