I eat shelled hemp seeds pretty much every day at this point, but even when first trying them I thought they tasted pretty innocuous, and very easily overpowered by the rest of the dish. I put it in quinoa salads and butternut squash stews all the time (at the point of consumption, I never cook them into the stew). Have never had anyone tell me there was a rank flavor in the mix either.
Maybe my mistake was trying to cook them into the stew. But you have to eat quite a bit to get a significant amount of protein — about six tablespoons for 20 grams. So if you just put a spoonful into a salad I'm sure it's fine, but it's not functioning as a source of macronutrients. For comparison, poppyseeds are, in principle, a great source of calcium, but you can't use them that way.
I see now, I wouldn’t want the majority of a dish to be hemp seeds.
I’m eating them for a topup of omegas in a nice balance. And not too much, just enough to cover the surface of the bowl, which is still a few tbsps. A salad for me is mostly quinoa and chickpeas so I’d rather get my protein from them. Somewhat similarly, lentils and other beans in a stew.
