Fast filling the grocery counters in American households, popular designer food among the rich and the famous, health conscious foodies and sport personalities alike, what is that makes this food tick.
Know the grain:
A pseudo-cereal, quinoa is not a true grain biologically but is relative to the family of roots like beetroot and leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard. This grain, originally from Ecuador, Mexico and Peru is becoming a popular favorite as a rice-replacement.
Know all about quinoa:
What makes this nutty grain-like food a super food is the fact that it contains all the essential amino-acids in the right balance making it a complete vegetarian protein. Not only is quinoa's amino acid profile well balanced, making it a good choice for, but quinoa is especially well-endowed with the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair which is deficient in our household grains like rice, wheat, oats and other cereal. Other than being a protein food, quinoa has a host of additional health benefits. Being rich in fibre, it is an apt replacement for rice for all the weight watchers and diabetics alike.
Quinoa is a rich source of magnesium, a mineral essential to relax the blood vessels as well a good source of folate, and phosphorus, this "grain" may be especially valuable for persons with migrane, diabetes and cardio-vascular ailments.
Quinoa is also a welcome relief to gluten sensitive individuals i.e people who are allergic to wheat. Quinoa doesn’t contain gluten, a protein found in wheat and hence, can be readily used as a wheat replacement in almost all preparations especially baked products.
How to enjoy these wonder grain?
Quinoa can be cooked traditionally exactly the way we cook rice i.e wash it off well and pressure cook. It can be also milled it a flour and can be used to make variety of preparations. Quinoa beans can also be a good alternative to breakfast cereals as well as roasted and baked as a snack. Another popular quinoa preparation is quinoa salad which can come handy with any Indian preparation or a veggie burger or sandwich.