Quinoa (Keen-wah)

We have been working with a nutritionist at my work in a wellness program to help our employees get healthy and learn new things about nutrition and the foods that help us to feel our best. One of the "superfoods" that she told us about was a grain grown in Argentina called Quinoa (Keen-wa). This grain has protein, fiber, and is low in calories. As one of our food assignments she challenged us to try something new and so I took the challenge and purchased some Quinoa - you can get it in the specialty food section at the regular grocery store or at a specialty store called "Natures Harvest" - then Ray and I did some research and found a couple of recipes that use this grain. We tried the Greek Quinoa & Shrimp Salad. Can I just say...YUMMY? Ray even licked the plate. It was so good and so filling- we also tried it with Krab meat and I think you could also add grilled chicken. Anyway it was so good I thought I would share it:

1/2 C Quinoa dry
1 C Chicken Broth
2 C chopped cucumber
1 C Cherry Tomatoes cut in half
1/2 C Red Onion Chopped
2 C fresh spinach chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 Tblsp. olive oil
3 Tblsp. Balsamic Vinegar
4 oz. can of small shrimp (drained)
4 oz. can of black olives chopped
2 oz reduced fat feta cheese

Directions
1 Cook Quinoa in chicken broth - You need to wash the Quinoa before cooking - also if you fry it in the frying pan until it starts popping before you put it in the chicken broth it opens up better in the boiling process. Bring to boil and then cook on med. for 15 minutes.

2 Combine quinoa with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well

3 Chill to set flavors (you don't have to follow this step but we did find that the salad was even better the next day.

Number of servings - 4

Protein - 17.3 g.
Fiber - 8 g.
Calories - 327

If you are the least bit interested in trying something new that is extremely good for you - I would recommend this salad. It was so good, very filling, and we felt extremely good about eating it.