Quinoa - hard to spell, easy to make

It was just one of those days when I wasn't in the mood to do anything fancy or difficult. It was a long weekend, and I was in desperate need of some R&R and some healthy food.

Quinoa was the perfect anecdote for my case of the blahs. Simple to make and loaded with just the right kind of nutrients, quinoa  is a complex carbohydrate, which, as I've learned, is the good kind of carb.

I hunted for a simple quinoa recipe, and Martha came through with a salad I could make in a couple of minutes flat, Quinoa Salad with Cucumber.

I cooked up the quinoa in a sauce pan with water; this took all of 15 minutes before the grain was nice and soft. I cut up some cucumber and added that and grape tomatoes in for good measure. It was as simple as that! I topped the salad off with lemon juice and ended up with a fabulous, filling Saturday lunch.

RECIPE

Ingredients

Serves 6
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
Coarse salt
1 small shallot, finely chopped
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise (1 cup)
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

- Bring water, quinoa, and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat; cover, and simmer until tender and water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet, and let cool on a wire rack.
- Combine shallot, vinegar, and red-pepper flakes in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil until emulsified.
- Transfer quinoa to a large bowl, and stir in cucumber, parsley, and vinaigrette. Season with salt.

You say chickpea, I say garbanzo

Chickpeas aka garbanzo beans (and a few other aliases), have definitely never been on my list of food cravings. I guess it's because I just really don't like their texture - mushy but somehow grainy at the same time. And they always seem so bland! No matter what dressing I apply to them, they resist all attempts at flavoring.

But they're so good for you! How can I not eat them now?

Two cups of chickpeas contains a person's entire daily value of fiber, much of it insoluble fiber, which is excellent for digestion. They are also loaded with vitamins and nutrients - protein, folate, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium (which is emphasized on my pre-diabetic diet), iron and zinc. Suffice to say, chickpeas need to become my best friend.

I decided that a salad would provide an excellent reintroduction for me to garbanzos, my former enemy turned best friend. Martha had a fabulous Mediterranean Chickpea Salad that I knew would totally fit the bill.

Although Martha soaked and cured the garbanzos herself, I opted to buy them canned, a lazy-person's version of chickpeas. I combined these with generous portions of garlic, yellow pepper, cucumber, carrots, grape tomatoes, and chopped parsley. I also decided to add in some brown rice for a more filling salad and some spinach simply because I had some left over and I didn't want it to go bad. I finished the salad off with balsamic and olive oil, my favorite healthy, go to, dressing.

Will all the other ingredients, I hardly noticed that I was eating chickpeas. And I have to admit, I really love this salad. It is a perfect mix of crunchy and colorful! I made plenty of it and plan on eating this for lunch a few days this week.