Vegetarian backpacking meals and freeze dried foods for travel | natural & organic
Vegetarian backpacking meals and freeze dried foods for travel | natural & organic

Quinoa as a Backpacking Food

We’ve talked about the merits of why quinoa should be a staple food. Quinoa is a complete protein and a valuable source of minerals, vitamins, phytohormones, and antioxidants, giving it an advantage over other plant foods. Quinoa contains more fat and protein than typical cereal grasses such as wheat or oats. Here we take a closer look at why quinoa also makes an excellent backpacking food.

Backpacking with Quinoa

Many backpackers avoid packing quinoa for the trail because it requires a long simmer time of up to 15 minutes. With the popularity of quinoa, there are now more choices.

1. Instant Quinoa: Quickest Cooking

Regular (non-instant) quinoa must cook about 15 minutes to soften and be digestible. Instant quinoa saves on stove fuel and time because it’s been pre-cooked. Outdoor Herbivore produces a fully cooked and dried organic tricolor instant quinoa designed for backpackers – boil water and soak for about 7 minutes. 

  • To save time and produce less mess when backpacking: Look for fully-cooked or instant quinoa. Quinoa that hasn’t been pre-cooked will require a boil and simmer to reconstitute.

tricolor_organic_quinoa_cooked

How to make Instant Quinoa

Purchase regular uncooked quinoa, cook it at home, and then dehydrate it. Because quinoa seeds are tiny, you must dry the cooked quinoa on lined sheets to prevent it from falling through the mesh dryer sheets. You can use parchment paper as the liner. Spread the cooked quinoa in a thin layer on each liner sheet and dry at 125 – 135 degrees for 10 to 12 hours. The quinoa will be crispy when dry.

quinoa cooked and dehydrated
Tricolor quinoa that’s been fully cooked and dehydrated.

2.  Sprouted (Cold Soaked) Quinoa: Quick Cooking or Eat Fresh

If you don’t want to purchase or make instant quinoa, you can sprout regular quinoa to make it edible without cooking. You can also choose to heat it up if you prefer it hot. Since quinoa is a seed, it is well suited for sprouting and has one of the fastest sprout times of any seed. It requires only 8 hours to germinate. To sprout quinoa, soak organic seed in cold water overnight (or while hiking). The shell will soften, break open, and a small tail will appear when it sprouts. You can eat it at this stage or continue to grow it further by following the normal sprout process for other seeds. Drain and rinse the sprouts before consuming. If sprouting or cold soaking quinoa seeds on the trail, always use treated water.

  • Although quinoa is a seed, it should not be eaten raw. Sprout it first. Be sure the shell is broken open before eating, or cook it lightly. Otherwise, the seed will pass through your body without being digested or providing nutritional benefits.
  • Use unpolished (pre-washed or unwashed) organic quinoa seed for sprouting. 
  • If you purchase pre-sprouted and dried quinoa, you need to soak it in hot water (180+ F) before eating it.

3.  Crisped or Popped Quinoa: No Cooking 

Crisped, puffed, or popped quinoa is made from quinoa seed that has been baked or heated directly in a pan rather than cooked in water and then dried. You can eat crisped quinoa as is, without soaking or heating it. It has an airy and crunchy texture similar to rice crispies. Crisped quinoa works well for cereals/granola, energy bars, and as a substitute for couscous in cold-soak trail salads.

Crisped (Puffed) Golden Quinoa Seeds are Ready to Eat.

 

Types of Quinoa

1024px-Colored_quinoa_Genebank_INIA_Juliaca

Quinoa is a seed that cooks up like a grain. The most common colors are white, red, and black quinoa. White quinoa has the mildest flavor, while red and black contain slightly more calories and nutrients. Tri-color quinoa combines the benefits of all three. 

Nutrients in 100 Grams of Uncooked Quinoa, about 1/2 Cup

CharacteristicBlackRedWhite
Energy (kcal)409380370
Fat (g)875
Carbohydrates (g)686268
Protein (g)161514
FlavorEarthy & SweetNuttyNutty
TextureChewyChewySoft to Mushy

The Health Benefits of Quinoa

Quinoa
This cow grazes among a quinoa field. Most complete proteins come from animals rather than plants; quinoa is an exception.
Quinoa seeds have many favorable characteristics, including their heart-healthy, monounsaturated fat content and nutrient-packed kernels. Here is a breakdown of their attributes –

Good Source of Protein

Quinoa, with its 15% protein composition, contains the perfect ratio of protein. This might seem like a low percentage, but consider that a large, muscular horse stays strong by consuming 10-15% of its protein requirement from plants. A human’s protein needs are similar. The commonly held belief that humans need more protein to maintain muscle is not a wise suggestion [1]. In fact, overeating protein causes calcium loss and harms the kidneys [2]. Strenuous activity requires more caloric energy by eating more food coming from complex carbohydrates. Over 70% of quinoa’s calories are from carbohydrates with the remaining amount of roughly equal amounts of protein and fat.

  • Active people who focus on eating extra protein often do not eat enough carbohydrates, which are the most essential energy source during exercise. Always aim to eat more calories by eating more carbohydrate-rich food such as quinoa.
  • Quinoa contains eight essential amino acids (proteins) the body requires, including lysine, a protein typically only found in animal products. Essential amino acids refer to those that the body must get through diet because it cannot produce them by itself. The most common sources of complete proteins are meat, milk, and eggs. If you are looking for an alternative source of protein, quinoa is a strong contender. It is excellent for vegetarians.

High in Manganese – A trace mineral that helps reduce fatigue levels, prevent bone loss, reduce menstrual flow, and help speed up the recovery from strains & sprains by increasing restorative antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase). [4]

Fatty Acid Content  – Most of the fat is in the form of oleic acid, a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. Since quinoa has a significant amount of fat, it can be assumed that quinoa is more likely to oxidize quickly and damage the nutrients. But, studies show that quinoa, despite its fat content, does not oxidize as fast as expected. Therefore, quinoa can be stored longer than oily seeds, and cooking does not jeopardize the nutrients. [5]

Gluten-Free – Quinoa is naturally gluten-free and does not grow near wheat crops. Most people also find that quinoa is easy to digest.

A Significant Source of Calories – Most plant foods are low in calories; however, quinoa is a significant source. 1/4 cup of uncooked tri-color quinoa (1.7 oz or 48g) contains 180 calories.

Origin of Quinoa

Quinoa is native to northern South America and grows primarily in Bolivia and Peru. If you follow food news, you might remember hearing a few years back about how the U.S. demand for quinoa was driving up the pricing so high that the South American farmers who grew it could not afford to eat it themselves. Since then, quinoa farmers have adjusted to the expanded demand and are still eating quinoa while making more money by selling it globally.

Due to the popularity of quinoa, it is now being grown in the U.S. and the Canadian Rocky Mountains, from Colorado to Saskatchewan.[6]

As you can see, quinoa is a fascinating plant food worthy of its own category and blog post. It has remarkable nutritional properties from its protein content (15%) and its energy composition. Try it out on your next hike.

Use quinoa as you would grains, such as rice or noodles, by pairing it with sauces and vegetables. The mild flavor of quinoa supplements nicely with soups and breakfast porridge. Adding a small amount boosts the nutritional content of almost any dish while adding a mildly nutty flavor.

apple quinoa oatmeal Outdoor Herbivore

Article Co-Authored by Danny Eccles, Outdoor Herbivore Intern

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