Can You Eat Quinoa Raw Or Uncooked?

When adopting a raw food diet, you do not have to give up quinoa. Quinoa is treated like a grain in cooked preparations, but is actually a seed that may be sprouted and eaten raw. The seed originated in Latin America, where it has been used for thousands of years. Quinoa provides protein and a number of other nutrients that provide benefits to any diet plan.

Preparation

Sprouting is a technique used by raw foodists to soften grains and beans. Rawists also sprout to help release some of the living enzymes in foods and break down the proteins and carbohydrates to make digestion easier. To sprout quinoa, soak it overnight in water. Drain and rinse it in a fine colander. Leave it to sit in the colander over a bowl for at least six hours, recommends Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis in "Raw Food Real World."

Considerations

Raw quinoa is an acquired taste. Make sure you rinse quinoa before starting the sprouting process to remove a bitter outer compound known as saponin. Simply place the seeds in a colander under cool water until the water runs clear. You can sprout quinoa longer than overnight, resulting in a very soft texture. Use sprouted quinoa within one or two days.

Nutrition

A ½ cup serving of dry quinoa provides 313 calories and 5 g of fat. It also provides 6 g of fiber and 12 g of protein. The protein in quinoa is complete, meaning it offers all the amino acids your body cannot produce in ideal amounts. Quinoa is a source of B vitamins, which help you produce energy, with 20 percent of the recommended dietary allowance for vitamin B-6 and thiamin, 15 percent for riboflavin and 6 percent for niacin and pantothenic acid. A ½-cup raw serving also offers 39 percent of the RDA for folate, which is important to red blood cell formation and proper fetal development. Raw quinoa offers 21 percent of the RDA for iron, 4 percent for calcium and 478 mg of potassium, more than is found in one small banana. Raw quinoa also provides 42 percent of the RDA for magnesium, 86 percent for manganese, 25 percent for copper, 17 percent for zinc and 39 percent for phosphorus.

Recipe

Use sprouted quinoa to make raw salads, such as a variation on tabouli. This recipe, from Kenney and Melngailis, uses 1 cup of sprouted quinoa, ¼ cup lemon juice, 3 tbsp. olive oil, 1 ½ tsp. sea salt, 3 seeded and chopped tomatoes, 2 sliced green onions, 2 bunches of parsley and a handful of mint leaves, finely chopped. Mix all the ingredients together and let sit for 30 minutes to a few hours for the flavors to incorporate.