| If you have recently started a diet and weight | | | | fairly new to the United States and has been |
| loss plan or if you have been dieting for some | | | | grown in Colorado since around 1980. More |
| time you may be looking for something different | | | | significantly it is easy to find, not too expensive |
| to eat that will help you reach your goals. It is | | | | and best of all it tastes good. |
| always encouraging to discover foods that not | | | | Eating quinoa provides the body with |
| only help with weight loss but provide great | | | | carbohydrates that are released very slowly |
| nutritional value as well. Also, foods that can be | | | | which helps us stay full longer, another added |
| mixed and prepared many ways offer variety | | | | benefit. It is also very easy to cook. Rinse it |
| and hold our interest. | | | | thoroughly in a strainer and mix two parts water |
| Quinoa is typically grouped with heart healthy | | | | to one part quinoa. Bring it to a boil, cover and |
| grains even though it is actually the seeds from | | | | simmer for about ten to fifteen minutes. When it |
| tall annual herbs native to South America. | | | | turns translucent and the water is absorbed it is |
| However you choose to categorize it, it is wheat | | | | done. |
| free, gluten free, loaded with protein, high in fiber | | | | When cooked it becomes both soft and crunchy |
| and it contains potassium, magnesium, iron and | | | | with a taste described as nutty to bland. An |
| other vitamins. | | | | obvious substitute for rice or couscous it goes |
| This grain has been traced back five or six | | | | well mixed with soups and salads. It can even be |
| thousand years to the Incas who believed it was | | | | roasted, ground and mixed with other grains for |
| sacred and harvested it in religious rituals with | | | | bread or used in puddings. |
| implements made of gold. By these standards it is | | | | |