You don’t need to sell me on quinoa; my son first introduced me to the benefits of grains. By the way, many emphasize that it is a seed and not a grain, but grains are also seeds.
Thanks to his information I discovered that the agricultural research department of our local university focuses on this grain. The use of this super-food is the fastest growing in the world. University agriculture officials believe the local Palouse Hills with its nutritious, deep, loess soil is ideal for produce. Their research of over a thousand varieties of quinoa further discovered that the Columbia Plateau in eastern Washington has an ideal micro-climate for the grain.
But I am personally interested in the product because of my many health problems including type 2 diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and very high triglycerides, to name a few. Since I have been using quinoa for the past three months, combined with more exercise, I have lost a total of twenty pounds. During that time my blood pressure dropped, and my fasting glucose readings dropped from an average of 140 to 90. Additionally, I was able to lower my insulin from forty-five to twenty-eight. unit. Hopefully, at this rate I will be diabetes free within the year!
Because of this, I was happy to get this cookbook. There are several useful recipes with easy-to-understand instructions. One of my favorite recipes Entrees and Sides section is Quinoa Coconut Cauliflower Curry.
The ingredients for that dish include 1 cup of quinoa. 2 cups of coconut milk, 1 teaspoon of curry powder, 1 teaspoon of grated ginger, half a cup of raisins, half a cup of chopped cashews, and 2 cups of chopped cauliflower. For preparation it is recommended to mix quinoa with coconut milk, grated ginger, curry powder, and cauliflower. Place over medium heat in a covered pot. Add water if it seems dry. When the quinoa absorbs the liquid and becomes soft, turn off the heat, stir in the raisins and cashews, and add salt to taste.
The authors divide this cookbook into the following sections: Introduction, Basic Quinoa Cooking Tips, Breakfast, Salads, Entrees and Sides, and Desserts. One of my favorites from Breakfast section is Cranberry Orange Quinoa Muffins. A favorite from Salads section is Quinoa Tuna Salad with Grapes.
My only advice is to give the book to a copy editor and resubmit it for publication. There are some grammatical errors, omitted words, and a couple of recipes are missing steps, ie Stuffed Potatoes. But overall this is a complete book of useful, tasty, and healthy quinoa recipes.