The mighty quinoa: secrets of the new superfood

People still struggle to pronounce it correctly. For the record, keh-NO-ah and KEEN-wah seem to be the most widely accepted, but quinoa is undoubtedly one of the health foods of the moment.Despite being a relatively recent addition to the modern store shelf, quinoa was first cultivated more than 5,000 years ago in the Andes region of what is now Peru, Bolivia and Chile. The ancient Incas considered la chisaya mama (the mother grain) a gift from the gods and regarded it as sacred. It seems that they had good reason to do so. Because of its high nutritional content, the United Nations views quinoa as a supercrop and Nasa included it on its list of recommended foods for space missions. Quite simply, quinoa is wholly deserving of that superfood status. Laura Holland, a nutritional therapist working in the UK and UAE, is a keen advocate, saying: "It is a complex carbohydrate, a complete protein source and is gluten-free. It is also loaded with minerals and vitamins such as manganese, magnesium, iron and B vitamins. This combination balances blood sugar and hormones, helps digestion, provides vital energy and feeds your body on all levels."She adds that "it is also an excellent food for diabetics". "It is heart healthy, can help with people who suffer from migraines, and is alkali forming, which is a major bonus as today the majority of people have a very acidic diet, which is the underlying cause of many health complaints."According to Livestrong.com, a cup of cooked quinoa (approximately 184g) contains 222 calories. "Carbohydrates provide 157 calories, protein accounts for 33 calories and fat makes up the remaining 32 calories," the website says. "This provides 11.1 per cent of the daily value for calories, assuming a diet of 2,000 calories per day."The site goes on to state that quinoa contains 39g of carbohydrate per 184g serving (approximately 13 per cent of the daily value for carbohydrates), 5g of fibre (20 per cent of daily value), 8g of protein (16 per cent of daily value), 2g of sugar and 3.6g of fat (4.6 per cent of daily value) with 0.4g of this being saturated fat. It also notes that quinoa does not contain any cholesterol. Although often thought of as a grain, quinoa is not in fact a grass, as are true grains like wheat and rice, but a member of the same family as spinach. However, rather than the leaf, we prefer the seed, which has a nutty flavour and a slightly chewy texture. It is very easy to cook, endlessly versatile and filling without being heavy. In fact, it's surprising that quinoa has taken so long to come to mainstream attention.Two people who pioneered the quinoa craze are Carolyn Hemming and Patricia Green, sisters from Saskatchewan and authors of Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood. First published in the spring of 2010, it became a national bestseller within two months and was soon one of Amazon.ca's most-bought cookery books, boasting sales in line with those of titles from Jamie Oliver and Gwyneth Paltrow.Hemming tells me that her sister introduced her to quinoa some years ago: "After I tried quinoa, we both began incorporating it into anything we could, replacing other, nutritionally inferior foods with vitamin- and mineral-packed quinoa wherever possible." Producing Quinoa 365 was a natural progression: "We started to have a large collection of recipes and we knew many of the answers to questions we saw in the online community, so we decided to write a comprehensive book."When cooking regular quinoa seeds, Hemming and Green recommend a technique that they call the "steam and set method". "Using a 1:2 ratio; cook one cup of quinoa and two cups of water [or broth]. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan, then reduce to a simmer and cover for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat off and let the quinoa set, covered, for an additional five to 10 minutes. This will ensure any remaining moisture is soaked up and your cooked quinoa will be light and fluffy."