Kiwi Quinoa product reviews

I have been wanting to try quinoa for a while after hearing that its a superfood, and packed full of nutrition. It is high in fiber, protein and iron among other things, and also contains all 9 essential amino acids! We were heading to nana's house for Christmas lunch so it was the perfect time to try it out and see what the other guests would think.

Cooking the quinoa was just as easy as cooking up a pot of rice and then rinsing it afterwards. I used 1 and a half cups which was around half of the bag and it made a large salad. If I was cooking for my family of 5 at home I would use half the amount. I added cucumber, avocado, red onion, mint, parsley, tomato, capsicum and a balsamic dressing with olive oil and salt. Once we arrived at lunch and placed our salad bowl on the table everyone was impressed and there was a debate about how to actually pronounce quinoa (said keen-wa). The quinoa gave the salad a really nice texture and taste and seemed more filling than some other salads. Everyone enjoyed the quinoa salad and I will definitely be making it again but, first I will try out some other quinoa recipes, I like the sound of it in a roast vege salad.

Quinoa is a really versatile grain and you can probably replace the pasta or rice in most recipes for it. I wasn't actually sure how to use it before I purchased but its super easy and it will definitely become a staple in our pantry. I like this particular brand as its NZ grown using sustainable farming practices. It may seem a little expensive but a little goes a long way and it actually lasts a lot longer than you would think so per meal it's not really that expensive.

I have only recently been introduced to quinoa and I love it and I have wondered where has it been all my life. I love this brand and I love the taste. It is easy to use and cheaper then the brand I had been buying. I cooked it using chicken stock as I like the flavour then using water. It makes a lot up and lasts a week in the fridge. I love experimenting with different ideas to use it with and I really love how it fills you up and its great for you as well and its something the whole family can enjoy and its super quick and easy to make. Its great you can make a bulk amount and it keeps well in the fridge.

One of the best meals I love to make and made a lot of it with my Kiwi Quinoa is roast vegetable salad with feta cheese. Wow its the best lunch or dinner meal and so easy to do. I will roast of some veges and I would toss them through the quinoa and add feta cheese and spinach and sometimes some balsamic vinegar. This easy meal can last up to three days. The whole family loves it. I also love using this instead of rice, it goes well with so many meals not just as a salad, but I serve with steak instead of having potato mash sometimes and also great with chicken, or with a stir fry.

I feel for the price it is worth it as you get so many meals from the one packet and it goes with so many different foods and there are a lot of good ideas and recipes on google. I love this brand and will be looking out for it in the supermarket to buy it again. I will also be recommending to my friends and especially the friend who got me into quinoa to start with as she uses it weekly in her house. Very good product, great price and yummy.

Finally a Quinoa on the market grown here in New Zealand, all Quinoa I have ever seen or bought is produced overseas, so yet again I am grateful to KIWIreviews for giving me the opportunity to try great new Kiwi products and this Kiwi Quinoa is sustainably produced and family owed! I found myself liking it already.

The Quinoa is in wholegrain form in a handy resealable 400g pouch with a viewable window of the grains (or seeds that I think they actually are), I did like the simplicity of the packaging and the great information on the rear of the pouch including how to cook, and the tastes you can expect from eating Quinoa.

I decided to make a Nadia Lim recipe; Warm quinoa, roast pumpkin, avocado and haloumi salad with sprouts, I had tried this recipe before but it was made by a friend at a pot luck dinner I attended. I followed the packet instructions, washed the grains then cooked one cup in water until the tails released, I must say that sight was pretty amazing, this grain really is a superfood.

The salad was easy to make and really enjoyed as part of a meal with friends, with all my guests complimenting the fact the Quinoa was a real hit, its nutty taste and lighter texture than perhaps a rice alternative were two of the main comments made. I will be using the rest of this Quinoa for this recipe and a lot more, as there is heaps left in the pouch so in my estimation our family will probably get about three or four more meals from this Kiwi Quinoa, now that's good value for money at an average of $2.00 each meal.

I was not familiar with quinoa before trying this product, but I knew it was similar to rice and couscous, so decided I could not go wrong if I tried it with some recipes I would normally use with them. The cooking instructions are clearly set out on the pack, always a bonus, so I planned a couple of our meals around the product so I could use it in different ways.

First was the standby in our family, a mild curry that the children will eat along with the adults. It made a nice change from our usual rice. The texture is not dissimilar, but it has more flavour than rice - in fact, it is even nice to eat on its own with the addition of a little butter or sesame oil. Two days later, we tried it again - this time mixed through a salad with raw vegetables and nuts, and a peanut dressing sauce. This is a recipe I often use with couscous, so I figured it would work well - and it did. Unfortunately, it disappeared so fast that I did not have the chance to take a photo!

