Quinoa is a super food. It is high in protein, fiber, and contains all nine amino acids. It also has magnesium and potassium which make it an excellent choice for heart and muscle health. It can even help fight off migraine headaches! The OA Quinoa website has lots of great information on Quinoa, it’s history, health benefits, and recipes. It’s been around for thousands of years and sustained people in the South Americas. The Incans called it the “Mother Grain” and held a ceremony for it during the first planting. It’s a long, thin plant, and we eat what looks like the flower or seed. According to the OA site, it is not technically a grain. Rather, it is more like chard, beets, and spinach.
I was first introduced to quinoa when my sister threw some into the beef stew. It doesn’t really have much of it’s own flavor, it absorbs whatever you add to it. For the stew it added bulk, fiber, protein, and seemed thicken it a bit.
The Biker Chef cooked some up for this blog post with chicken base and added the red peppers and carrots to “dress it up” for the photo. Plus, it tasted great. I would use just like rice for stir-frys and more. You can also add cooked quinoa to your salads, or combine it with other grains. Quinoa is a Gluten-free food.
Quinoa, good and good for you. Yum!
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I love throwing quinoa in my ricer along with the grains or mixing it up with quinoa pasta. Yummy
I plan to use it more now that I know how good it is!
I never thought to throw quinoa into a stew or maybe a soup! I’ve made it with herbs, stock, and veggies, though. It takes a little getting used to, but I do figure I should make it more. The first time I went to get it, I grabbed couscous instead. Whoops!
I think they’re similar, too. In texture anyway. Of course, one is wheat pasta, and the other is not. I’m going to use it more, myself. It’s good.
Great photo! I’ve never really used it, I’m kind of vary of “fancy” food, some of them turn out to be fads but quinoa doesn’t sound bad actually 🙂
Miss Andi, it’s actually really good, and nutritionally exceptional. I plan to use it the same way I do rice.
I didn’t know about the migraine part. How cool! I’ll have to try that next time.