Praise Quinoa!

Let me sing the praises of Quinoa (keen-wah). We had it for dinner last night and I was reminded of why it's such a great thing to have in a busy gluten-free household. The ancient Incas referred to it as "the mother of all grains." Apparently, it's not even a grain though. By definition, it's a fruit. It is a complete protein and is high in amino acids that most grains lack (so, if your eyes are glazing over at this nutritional information, here's why I like it).

• it takes twelve minutes to cook
• you can use it cold in salads (fills the place of wheat-containing couscous)
• before you cook it, fry some garlic, peppers, mushrooms, etc. in the pan and you have a pilaf
• it can be thrown into soups at the end for a nutritional boost
• I have been using it in Kieran's food since he was a wee babe
• it's CRAZY healthy