Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Dinner: Roasted mahi mahi and quinoa salad

* Should have paired it with white wine, but I have to finish an open bottle of malbec*

Very yummy quinoa


I was watching the food network (as I religiously do), and one of the cooking shows had this great quinoa salad recipe that I paired with grilled mahi mahi.
The salad was absolutely delicious! It contains quinoa, cucumbers, scallions, raisings and orange zest in an orange-based dressing. The orange zest is what made this recipe really special.

Quinoa is a grain that was domesticated by the ancient communities of the Andes and was considered a sacred grain by the Incan empire. Its still part of the basic diet of the people in the Andes, especially in the regions that used to be part of the Incan empire (Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador). I grew up eating Quinoa and I love it, although I do remember they used to make the worst quinoa soup at my house.

Quinoa is nowadays considered a "super food". It has a very high protein content and contains all essential aminoacids, making it a complete protein. While I appreciate all the amazing qualities of quinoa, in reality I eat it just because its yummy.


3 comments:

  1. quinoa has been hot here in japan for a while now, too. i've only had it in the form of cookies, and it was really good. i love the texture of grainy grains.

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  2. I have never had quinoa in a cookie! Should try that out sometime. In ecuador they sell bags of puffed quinoa as a snack for children, but its not very sweet. You should try it in its savory form, its consistency is similar to couscous and it was a nice nutty flavor! If you just cook it as a side dish, use canned chicken stock to boil it in and its even tastier.

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  3. thanks. i will keep that in mind!

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