Quinoa? Kale? Strange Foods?

Sometimes I take for granted what I know and how I eat. Sometimes a patient, (if not Chris), reminds me that these foods are not in the regular repetoire and seem scary.

Today was one of those days where 4 of my patients today wanted (or needed) to make some changes in their diets and were scared about trying different things, in particular quinoa and kale.

If you want or need to try something different and want to up the nutritional quality of your meal start with quinoa. It is a grain, looks like cous cous, cooks like rice and is eaten like you would eat rice. Where do I get this funny grain? Bulk barn, health food stores like Whole Foods or Planet Organic, or the health food aisle in a grocery store like Loblaws or Highland Farms.

Now I have it at home... what do I do with it? Put 1 cup of the quinoa and 2 cups of water into a saucepan, cover the saucepan, and put the stove on high heat. When it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low and let the quinoa simmer for another 20 minutes. It should be done!

You could use vegetable stock instead of water to flavour it up or saute some onions and carrots and celery and add it into the cooked quinoa or let it cool and make it into a cold salad by adding cucumber, celery, some parsley and some herbs. Another thing you can do is make a breakfast hot cereal out of quinoa by adding some cinnamon, fruit, and nuts or flaxseed!

New foods don't need to be overwhelming. One thing at a time... baby steps.... this week try quinoa, next week try making kale, the following week buy swiss chard... after a couple of months you'll have a whole new repetoire!