We hit the road today for Blair’s cousin’s wedding in Pennsylvania and I can hardly wait to see his family! We’ll have a tougher time maintaining great eating habits this weekend, so I wanted to start my day strong just like the Ancient Inca Warriors did: with quinoa (“keen-wah”).
To them, it was sacred – the ‘mother grain’. To modern day vegetarians and health foodies, it’s a staple source of protein. Surprisingly still, it’s not a mainstream food. But change is nigh, my friends, as the UN declared 2013 the ‘International Year of Quinoa’ recognizing its importance for world food security and optimal nutrition.
It’s packed with iron, fiber, calcium and twice the protein of regular cereal grains. Its protein is “complete” too, meaning it has just the right proportion of all nine essential amino acids that optimally supports our diet.
Mostly it likes to appear in lunch or dinner recipes, but why not substitute for your cereal like I did this AM?
INGREDIENTS
½ cup cooked quinoa (follow directions on box)
2 tbsp. non-fat greek yogurt
¼ cup blueberries
Banana (chopped)
1 lemon wedge
Cinnamon
Agave or honey
*Feel free to add any nut, dried fruit, flax seed mix, etc. I just used what I had.
TIPS
Find: Check the rice or health food sections of your grocery store
Prepare: Rinse the bitter saponin layer before cooking in a strainer with *small holes* (you’d think this was common sense – I learned the hard way)
Cook: Prepare like rice with a 2:1 water to quinoa proportion
Store: Quinoa stores extremely well – cook a bunch and keep 2-3 days
More recipe ideas: See my “Meat-Free” Pinterest board for tons of ideas from veggie burgers to pizza crust. One of my favourites is a Mexican-style red quinoa from Oh She Glows
Enjoy!
