Dinner recommendation from Mary.

Mary is a good eater. A very, very good eater.
She loves salad, spinach, veggies and fruits of all sort, plain yogurt sweetened with honey, and most other healthy things.

The other day I found a recipe for Quinoa with Black Beans and decided to give it a try.
Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wa) looks like a grain, but it's actually the seed of the goosefoot plant.
It's a nutritional powerhouse, with ridiculously high amounts of protein, calcium, and iron. It also contains a good amount of Vitamin E and several B vitamins.
It is high in lysine, cystine, and methionine - amino acids not typically found in other grains. As a bonus, the protein in quinoa is a complete protein; that is, it contains all 8 essential amino acids.
Barley, corn, and wheat have less than half the protein of quinoa. Quinoa is about 18% protein, and just four ounces provides every bit of protein a child needs for the day. It is much lower in carbohydrates than other grains - compare quinoa's 59% carbs to rice's 80%. It's a bit high in sodium, but the tradeoff is well worth it.
It's pretty well accepted these days that quinoa is a superfood.

So I was really hoping Mary would like it.

I tweaked the recipe and this is what I came up with:

1 tsp olive oil
1 c. chopped onion
3 cloves chopped garlic
3/4 c uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 c frozen corn
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes

Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add quinoa. Cover with stock. Add spices. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cook 25 minutes. Add corn, heat through. Add beans and tomatoes.

Makes 10 servings. Each serving has approximately:

160 calories
1.7 grams fat
0.2 grams saturated fat
513 mg sodium
7.7 grams dietary fiber
7.7 g protein
19% iron
34% folate


I added a bit of shredded cheese and avocado to Mary's - she loved it! I've never had caviar (nor will I) but the only way I can describe the texture is that it's like caviar. I've heard caviar "pops" in your mouth. That's what this does. It's a very nice texture - not at all gummy or starchy.
And it couldn't have been easier to make.

Lots of people treat this recipe like a vegetarian chili: add sour cream, cheese, avocado, etc.

When I first got the recipe, I logged on to Peapod to see if they carried it. They do, but it was $10.99 for 26 ounces. No.
So I found www.nutsonline.com and ordered some from them - a pound of organic quinoa for just $3.99. (I also bought various nuts, some Himalayan pink salt, the red pepper... Oh, and Peapod, which is not really an expensive way to shop = 1 ounce cayenne for $4.99. Nutsonline = $3.99 for a POUND. What will I ever do with a pound of cayenne? I don't know, but it's the principle. I also got some dried apricots, sunflower seeds, and the like. You can choose salted or not on all their nuts and trail mix, which is a nice change from Planters. And it's cheaper. And better tasting.

And it took two days for the Nuts order to arrive. Two days from placing the order to having it in hand - that's service!

Oh, this was Mary's verdict.