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Quinoa Taboulie with Hemp Seeds
Quinoa (KEEN-wah) has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years in the Andes, and was called the "mother grain" by the Incas, who believed eating quinoa gave them superhuman powers. Easy-to-digest and gluten-free, quinoa is a super-grain when you look at its nutritional profile (check out our reference books at the store). Quinoa isn’t a grain, however, but the seed of a leafy plant related to spinach! Quinoa sprouts as it cooks. The World Health Organization says quinoa’s protein equals that in milk.
Have you noticed we’re using hemp seeds in our kitchen? They, too, are a nutritional powerhouse with lots of fiber, essential fatty acids, vitamin A and vitamin C! And they're an ecological powerhouse as well. An acre of hemp produces 4 times more paper per year as an acre of trees. I just learned the oldest printed paper in existence is a 100% hemp Chinese text dated 770 AD, and Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution on hemp paper!
How does hemp taste? Like sunflower seeds. Nope, you can’t smoke them!
Serves 4
| 1 ¾ cups boiling water | 1/4 cup parsley, chopped |
| 1 cup yellow organic quinoa | 1/2 cup chopped red onion |
| 1/8 cup red organic quinoa | 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil |
| 1/2 tb Celtic sea salt, or other good salt | 1/4 cup lemon juice |
| 1 cup diced organic tomatoes, Eden canned or fresh | 1/2 tb garlic, pressed or minced |
| 1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds |
Bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and salt. Stir, cover pot, and lower heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let quinoa sit covered in pot for another 15 minutes. Water will be absorbed. Dump quinoa from pot into large mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, turn a few times to let heat escape. When quinoa is cool, add remaining ingredients and toss together. Serve and enjoy!
Feel free to make a light and satisfying summer meal with this. Put out on the table with little bowls of oil-cured olives, cucumber slices, strips of red and yellow pepper, roasted eggplant, or anything else your heart desires. Might be more tomatoes or goat or feta cheese. Voila! Summertime and the living is easy.
