Grain-y reflections

Today I made quinoa for dinner. Quinoa is a grain that is very nutritional and high in protein. In fact, it contains so many amino acids that unlike other grains like wheat or rice, it doesn’t need to be paired with a legume to provide all the amino acids humans need. It also contains lots of fiber and minerals like magnesium and iron.

While it is originally from the Andes in South America, I was introduced to quinoa in Paris (France, not Texas.) I was spending the summer with a French family, and the mother of the family was big on “bio” (organic) food. The family ate a lot of beef, which I don’t eat, and I was therefore left with her favorite side dish: quinoa. I ate quinoa for dinner a few times a week. Lucky for me it’s incredibly healthy and packed with everything I needed!

Making the quinoa made me wonder more about the kasha we made in class yesterday. Though I’d heard of quinoa, which many people hadn’t, I’d never heard of kasha. Kasha is basically a Slavic word for porridge, made from any number of ingredients, though in America it usually refers specifically to buckwheat. It has been around for centuries and according to Wikipedia, it is “second in historical significance only to bread.” Since I hadn’t heard of it before, I can’t say whether or not that is true, but it’s very interesting and I’m glad we made it in class! (Also, it was delicious!)