Quinoa

In keeping with Vegetarian week, our ingredient of choice this week is Quinoa, "keen-wa" just in case you were wondering.

Quinoa is widely known amongst us now and we're making it our ingredient of vegetarian week because it is just so versatile and is a great source of protein (between 14%-18%), contains all eight essential amino acids, is low-fat, packed with dietary fibre, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. It is also gluten-free and easy to digest.

This little Peruvian grain makes the most delicious salads, risottos, breads, cakes, muesli's, granola and even milks. You can buy it whole, popped, flaked and as a flour. It seems we have gone crazy for the stuff. Obvious by the fact that you can now pick up a bag in most supermarkets and not just your local health food store.

It's also so easy to prepare, boil in water for 20 minutes until it has all sprouted. When cooked the grain almost quadruples in size.

Try out some of our recipes - Quinoa, Walnut and Kale Burgers, Quinoa Bread, Quinoa Super Salad, or Quinoa, Apple and Goji Berry Porridge.