Quinoa sushi- I can now eat it no problem!

For a long time after going gluten free, I stayed away from quinoa, because I found it bothered my stomach a lot! Cramping pain that made me want to double over, the works.
People recommended to me that I rinse my quinoa before cooking it. I did that, and it only helped to a degree- after eating rinsed quinoa, my stomach felt strangely empty and uncomfortable, so I felt I’d need to eat a whole other meal after a quinoa serving, because I needed to shove more food in my stomach to take away the discomfort.

I thought quinoa was a no-go for me…

I did some research and discovered that the reason quinoa should be rinsed before use is because it is coated with saponins, natural soaps, which cause stomach issues. With a sensitive stomach, even after rinsing the quinoa, I guess enough saponins remained behind that it still bothered my stomach.
Because of my trying to cook grain free lately, I really wanted to be able to get quinoa to work for me, so I tried seeing if I could tolerate them after washing them very well, and fortunately, I can! Now I can eat and enjoy this delicious, healthy, high protein, gluten free grain without any stomach issues.

How to Make Quinoa More Digestible

1. The way I wash them is I take a fine mesh strainer and place it over a large bowl.

2. I place my quinoa into the mesh strainer.

3. I then fill the bowl up to the top, covering the quinoa in the mesh strainer.

4. Once it’s full, I swish the water around for a good 3 minutes or so.

5. I then lift out the strainer with the quinoa, and pour out the water.

6. I then do this at least 2 more times.

7. If there are any suds/soapy looking bubbles left in the water after rinsing the quinoa 2 or 3 times, keep on rinsing, swishing, and washing until no suds remain.

8. Then boil the quinoa, 1 1/2 or 2 cups of water or broth for every 1 cup of quinoa, as you would rice, covered, until it is all absorbed.

9. Alternatively, you can dry the quinoa in a dehydrator, and then grind it to make flour.

Are you a quinoa fan? Has it ever caused you stomach issues? If you don’t get issues from quinoa, do you prepare it any special way? If it causes you issues, have you rinsed quinoa this way before to see if it would solve your issues? Does this look like something you’d try out?

Linking up to Real Food Wednesday and Allergy Free Wednesday