Thursday, January 7, 2010

KEEN-wah

Ever since the beautifully named Sarah S. mentioned quinoa (pronounced as above: keen-wah), I've had it in the back of my head to try. Recently, I noticed Costco has been carrying it. THEN, completing the trifecta of intrigue, in my January issue of Sunset they called it one of the 10 "foods to try" (or something like that). So I purchased my Costco-sized bag and headed home, confident that if I didn't like it, I could return the unused 67 pounds (ok, it's only FIVE pounds).

I must say, the smell as it cooked left much to be desired. It reminded me of masa. Masa and I do not have a good history. As a teenager, I spent the better part of one Saturday making tamales from scratch as part of a fundraiser. Cooking the masa, boiling the corn husks, shredding the beef and pork and chicken, rolling the masa onto the corn husks, applying the meat, rolling them, steaming them, packaging them, by the dozens. It would not be an exaggeration to say we made at least 500. Why we did tamales is unclear. I think someone had a family recipe? Let the record show, that the people who purchased said tamales pronounced them the best they'd ever had. Since then, however, the only tamales I've eaten come in an envelope-sized box with a delicious red hard shell surrounding a chewy center. In short, the smell of masa grosses me out.

So as it cooked, I would glance over skeptically, relieved that I had had the foresight to ALSO cook rice so that when the quinoa totally failed the taste test, we'd have a back-up grain for the feijoada I had simmering. When it came time for service, I portioned out about 1/4 C for the kids, a healthy portion for me (my inner voice reminding me of all the nutritional benefits of this "gold of the Incas"), and topped it with the stew.

And then I tasted it.

I think I can best capture our feelings when I describe how Gemma almost literally attacked the spoon. She didn't spend the time to say "Mmmm! Dish-us!" but just kept opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. At one point she was growling and chomping down on the spoon. I would fill her spoon and hand it to her, then take a bite myself. Once my hand was still resting on the edge of her tray as I turned to answer a question from Ainsleigh, when I suddenly became aware that Gemma was tapping my hand with her spoon. Like, "Hello? Can I get a little help here?" Gemma snarfed down three bowls of that stuff in much the same manner I greet a giant tub of popcorn at the movie theater after a day of snacking lightly in anticipation of the golden kernels, making a (wonderful, delicious) meal out of a week's recommendation of fat. I'm not ashamed.

We thought the quinoa was delicious. I don't know that we'd eat it solo. But I can definitely see substituting it for rice at times when I wouldn't even consider swapping brown rice in for white. It almost tasted like popcorn. (query: am I implying I would eat stew over popcorn? No I would not. What a stupid conclusion.) I say almost, because once Becca tried to tell me that chocolate Silk (soy milk?) tasted "just like" regular chocolate milk. She is a liar. Or else her taste buds are disabled. If that's the case, I apologize for calling her a liar. And the state of her tongue.

Quinoa has protein, fiber, a bunch of (all?) essential amino acids (although, to be frank, I don't think I've ever paid attention to amino acids, but that "essential" sure makes them sound important, no?), and is the cool new health food. Try some today! (note to self: discover next cool new health food to build entertainment budget for more barrels of movie popcorn)

6 comments:

wanda said...

Let me know how Gemma's diaper comes out after 3 bowls. I'm thinking three bowls of grain could be interesting....

laura said...

Ha! I actually spent a good portion of Christmas break coaching Becca on how to pronounce "quinoa". Timely!

janine said...

eric and i love it and eat it fairly often. maryn....although it not a picky eater....is a picker texture person and this is one on the "gag me" list. so we just make her rice or make her eat bread. oh well. by the way, i love love love it cold in a salad!

Alice said...

I love quinoa also. I recently bought that giant sized bag from costco. I tried it out on Finn tonight (because he ALWAYS wants what's on my plate) he spit it out....HAHA...but he love the hummus.

Lisa said...

Haha, yeah, I'm thinking the same thing as your mom. Let me know how that diaper is :)

My mom-in-law adds quinoa to a lot of stuff for digestive purposes. And John did some genetic lab thing based around quinoa. I don't mind it, but I don't particularly love it either. But I also don't love popcorn, so there ya go.

Yvette said...

Yep! We have just discovered it as a family also, via Costco, and some of us (Yvette, Zoe, Estée) love it.