The black quinoa has a little more earthy flavor than the white quinoa, and also a little bit crunchier texture. Therefore it takes longer to get to a mushy texture than the white quinoa.  You have to be a bit more careful with the white than the black, I think.  I got my package of black quinoa from Alter Eco to try out, so this quinoa is fair trade as well as organic.

Quinoa is also gluten free.  My daughter often uses leftover quinoa for a salad the same as she does with leftover couscous.  If you desire gluten free ingredients, quinoa is a good substitute for couscous and also, if you cook it a little longer you can substitute it for oatmeal and eat it as a hot cereal.

I found a box of Ancient Harvest Inca Red Quinoa at the grocery store.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I wanted to let you know it’s available to add to your dishes.  I like the idea of having the red grains in my recipe for a little color.  When I visited the Ancient Harvest website, I found they have quite a few recipes .  They also have pastas, flours and flakes made out of quinoa too and kosher products. However, I don’t know that they are a fair trade product.

Don’t hesitate to add quinoa to your dishes and try out something healthy and new.  My family is enjoying my foray into wholegrain goodness.  (Robyn sorry, I probably can’t help your husband and son.)  Give it a whirl and see what you think.

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