Quinoa, Kale and Sweet Corn

So I have recently discovered Quinoa.  I grew up in a family where meat and potatoes were the common ingredients in most of our meals.  I had never even heard of quinoa until about a year ago when a friend recommended it to me because I was having a hard time sticking to my gluten free diet.  This was way before I had even thought about becoming vegan.  So I bought some quinoa from the grocery store and took it home and was excited to cook it and try it out.  I distinctly remember the first few bites as the small round seeds had a popping or crunchy but still soft like texture even though they were cooked.  It was a very interesting texture because it was something I had never experienced before with any other food.  The more quinoa I ate, the more I started to like this new texture.  The flavour of quinoa is mild like rice.  After the first couple times of trying the quinoa plain I tried something different, I added some mixed frozen veggies and quickly realized that the quinoa takes on the flavour of pretty much anything you add to it. This makes it a very versatile ingredient for creating recipes.

Quinoa is a complete protein that is also high in iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, copper and lysine.  Quinoa is a very important staple for vegans and for people on gluten free diets because of the amount of protein and vitamins it contains.  It can even be used in baking as a replacement for wheat flour as you can buy quinoa flakes or quinoa flour.  Another great thing about quinoa is that you can even eat it as a breakfast porridge.  I love to add organic frozen blueberries to quinoa when it's cooking and eat it as a high protein breakfast to start my day. If that isn't enough to convince you that quinoa is awesome you can even sprout your quinoa adding even more vitamins and recipe options to this superfood!

My favourite thing to add to quinoa now is organic frozen sweet corn.  The sweetness of the corn takes over this dish and makes it the perfect side dish to almost any meal.  Sometimes I expand on this quinoa and corn dish by adding some chopped organic kale.  If the flavours aren't enough to entice you the amount of vitamins in this dish will.  Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin and reasonably rich in calcium and iron. Cooked sweet corn has high levels of ferulic acid which provides anti-cancer properties. This dish can be eaten as a side dish or has all the nutrients needed to be a complete meal on it's own and it taste great.

If you haven't tried quinoa before it's just as easy to cook as rice. Some people prefer to soak their quinoa for a while before cooking but I am perfectly happy with the way mine turns out after simply rinsing the quinoa in warm water before cooking.  You can even cook your quinoa in your rice cooker and still add the corn and kale while it's cooking. I recommend experimenting with your quinoa and adding your favourite veggies and fruits to create new personalized recipes.

Quinoa, Kale and Sweet Corn Recipe

1 cup of Organic Quinoa
2 cups of Water
1/4 cup of shredded Organic Kale
1/4 cup of Organic Frozen Sweet Corn
a pinch of sea salt

Rinse your quinoa in warm water and drain.
Add your quinoa to a medium size pot and add 2 cups of water and a pinch of sea salt.  Bring your water and quinoa to a boil then reduce temperature to medium and add corn and kale.
Reduce your temperature again after 2 minutes to low and stir occasionally.
Let the water slowly simmer out until there is no water left.
Fluff and serve.
If cooking in a rice cooker just add all the ingredients and cook the same as rice.

So for todays book recommendation I would like to add...

Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood
http://www.amazon.ca/Quinoa-365-The-Everyday-Superfood/dp/1552859940

I just want to make a note that not all recipes in this book are vegan. 

Awakening

Over the past couple years I have come to the realization that too many people don't honour their bodies or treat themselves well.  The problem lies within our culture.  We are raised to shop, cook and prepare foods in a very unhealthy manner.  Even within our school and hospital/health systems we are told to follow food guides that are too generalized and not healthy for everyone.  I have come to the realization that our bodies are way more important than anything else on this planet.  Without optimal health we cannot achieve half as many things on this planet.  Without a healthy frame of mind or optimal physical health we cannot take care of our planet the way we should.   Most people think "oh my!  I am gaining weight and I should be more healthy and go to the gym and work out really hard to get rid of that weight."  Unfortunately at that point there are many more bad habits involved than just not getting enough exercise.  The average Canadian will have multiple addictions by the time they are 20.  These addictions are not the usual ones you would think of when you think of the word addictions.  I am not talking about smoking, drinking or drugs (which are also very serious problems).  As dangerous as those addictions are I am talking about the ones less talked about and much more common addictions like Sugar, Salt, Caffein.  Sugar is one of the biggest ones, that's why so many people are becoming diabetic before they even reach the age of retirement.

I don't want to go on too much about addictions, farming and chemicals in our food and water or I could go on all day. I am not going to be the one to tell you what is good for you and what isn't. You need to learn that on your own because everyone is different and everyones body reacts to things differently.  There are too many people out there giving each other all kinds of wrong information. Thankfully more people in our society are slowly starting to become more aware and ask more questions about where our food comes from and how is it made or what is in the ingredients.  One of the main factors of my personal awakening was learning how to become a critical thinker.  You can learn so much if you start asking questions, reading labels, ask where your information is coming from, ask who sponsored the research. There are so many people who walk through life with a blindfold on, they do as they are told, they shop as uninformed consumers and they buy because of marketing from large popular corporations and not because of knowledge of the products.  Most people assume that if it's sold in a grocery store then it can't be bad for us because that just wouldn't be allowed. We need to change the way we shop in order to change the way we eat.

My advice is to go back to the basics. Buy food in it's most natural form, not processed and organic or at least locally grown if possible.  Try different ways of preparing your food.  Try new foods that you haven't tried before.  Spend more time researching about your food and food additives and preservatives.  Create a new recipe, eat it knowing that it's really good for you and share it with others.  Feeling healthy isn't just getting exercise, it's knowing that what you put in your body is truly good for you and that what you get out of it is the motivation and energy to get the exercise you need to stay physically fit.

So what does this all have to do with becoming a gluten free vegan you say?  Well it's simple, since I have been learning about how to become a gluten free vegan I have learned so much about why all these new food choices are healthier choices in general.  I just figured that it would be a crime not to share what I've learned so far.  This is why I have decided to start this blog.  I have been trying so many vegan/gluten free recipes and enjoying so many foods I haven't tried before that are vitamin rich and taste awesome that I had to share them.  I have been posting pictures and writing some recipes for my friends and now I want to start sharing with everyone. I look forward to uploading pictures and sharing recipes and ideas with you.

I will try to recommend a book for each blog entry I write.

Today's book is....

The China Study

http://www.thechinastudy.com