Quinoa & Kim's Eating Clean 21 Day Challenge

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I have embarked on a cleansing diet that is very restrictive. But I'm very thankful as it has led me to a grain that I had never tried and I love love love it! Quinoa. Kim is a wealth of information for healthy eating tips and nutrition. I am always asking her questions and I'm so excited she is sharing her wisdom with everyone! This is her weekly e-mail and I decided to post it to share with all of you. : ) If you would like to receive these weekly tips from Kim, you can subscribe by e-mailing her HERE

The next several tips will focus on a few of my favourite nourishing foods as the "Eating Clean 21 day Challenge" begins this Tuesday. ( Conveniently after Easter!)If you'd like more information about starting the class please e-mail me and I can send you the food guidelines.First meeting of the series will start on April 12 @ 7pm and more practical tips to stay on track will be the focus. Quinoa pronounced (keen-wah)If you haven't tried it or you've forgotten about this "grain" , I hope you'll be inspired to stock it in your pantry and give it a try very soon. I love quinoa, it has a slightly nutty, yet mild flavour that tastes great in a seasoned pilafor in a salad. You could also add to soups, stews, casseroles. I haven't tried adding it to cookies yet. It's ready to eat in 15 minutes so is a great alternative to long grain rice. (Just season with a shot of Braggs!)If is actually not a grain since it belongs to the grass family.Botanically it's related to the Chenopodium family, which also includes beets, spinach, lamb's quarters and chard.When you buy the seeds of this plant, and the variety that is most common here is the pale yellowkind, they look like a cross between a sesame seed and millet. Each seed is covered with saponin which is a resin like substance with an extremely bitter taste, some say soapy, which is suppose to protect the grains from birdsand insects. Seeds that we buy have been washed but a residue could still be left, so best to rinse very well before cookingto make it more palatable.They are very interesting looking once they are cooked. "Tiny saturns" with a band partially separated from the seed.I heard Kerri mention how cute they were with their little tails. She had mixed up a salad with just a little lemon juice,olive oil, plenty of garlic and some chopped fresh herbs of parsley, basil and mint. Yummy and fresh tasting.Here is a great link for some recipe ideas; http://www.quinoa.net/181.htmlIt can also be "sprouted" if you are interested.It is a high energy food, gluten free and easy to digest.It has more calcium than milk and has a high quality amount of protein.(20%).A complete protein particularly high in lysine which is great for tissue repair.Good source of iron, potassium, manganese, magnesium , phosphorus and B vitamins. Also, if you know any nursing mothers : it is a powerful stimulant to the flow of milk.Quinoa means "mother" in Quechua Indian ( Andean language ;South America)It was the Mother grain of the Incas.Cook like rice at a 1:2 quinoa to water ratio, for about 15-20 minutes. Will it make it into your weekly line up?
Enjoy!
Kim
Nutritional info taken from Dianne Onstad's 'Whole Food Companion'