Tag Archive for: Quinoa

Instant Pot Quinoa Khichuri

Instant Pot Quinoa Khichuri is one-pot wholesome meal made with quinoa, lentils and vegetables! It’s nutritious, filling, comforting and healthy.

COOK TIME:
20 minutes

SERVINGS:
2

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil or ghee (15 ml)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon hing powder
1 onion chopped
1 ginger finely chopped
4-5 large garlic cloves finely chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 carrot cut into rounds
1/4 cup green peas
1/4 cup moong dal (55 grams), rinsed
1/4 cup mashoor dal (50 grams), rinsed
1/4 cup quinoa (50 grams), rinsed very well
1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder
3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
2-2.5 cups water (16 oz- 20 oz), 2.5 cups if you want Patla Khichuri
Chopped cilantro and lemon juice

Instructions:
* Press the saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add the oil or ghee and then add the bay leaf and cumin seeds.

Let the seeds sizzle for few seconds and then add the hing powder and stir.
* Add the onion, ginger, garlic and cook for 3 minutes until softened.
* Add the tomato, carrot and green peas and stir.
* Add the moong dal, masoor dal and quinoa along with turmeric powder and salt.
* Add water 2 to 2.5 cups
* Stir everything together and close the pot. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. The pressure valve should be in the sealing position.

Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then do a quick pressure release.
* Open the lid and add chopped cilantro. Then squeeze in some fresh lemon juice.
* Enjoy quinoa khichuri with a side of pickle.

Easy Quinoa Salad

This easy quinoa salad is packed with spinach, tomatoes, red onion, avocado and feta with a simple lemon dressing. It’s the perfect healthy meal!

COOK TIME:
15 minutes

SERVINGS:
4

Ingredients:
½ cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup water
½ cup chopped spinach/baby spinach
½ cup chopped tomatoes
⅓ cup diced onion
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 ripe avocados chopped or sliced (optional)
⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)

Instructions 
* Cook quinoa: Rinse and drain quinoa. Add quinoa and water to a saucepan and bring the water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes.
* Toss: In a medium bowl, stir together cooked quinoa, chopped spinach, tomatoes, red onion and feta cheese.
* Whisk dressing: In a small bowl whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
* Add dressing and avocado: Gently stir in dressing and avocado chunks.
* Chill and enjoy: Serve immediately or let the salad chill in the fridge a couple hours before serving. If chilling, you can add the avocado right before serving.
* Store: Store salad in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the fridge.

Countree Empowers Female Farmers in Susua Char to Grow and Process Quinoa in Bangladesh

Fatema Akter is a Female farmer in the Susua Char area. She lost her husband in heavy flood three years ago and provides for her two children. Fatema, used to live from hand to mouth. Countree hired Fatema, and ten more female farmers like her , taught them cultivating and the processing of Quinoa. With the support of the farmers like her, in the first year Countree has grown more than eighteen hundred kilo grams of grains. These grains are directly coming from the crop fields to the plates of the urban consumers of Bangladesh.

Countree Empowers Northern Char Farmers with Quinoa Cultivation to Alleviate Poverty and Improve Access to Protein in Bangladesh

Bashir Uddin is a farmer in the northern char (river island) area of Bangladesh. He belongs to an ultra-poor community where the farmers earn less than fifty cents per day. He mainly grows rice and corn but gets a very less price due to the mediatory groups. Moreover, the communities in the char areas have a very less access to protein as it is very expensive for them. Hence, with the support of AMAL FOUNDATION, a NGO based in Bangladesh which works in the remote char areas Countree reached out to Bashir Uddin and twenty other farmers to empower them financially and socially. Countree, provided training, distributed seeds, fertilizers and techniques to grow Quinoa in these areas. Upon growing these Quinoa’s, the farmers are keeping some to nourishing themselves and rest has been sold to the urban consumer through the direct accessibility of the marketplace by Countree. Therefore, Countree is not only ensuring direct market accessibility but also giving three times more profit margin to the farmers by growing these high value crops like Quinoa.