Quinoa is a cereal from South America which should be added to most diets. A staple food of Incans, today it is mostly cultivated in the alpine regions of the Andes. It is smaller than rice and round in shape. There are a few colors available which are a bit different in taste. The taste ranges from a slightly bitter flavor to a sweeter nuttier flavor. The most common and usually on the sweeter side of taste, is white quinoa.
What makes Quinoa a great ingredient is that it offers a full protein; it contains all 8 essential amino acids (the building blocks of proteins). It doesn’t contain gluten and is a good source of thiamine, folic acid and vitamin C.
It’s quick and easy to prepare and works in a number of various ways. You can eat it warm or cold, in salads or as cereal. It can be used in savory dishes or sweet ones. It’s a neutral flavor that can be mixed in with a number of other tastes that also provides an interesting flavor base to work with.
Recipes will be posted soon.
Mmmm, quinoa… I love to use it to make stuffed zucchini. It’s crunchy texture makes it more interesting than rice or couscous as both tend to get a bit too soft and then there’s no contrast with the veggie. That being said, I also use quinoa instead of couscous in tabouleh. In fact, I like quinoa all the time…
indeed, QUiNOA is good all the time, ahaha. And it’s something that i’ve only recently discovered!