Well, in my short years as a vegetarian (2 to be exact), I never got around to trying this grain but the bag I had in my pantry kept staring me in the face. When my boredom with my current list of meals safe for Weight Watchers sets in, it inspires me to try something new..... Last night my family got a taste. Of course Gretchen wasn't interested (it will take several times before I can get her to eat it. Steve and I liked it just fine. Good alternative to rice. It looks like couscous but is softer in texture with a very slight touch of chewyness. All in all it was pretty good and it's good for you. Here's what wikipedia had to say:
"Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in
pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the
potato, and followed in third place by
maize. In contemporary times this crop has come to be highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its
protein content (12%–18%) is very high. Unlike
wheat or
rice (which are low in
lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of
essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete foodstuff. This means that unlike wheat protein, one does not need to supplement it with complementary foods such as legumes containing the other
essential amino acids. It is a good source of
dietary fiber and
phosphorus and is high in
magnesium and
iron. Quinoa is
gluten free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered as a possible crop in NASA's
Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.
[5]"