Quinoa--The Amazing Food

I don’t usually watch Dr. Oz, but I was folding laundry the other day and turned on the television. There he was describing his anti-cancer food list. I had just visited Dr. Andrew Weil’s website and perused his anti-inflammatory food list. Lists of healthy foods can be found everywhere. Natural foods cookbook author and teacher, Christina Pirello, in a blog on Huffington Post, identifies the top ten ingredients for a healthy life. Cookbook author Martha Rose Shulman added her thoughts in an article for the New York Times on “Recipes for Health: 12 Foods for Every Pantry.” Suggestions on how to eat well are everywhere!

Today there are lots of books written on super foods and foods that will change your life. This is a good thing. So many notable, informed and thoughtful people are bringing good food and good health to the American public’s attention. I decided to carefully look over their advice and see if there was common ground. They all offer healthy and healing suggestions.

I started to experiment with recipes using the recommended foods, beginning with quinoa—it is ranked #1 on Christina’s top ten list. It is an exceptional food! Quinoa comes from the Andes Mountains of South America and is considered the “gold of the Incas.” It might very well be the “supergrain of the future.” In fact it is "actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard" and is a seed. Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain and is a complete protein, which means it has all nine essential amino acids. Quinoa is a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus, potassium and riboflavin. It is easy to digest and has a light crunchy and nutty flavor. After trying several food combinations with quinoa I came up with this recipe:

Quinoa Vegetable Stew

2 TBS Olive Oil
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, sliced
1 cup buttenut squash, diced
1 cup button mushrooms, quartered
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Sea salt
Pepper
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of saffron
2 cups water
1/2 cup quinoa which has been rinsed very well.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and saute for several minutes. Add some salt. Add the spices. Cook for another minute. Add garlic and mushrooms. Saute for 1 minute. Add quinoa and stir for 1 more minute. Add 2 cups of water. Add the carrots and squash. Cover and simmer until until the liquid is absorbed about 20 minutes. Five minutes before the end of the cooking time add salt and pepper to taste. Let the stew sit on the stove with the heat off for 5-10 minutes. If you wish garnish with flat leaf parsley, cilantro or mint.

**Quinoa is coated with a natural substance called saponin that protects the grain. Rinsing the quinoa removes this substance and avoids a bitter taste.
**Cilantro has a long list of healing benefits. Cilantro is a good source of iron and magnesium, reduces inflammation in the body and contains immune boosting properties among other benefits.
*** Parsley contains vitamin C and iron and the plant is a good source of manganese and calcium. It is also exceptionally high in potassium.
**Mint is rich in vitamin A, C, B12, thiamine, folic acid and riboflavin.