Peruvian Asparagus: I buy Quinoa, Not Asparagus, From Peru

I fell in love with asparagus about 25 years ago when my friend's mother wouldn't listen to my protests that I did not like asparagus. She said that only people who haven't tried fresh asparagus are so sure they won't like it. Most likely I had never had it cooked properly.

That turned out to be true for me, and five years later I echoed those words to my then husband during the first spring of our marriage.

Was I trying to kill him?

He tried to tell me he was allergic to asparagus.

He said asparagus had put him in the hospital.

Really? When?

My bulls**t detector must have been spot on in those days because I called his bluff.

Go ahead, show me what this allergic reaction looks like. 

One taste and he was hooked on asparagus too.

BTW, you should never tell someone to eat something to which they are allergic just to see what the reaction looks like. In this instance, I knew I was being teased.

Asparagus in the 90's

When my kids were young, we all loved asparagus. I remember I used to wait for the asparagus to come in season so for a few weeks we could eat what would be an extravagance any other time of the year. I would watch the price fall from $4 or even $5 per pound to just 99 cents per pound at peak season. I would hope the boys hadn't forgotten how much they loved asparagus a year ago.

Of course, when I served it, I would think - Who cares if you don't want some? More asparagus for me.

Peruvian Asparagus

Over the past decade, factory farms have been cultivating asparagus in Peru that is then shipped to the US and UK. In this new global economy, asparagus is available year round and the price has stabilized. Gone are the wild fluctuations in price and availability, and now asparagus shows up in recipes and on restaurant menus regardless of the season.

I recently learned though, that this availability comes at two great costs:

1. Peru suffers because these asparagus farms are draining the water from the land.

Factory farms have bought up water rights exceeding what can be replenished. The water is used to grow asparagus, so it isn't available for the small farmers who then have to buy water.

Hey, wasn't this in a recent James Bond movie? Yes, but the country was Bolivia.

2. American asparagus farmers suffer because Peruvian asparagus farms are able to undercut their prices during the spring asparagus season, forcing American farmers out of the asparagus business.

I have no beef with Peru in general.

I love quinoa. I love Peruvian quinoa. I understand that quinoa probably doesn't grow on the same land that suits asparagus farming, and I don't have any answers to offer the Peruvian people employed by the asparagus farms.

To my mind a water thrifty crop like quinoa makes a lot more sense for a country with a falling water table. I can justify to myself buying quinoa from Peru.

But ever since I learned about the water situation, American asparagus is the only asparagus that it makes sense for me to buy.

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Rosanne Cash Quinoa Tweet

I am starting a new category on the blog I call "celebrity quinoa" where I will highlight any celebrity connections or references to quinoa.

Rosanne Cash tweeted today about her first experience with quinoa, cooked with cranberries and scallions.

I tweeted back to Ms. Cash that she could visit my blog for quinoa recipes and she responded. Apparently Ms. Cash is an active tweeter and responsive to her following.

I don't know if that means she stopped by my blog, but I like the warm feeling I get thinking that Rosanne Cash tweeted directly to me. Social media works.

And who knows? Maybe some day Ms. Cash will stop by and share her quinoa recipe.

note added 3/17/11 - One month later, Rosanne Cash shared her Quinoa Carrot Cake recipe.

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Easy Quinoa Salad

After soaking quinoa overnight, I tweeted to see if anyone had a good recipe.

@waterlilyto tweeted an easy salad recipe that looked perfect, so I went to the store to get some canned beans and cilantro.

One of my sons won't eat black beans, so I bought light kidney beans instead. Didn't he then take one look at the salad and declare he doesn't like kidney beans?

Wrong answer, buddy. You can only hate one bean at a time in my house.

I substituted rice vinegar because I bought it last week and I am not going to rush out and buy another vinegar any time soon.

I forgot the corn. I didn't realize my omission until we were eating.

Easy Quinoa Salad

1 cup dry quinoa, soaked overnight (about 2 cups)
1 can light kidney beans
1 can chickpeas
1/4 cup chopped sweet onions
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tsps rice vinegar
2 tsps olive oil
Juice of one large lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Large lime and penny

Drain and discard the liquid from the bean cans and rinse the beans. Mix all the ingredients together in one bowl and then let it rest about fifteen minutes before eating.

Could it be any easier? Not without eliminating the fresh ingredients that make it taste so good.

The quinoa has a crunchy quality prepared this way that works well with the crisp vegetables and soft beans. If you prefer to use cooked quinoa, 2 or 3 cups of cooked and cooled quinoa should work well in this recipe.

Ceviche Quinoa

My son, the one who now hates black and kidney beans, loved the flavors of this salad and kept calling it ceviche. I had never heard of ceviche, but a Wikipedia search shows this seafood dish originated in Peru. This makes these seasonings seem somehow true to the heritage of quinoa to me, even though there was no seafood in the dish.

Please comment with your recipes for soaked quinoa and let me know if you tried making this easy quinoa salad.

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Soaking Quinoa

Some people recommend soaking quinoa every time you cook with it. Personally, I find that as long as I rinse the quinoa before I use it, I do not have any problems with bitterness or digestive upset, so I do not bother soaking quinoa that I will cook.