Last, I tried it with a meal from my student days. One of the most popular dishes was that based on rice and fried eggs; not the sort of fried eggs you crack into a frying pan, but a process that involves hard boiling the eggs till they are just cooked, removing the shell and drying the white thoroughly, then shallow frying them gently in a little oil. I used a very small amount of Cocavo Coriander and Lime to brown them as I thought the flavours would go well together. You have to keep the eggs rolling in the pan or they will explode! If they are done correctly, little crispy brown blisters appear all over them after a few minutes; they are then ready to serve.

I had prepared a base of quinoa and some mixed vegetables to provide colour, and then put the eggs on top. The friends who had volunteered to try this meal with me were intrigued; unlike me, they were already familiar with quinoa, but would not have thought of serving it like this. I did enjoy the change from the usual rice bed; I think I could really get to like quinoa!

It is reasonably expensive compared to rice, but has clear health benefits and it does go a long way. I will buy it again because it is good to have different options available. Along with black rice, this is a food I can see becoming part of the must-have foods that live in my larder. I look forward to it becoming more widely available as it has not yet reached our local supermarket.

Quinoa is a food that has been around for thousands of years but as people stride towards more healthier options and foods that can provide more for less work, foods like quinoa are gaining in popularity. Quinoa is a handy food, that prepared correctly can replace rice in your usual dishes as well as foods like porridge, use this instead of rolled oats. Quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein and one of few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids. Also it's high in fiber, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants, so pretty much this is a great food to have in your diet.

My first use for this was to make a quinoa Greek salad and since it was a hectic day I opted to cook the quinoa in my rice cooker with some vege stock and simply followed the packet instructions regarding quantity and leave it be. I must note though that it is easier to burn so leaving it on the warming option for too long isn't a good option. I chopped up some black olives, feta, onion and sundries tomato and stirred it through, along with some oil, lemon juice and minced garlic. Whilst my kids didn't like it, my mother and I thoroughly enjoyed it and polished off the lot on our own. The quinoa had a slightly nutty taste and clumped together but it had a nice texture and didn't leave me feeling overfilled like a rice dish can.

My second use for this was as a sweet breakfast dish. I cooked the quinoa in some water with ground cloves and ground cinnamon. Once it was cooked I mixed through a small amount of chia seeds. I had also cooked some diced Apple which is simmered in brown sugar and cinnamon, I stirred this through the quinoa and then poured some So Good vanilla 'milk' on top, serving it all while it was nice and warm. I loved this version of porridge and found that it didn't feel as heavy to eat as rolled oats do, so this was a dish I'd happily makes again. The only thing I can't comment on is the price, but I could buy this again, even if it only replaces other foods occasionally, it has a good range of uses.

What is quinoa? I didn't really know. Pronounced Keen-wah, and not kwin-oh-wah, I've heard people talking about it for a few years now, but never really knew what it was. But here was a product for me to try, so try it I did. A quick google search told me that there are three colours of quinoa, red, white, and black, and it is actually edible seeds. A cup of quinoa has 40 fewer calories than a cup of white rice and has 15 times fewer carbohydrates, more fibre and double the protein. As far as healthy things go, that is instantly ticking a lot of boxes. But the other important factor is flavour, as I know I don't like most healthy things.

The product was extremely easy to prepare. Add a cup of quinoa to a pot, add 3 cups of water, bring to a boil, and then let it simmer for 20 minutes and drain any water that remains. Very straightforward directions, and doesn't require rinsing the product beforehand, you don't need to salt or add oil to the water, and it didn't stick to the pot at all. Clean, quick and easy. It was interesting to see the white little seeds, slowly turn the water a translucent brown, and darken themselves, looking like little clear red blood cells, before unravelling.

While my quinoa was cooking I used the frying pan to fry up some minced garlic cloves, and chopped mushrooms, and once the quinoa was finished, mixed them both together and bam! quick and easy meal in 20-25 minutes. Not too bad in regards to time taken to prep and cook.

Personally, I like the heavy feeling of rice. That is the feeling that tells me I have eaten something and is what makes me satisfied when I eat. Quinoa leaves you feeling full, but otherwise lacks that heaviness that I enjoy. The quinoa has a slight nuttiness to it, has a slightly chewy texture, and doesn't stick to itself like rice does, which makes it a very different experience to eat. Beyond the nuttiness, there is no flavour to it. It is just a product that will fill you up and do so in a healthier manner than rice will. Which is good. You just need to make sure the other parts of the meal will leave you feeling satisfied.

Is it a product that I would use frequently? I wouldn't rule it out. The resealable pouch is handy, and I like the fact that I don't have to scrub any pots after cooking it. But it is all going to come down to the price in the end. Rice has been a staple for many decades because of it's low price, and that will be hard to compete with in this economy.