Talk about Quinoa

Yesterday I went swimming with a friend who owns a time share in Arrowhead - for the express purpose of having year round access to the pool. In the locker room I met a woman from Venezuela who told me about a quinoa soup her mother used to make and how wonderful it was. She was going to go home and try to remember how to make it. I did some searching online and found several recipes for Ecuadorian quinoa soup - perhaps the same sort of thing? Sounds good - though I personally would leave out the guinea pig for guests - I am vegan after all.

Quinoa is actually a seed, not a grain, but cooks much the same as a grain and can be used in place of other grains, like rice. Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. Not only is quinoa’s amino acid profile well balanced, making it a good choice for vegans concerned about adequate protein intake, but quinoa is especially well-endowed with the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair. In addition to protein, quinoa features a host of other health-building nutrients. Because quinoa is a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus, this “grain” may be especially valuable for persons with migraine headaches, diabetes and atherosclerosis.

In comparison with wheat, barley and yellow corn, quinoa was found to be higher in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese and, zinc and was lower in sodium than the other grains.

Here is the link to the soup http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200211/kummer

I understand there is a red quinoa, though I have only found the white. Do you have any good quinoa recipes? Yesterday I topped mine with a corn and green pepper salsa, home made tomato salsa and greens. It was yummy!