However, I have been interested in preparing quinoa to eat raw. There are two ways to prepare quinoa raw:

1. Soak the quinoa overnight to make a nutty, crunchy salad base.
2. Sprout the quinoa to make a sprout salad.

Soaking Quinoa

I soaked quinoa for the first time over the weekend.

To begin, I rinsed the quinoa using my plastic strainer.

Then I put the seeds in a bowl, covered them with about 3/4 of an inch of water, and placed the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. Most sources recommended soaking quinoa for 12-14 hours - I wound up soaking it about 18 hours before I made my salad.

I drained the water from the quinoa using my strainer again, and rinsed away the soapy residue on the seeds.

I measured the quinoa before I made the salad. After soaking, quinoa had doubled in size, going from 1 cup to 2 cups. This quinoa had a chewing texture somewhat similar to chopped walnuts - nutty but easy on the teeth. The seeds still looked very much as they did dry.

I am very interested in learning different ways to use soaked quinoa in my kitchen. I wonder if it can be used in cookies or if the quinoa would change when baked.

You can see the salad I made after soaking quinoa here ==> Easy Quinoa Salad.

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Crock Pot Quinoa Lentil Stew For a Crowd

This may be the best dish I have ever cooked. Heavily seasoned with Indian spices, this stew cooks very quickly for a crock pot meal (just 6 hours on low) and fills your home with the warm scent of cinnamon.

Seriously, I think you could cook camel dung with this recipe and it would taste fantastic.

I don't have a photo of the resulting stew, so you will just have to take my word for it.

This recipe was inspired by Quinoa Red Lentil Stew on Savvy Vegetarian. I used regular lentils because red lentils were the most expensive legume at my local supermarket.

Crock Pot Quinoa Lentil Stew For a Crowd

Lentils

1 1/2 cups lentils
1 cup quinoa
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups cut up carrots
1 cup cut up celery
2 cups cut up summer squash
1 cup cut up broccoli
2 bay leaves
2 sticks of cinnamon (about 2-3 inches long)
Several thin slices of fresh ginger
3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp curry
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp rosemary
12 cups of water or broth

Wash the lentils and inspect for pebbles. Rinse the quinoa. Place the lentils and quinoa in the crock pot. Split carrots lengthwise and cut into pieces about 2 inches long and a 1/4 inch thick. Cut celery into chunks about 1/2 inch thick. Slice summer squash into 3/4 inch rounds and then dice. Chop broccoli stalks and cut the florets into bite size pieces. Add vegetables to slow cooker.

Mince garlic and slice ginger. Add to the stew with the spices and herbs. Pour in water or broth. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

I doubled the original recipe to fill my 10 qt slow cooker. I used water, not broth. I used carrots, celery, summer squash, and broccoli, but you could use just about any vegetables you have on hand. If they are already cooked, save them and add to the stew about 20 minutes before serving.

I also used a different variety of spices from the original recipe. I feel  it just isn't worth the money to buy too many spices for a new recipe. And it's not green to keep buying new herbs and not using up the ones you have on hand.

I got a good deal on cinnamon sticks due to it being the fall season, and I bought fresh ginger and garlic. But I exercised some liberty by substituting a premixed "curry" for turmeric and coriander and an Italian seasoning blend for basil and thyme. I hope you allow yourself some liberty as well and make this recipe your own.

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Delicata Squash Stuffed with Red Quinoa

I had a lot of red quinoa stuffing left after I made the Quinoa Chiles Rellenos the other day. I decided to stuff a delicata squash I had on hand.

In a classic case of photo fail, I neglected to get side shot of the delicata squash, so I cannot show you how beautiful it looked.

Delicata Squash Stuffed with Red Quinoa

1 medium delicata squash
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp honey
2-3 cups of red quinoa stuffing
1/4 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 375º.

Split the squash, clean out the seeds and guts. (I save the seeds for toasting and tossing on salads.)

Put the squash in a casserole dish cut side up with a 1/2 inch of water in dish.

Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with honey.

Cover with foil and bake 30 - 45 minuntes, until squash is fork tender.

Remove from oven and fill squash with stuffing.

Return to oven and bake uncovered for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.

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Red Quinoa Stuffing

This is the stuffing I used in Quinoa Chiles Rellenos.

Red Quinoa Stuffing

1 cup red quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water or broth
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt as desired
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup green onions sliced on the diagonal
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided


Bring the quinoa, water, spices and salt to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add carrots. Cover and cook 2 minutes.

Add corn and onions and saute uncovered for 2 minutes to thaw the corn.

Stir the vegetables and 1/2 cup of cheese into the finished quinoa.

Makes 5 cups of stuffing for peppers or squash with 1/2 cup cheese remaining to sprinkle on top before baking.

You can also spread stuffing in casserole dish and heat 10 minutes at 400º.

You can prepare this stuffing ahead and then reheat in 350º oven for half hour. Sprinkle cheese on for last 5 minutes of baking.

I used this stuffing to stuff delicata squash.

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