Quinoa Moi Moi_webQuinoa Moimoi with Custard

The lovely Ify odunlami  posted a picture of Quinoa moi moi on so you think you can cook  about a week ago, I was super excited to try it out. I started eating quinoa a couple of months ago, my first attempt at making it was very similar to this couscous experiment.

So what is quinoa you ask?

“Quinoa, a species of goosefoot, is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the true grass family” – Wikipedia

Quinoa is marketed as a “Super Food” with magical health benefits, before we present it as such; we did some research comparing quinoa to good old black eyed beans. Here is what we found:

Quinoa Moinmoin

On all accounts,  regular beans is a more nutritious alternative , quinoa is however a much easier choice for moi-moi because there is no hulling (peeling) required.  You can definitely use quinoa as a substitute for white or even brown rice and pasta, but it should not replace beans in your diet.

Question for all the nutritionists out there

Does hulling beans affect the nutritional composition in anyway? If yes, to what degree?

If you are with the “Gluten free” crowed, interested in experimenting or simply curious about Quinoa please try the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 red bell pepper (Tatashe)
  • ¼ medium onion
  • 3 eggs (1 hardboiled, 2 raw)
  • 2 table spoon olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon each (Thyme and ginger powder)
  • Salt to taste

Other:

  • Aluminum pan or ramekins for steaming

Directions:

  1. Soak the raw quinoa in warm water for 12hours.  Rinse and run cold water over it until the entire soapy residue has been washed away
  2. Combine washed Quinoa, red pepper and onion in a blender. Add in ½ cup water, puree to a fine paste
  3. Pour the batter into a large bowl. Add in the 2 raw eggs, olive oil, seasoning and salt. Whisk until all ingredients are well incorporated
  4. Pour the batter into an oiled steaming pan, add in the boiled egg. Steam for 40mins

I used Breville food steamer and baking dishes

Serve Quinoa moi moi warm with pap, custard or bread. Enjoy!

Quinoa Moi moi all

Health Information:  If you follow our recipe as is, this dish will serves 4 people.  There are approximately 280 calories per serving.