Simply 7 Mesquite BBQ Quinoa Curls
Rotini, or fusili is one of my favourite types of pasta because of the interesting, corkscrew like shape it has. Something about that shape in edible form just grabs my attention. Maybe it’s the surface area and how the folds are good at holding sauce without trapping it, and making for the perfect balance. Or maybe it’s due to some childhood event that made me fall in love with the shape, like I was rescued as an infant by a dude in a corkscrew costume. Who knows.
What I do know is the main reason I bought these quinoa curls is because of their shape. I’ve had good experiences with corkscrew shaped snacks before, and I figured this shouldn’t be too different. Speaking of which, I would love to try deep fried pasta one of these days. I feel like I can imagine what it might taste like with my minds tongue, but to actually try it is something else entirely. Also, deep fried ravioli looks tops. But we aren’t here to talk about that. Lettuce continue.
I am actually a fan of quinoa, so this isn’t a risky proposition for me, as much as something like say, kale chips. I will have to get into kale chips eventually, but I’m going to try and put that off for as long as I possibly can. These on the other hand, look promising so far. These are a bit larger than I expected. I was expecting something closer to the typical rotini pasta that I eat, but these are larger by a bit. They also smell like the standard mesquite BBQ flavour you would find in say, Lays. In particular, these are reminding me of the baked chips.
The flavour of these is pretty standard mesquite BBQ – it has a strong sweet, smoky BBQ flavour to it that is very reminiscent of Lays’ BBQ chips. The flavour is actually quite strong, and leaves a bit of an aftertaste. As long as you aren’t eating something sweet or mild after, you won’t have any problems. The more of these I eat, the more I’m reminded of eating baked Lays BBQ flavoured chips as a kid. Except these are in more of a fun shape. And they aren’t potatoes.
The texture is some weird combination of baked and fried. It actually has a pretty good crunch to it, but kinda melts in your mouth quickly. It’s a lot like eating shrimp chips, or those veggie straws. I’m guessing they grind the quinoa into a flour and then bake/fry it once they have the right shape. I’m pretty sure if I had to patience, I could just let one of these curls melt away in my mouth. The operative word here is patience. I like them enough that they don’t get that luxury of time. This is probably just personal bias at play, but something about the corkscrew shape just works so well with this texture. Something about collapsing those folds in on themselves is just so satisfying of a crunch.
I honestly can’t say that being made from quinoa is affecting my experience of these. I’m pretty sure if they were made of any other veggie, like those popular veggie straws, I would enjoy these just as much. That being said, if you see these in your local health food snack aisle, I’d recommend picking up a bag to try. They also come in cheddar and original, but I honestly feel the texture and the shape are what really make this snack delightful.
