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Health & Fitness

Savory Seasons:Yet Another Pitch for Quinoa

It’s January. The days of excess are behind us. The few extra pounds we managed to gain are still with us however. There’s a reason that the airwaves fill with ads for diets and exercise equipment once the holidays are over! Resolutions to diet and exercise are often fleeting. Developing a few new eating habits might just work for the long haul.

Enter quinoa. If you’ve had any contact with food magazines or food columns in newspapers or on line, this is a familiar term. It’s pronounced “keen-wah”, by the way. Quinoa is definitely trendy, but the thing is, it’s also really good and amazingly good for you as well. It looks like a grain, and we treat it like one, but it’s actually a seed related to beets, spinach and chard, making it gluten-free. Quinoa's nutritive value is amazing. It’s a complete protein, containing all of the nine essential amino acids needed by our bodies for good health. It regularly shows up on lists of “super foods”, with good reason.

I’ve just recently started working with quinoa, so I’m hardly an expert, but I’ve tried a few things that I like. Bob’s Red Mill is the brand I used. There’s a  good recipe in Joanne Chang’s Flour Too for Warm Quinoa Salad with Roasted Autumn Vegetables and Ginger Scallion Dressing. The recipe is readily available on line, but Flour Too is worth owning for multiple other recipes as well.

The first time I made the recipe, I followed Joanne Chang’s directions. Google it if you’re interested in seeing the original recipe.The second time, I simplified it dramatically , and it was still really good.

My version of Warm Quinoa Salad with Roasted Vegetables

1. Chop a combination of root vegetables into bite sized pieces. Whatever you have on hand. Maybe a carrot, a parsnip, a sweet potato, a baby turnip or two, some pieces of butternut squash or a few Brussels sprouts. Toss them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread them on a sheet pan and roast at 400 for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are tender. Set aside to cool somewhat.
2. Following the directions on the package, cook the quinoa. One cup dry quinoa to two cups water. Let cool to lukewarm.
3. Make a lemon vinaigrette using 1/4 C freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/4 C olive oil. 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper and a minced clove of garlic (optional.)
4. Combine the roasted vegetables and about 1 1/2 C warm quinoa in a bowl. Toss with the vinaigrette. Sprinkle with chopped scallions if you like.
5. Delicious warm or at room temperature. Makes a great and surprisingly filling lunch.

Leftover quinoa is a good substitute for morning oatmeal. Just heat it with some milk and fruit. Provides the protein you need in the morning in a different, great tasting way. 

It’s a brand new year. Try something new!

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