Quinoa
PNW Adapted Quinoa Seed - Wild Garden Seed Philomath, OR
Latin Name: Chenopodium quinoa
Originally from the Andean highlands, there are many varieties of quinoa of all different colors and forms that grow throughout the Americas. Tender young leaves can be eaten as spinach-like greens with a little bit of a salty flavor.
Primarily, quinoa has long been a staple grain crop. Both quinoa and amaranth are considered to be versatile pseudo-cereals that can be cooked just like rice. The seeds are coated with saponins which much be processed with both water and abrasion before eating. The remaining containing the saponins can be used to make soap.
DIGGING DEEPER
Quinoa has a deep history throughout South and Central America, but its recent rise in popularity as a superfood around the world driving quinoa prices up has had increasingly negative impacts on the Indigenous communities that have long depended on the crop. Both amaranth and quinoa have long been a staple crop throughout Andean highland areas in Peru, Ecuador, and northern regions of Chile.
