Quinoa Bread

Quinoa is a “grain” that I haven’t experimented with a whole lot, largely because I don’t really like the flavor. But you don’t have to poke around for too long before people start extolling its nutritional virtues—namely its high protein content, but also other stuff.

This quick bread, from Deborah Madison’s tome Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, is my favorite (and only so far) way to use quinoa on a regular basis. It's great with breakfast. The method is really easy and basic in terms of quick breads—fold wet ingredients into dry; bake. It calls for quinoa flour, the price of which gave me a seizure at the supermarket, so I’ve always just ground quinoa up in a coffee grinder and not had any problems. To Madison’s recipe, I added 1/2 t cardamom, which I think is nice, but not necessary. This can be made in a regular loaf pan (though you want the smaller of the two—I think it’s a one-pound loaf—and even so it will end up being a shallow loaf because this doesn’t make a ton of batter), muffin tins, or mini-loaf pans, which is my personal favorite.

Also, how about all these photographs?!

Quinoa Bread

1 cup whole-wheat flour (or whole-wheat pastry flour, if you have it)
1 cup quinoa flour*
1/4 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 t ground cardamom (or cinnamon, or a few gratings of nutmeg)
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
1-1/4 cups plain yogurt
1 t vanilla extract
1 cup cooked quinoa**

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine the dry ingredients—the flours, salt, baking soda, brown sugar, and cardamom. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients—the egg, butter, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir with a spatula until combined, then stir in the cooked quinoa.

Scoop the batter into greased and parchment-papered loaf pan(s) or muffin tins. Bake for 20-35 minutes, depending on pan size, until a toothpick comes out clean.

* Quinoa flour: make your own by grinding it in a spice grinder.
** Combine 1/2 cup dry quinoa with 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to boil, and then simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, until the water is mostly absorbed. Drain excess water off before stirring into the batter.