My Quinoa Addiction

Over the past few months I have become obsessed with quinoa.  Quinoa is one of those superfoods with complete proteins that help your body build muscle, has 9 essential amino acids, is high in omega-3, has healthy fats and is gluten free.  Quinoa is commonly mistaken for a grain when it's actually a seed, native to Peru (a wikipedia search during a dinner party last night gave me that insight!) and is one of those foods that has kind of been neglected over the years.  But no longer, you can make some really tasty, nutritious and low glycemic meals out of this amazing seed.

At an end-of-MBA pot luck dinner party last night I made quinoa salad.  I've been eating this salad four to five times a week for the past month or two.  The great thing is it quinoa does not give you the full feeling that rice sometimes does, is great cold so its awesome after a workout and stands up to dressing better than other grains. And much to my delight my friends loved the salad and were really curious about quinoa, its nutrition benefits and more importantly wanted to get the recipe:

The recipe:

1 and 1/2 cups quinoa boiled in 2 and 3/4 cups water with salt to taste, after the water boils turn the burner to medium, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

1 can organic corn - remove quinoa from burner when water is absorbed add corn, cover for 10 minutes.

1 avocado
Chopped cilantro (I like to use alot but that flavor is up to you)
1 organic orange pepper
3 stalks of scallions
2 jalapeno peppers
1 english cucumber
Chop above vegetables and add to quinoa and corn in a large serving dish/ container

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder to taste
whisk the above ingredients together and then stir into salad

The whole meal takes about 10 minutes of actual work, is highly nutritious and easy to bolus for.  A bowl of the salad has about 50 grams of carbohydrates and really is a delicious and healthy meal.