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Comment by bluedino | Hacker News Reader

I won't ever understand some trendy foods. This stuff costs 10 times a much as rice and is a bit more annoying to prepare. Then you have to adapt your recipes and such.

After a while I told my girlfriend I'm just going to make rice because quinoa is just silly, so she decided to make it herself. She's not a very experienced cook, but she tries, and as she tried rinsing it half of the stuff went down the sync, she yelled out in frustration... But she continues to cook and eat it to this day for it's 'amazing health benefits'.

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You should be able to recognize its 'amazing health benefits' regardless of whether or not you like it!

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?dbid=142&tname=foodspice

"Perhaps the most striking health benefit provided by quinoa is its overall nutrient richness. When the nutrient composition of this food is analyzed in depth, the results are unusual and striking."

Lentils and peas seem to do better on the little graphs on the site.

I think a properly made dal is pretty tough to beat for nutrition and price. The catch is you really have to soak the beans for 24 hours before cooking very well at high temp. Otherwise you get dosed with lectins and phytic acid.

I love peas and dal (as well as beans). Them being very cheap makes that even better.

Caramelize some onions in a pot. Toss in a diced pepper and cook to soften. Add quinoa and toast a couple of minutes. Add double the volume of liquid to the amount of quinoa. I use either chicken or vegetable stock but water works in a pinch. Simmer 15 minutes. Eat.

I'm a bit of a cooking enthusiast, so maybe it seems easier to prepare to me than many might find. The Bob's red mill quinoa has been washed so you don't have to, but use a fine strainer and it just takes an extra minute or two to wash if you are using a brand that requires it. Certainly no longer than varieties of rice that require washing to get the starch off...

Annoying to prepare? It uses roughly the same proportion water as rice and it cooks in half the time (compared to brown rice which takes the longest to prepare). What's the problem otherwise?

I don't get the complaint either.

It is comparable to white rice in preparation time and comparable to brown rice in flavor and nutrition. As someone raised on lots of rice at the dinner table, I think it puts rice to shame.

No, it is not truly a simple substitute to a sophisticated foody, there are positives and negatives, of course.

And it is pricier. Let's not kid ourselves. Most of us to actually cook at home are saving so much money relative to typical American eaters, that the price point is completely irrelevant. If you not eating 20 home cooked meals a week, do not talk me about price. (Yes, I do eat 20 home cooked meals some weeks.)

Some people seem very impressed with themselves for dismissing quinoa as trendy. But I know food well enough to decide for myself, and quinoa is a very attractive addition to my pantry.

I'll assume you know about oats and there's unprocessed, slow cook, quick cook, instant... The problem with quinoa is its all marketed as quinoa although by analogy, you can buy completely unprocessed which takes forever, somewhat processed which still needs some rinsing, and super processed safe to use in prepared box mixes. You have to read the fine print. If you make the mistake of treating raw unprocessed from a farmers market as if it were perfectly dehulled ready to use box mix grade, it'll taste so awful and bitter that you'll spit it out, and probably swear off the product.

Maybe a worse analogy is its like getting a live chicken, vs a shrink wrap boneless skinless tray at the supermarket, vs getting mcnuggets at the drive thru, its all marketed as "chicken" but it matters a lot what kind you buy.

There's probably a startup lesson in here. Life would be a lot more consistent if the quinoa guys never sold processed, for example. It might be less convenient but at least it would be consistent, and inconsistency means confused unhappy users. Consistently PITA sells better than inconsistently PITA.

I lol'ed at 'sync'. My girlfriend also introduced it for the amazing health benefits, she decided to taste it before mixing it in the salad... it tastes of nothing and has the texture of (what I imagine) kitty litter. I must say when mixed in the salad it was not bad, but CousCous would have been an excellent alternative...

Couscous is really just white pasta, a refined carb. So I see it as an energy provider rather than something nutritional. Whereas quinoa is a wholefood. There's currently a shortage and hence it's rocketed in price. It used to be cheaper to buy for me than rice. I'm a fan. It does have a subtle nutty/smokey taste. Red quinoa is even nicer. Both nice with roasted veg, garlic and tomatoes. And as another has said a pleasant change from rice and potatoes.

It's probably a hardy crop if it's a relative of spinach. I'm in the UK, and I'd like to see more of it grown here.

Depends on the local conditions. E.g. according to Wikipedia, "In eastern North America, it is susceptible to a leaf miner that may reduce crop success; this leaf miner also affects the common weed and close relative Chenopodium album, but C. album is much more resistant." That said, it seems pretty hardy as, "Quinoa's optimal growing conditions are in cool climates with temperatures that range from 25°F/−3°C during the night, to near 95°F/35°C during the day."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

Yeah there's someone in Shropshire in the UK growing it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/0/23885313

Don't eat it like rice, then you'll just be disappointed. Quinoa is a different food and (I say this as a quinoa-lover) just tastes boring if you eat it the way you'd eat rice.

Of course the easy thing to do is mix with vegetables and broth, and it's fine for that-but the nutritional advantages don't really do it for me, especially to offset the cost and weirdness factor.

I don't mind it as an addition to salads or other uses but again there's nothing really drawing me to it over the alternatives.

All very accurate subjectively, and most food fads are purely subjective, scientific method need not apply.

Objectively, accidentally, she's correct that its pretty high in protein and is also a complete protein. As a change of pace for vegans from beans and rice, its arguably better for you than beans and rice. Aside from all the subjective stuff, you're probably better off eating a nice steak and salad nutritionally, but its not bad.

> probably better off eating a nice [...] salad nutritionally

Depends on your definition of salad. For some people it's a couple of slices of tomato and cucumber with iceberg lettuce doused in ranch dressing (maybe with some shreds of red cabbage in there).

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