Unless you follow healthy cookbooks and magazines, cooking quinoa may not be a normal fare in your home, it may even be a food you have never heard of. While it receives a great deal of attention from the health community, calling it main stream would be a stretch. If you are following a healthy diet, quinoa is something that you may want to include.
Quinoa is related to beets and spinach. Since it is gluten free, even those with a wheat intolerance can enjoy it. Even though quinoa is not technically a grain, people often refer to it as a “super grain”. You can get protein carbohydrates and healthy fat all by eating “this grain”. Many people have called it a survival food because it gives your body everything that you need to survive.
As part of their Controlled Ecological Life Support System program, NASA as done extensive research on quinoa. Because of the superior protein content,they are exploring the possibility of using it as a crop on long term human space missions. It will be very interesting to learn how they grow it in limited space, and how they will be cooking quinoa in that environment.
In contrast to most plants, between 12% and 18% of quinoa is protein. The difference is determined by how the saponin is removed. Experts say that the protein is equal to the quality found in milk. One reason that quinoa is so special is that it offers all of the amino acids that are considered essential. Of particular importance is the fact that quinoa contains the amino acid lysine. Lysine is not found in most plants.
Cooking quinoa will give you a great source of vitamins and minerals in addition to providing you with protein and amino acids. Calcium, riboflavin, phosphorous, iron and magnesium are all found in quinoa.
It is easy to find quinoa recipes since it is growing in popularity. An extremely flexible and versatile food, it can be enjoyed at any meal. Quinoa is just as great in a salad as it is in a breakfast cereal! Why not cook quinoa today?
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