I may very well be starting a new love affair and his name is Quinoa. Okay so maybe not so much an affair but a life long commitment to using this “super-grain” to make wonderfully gluten free dishes.
If you live in Indiana, namely southern, you know it is extremely difficult to access affordable health foods. I define “health foods” as organic, gluten free, free range, locally grown, etc.
Several years ago I special ordered a new type of pasta (Ancient Harvest Quinoa) that wasn’t made of wheat, rice, or chickpea but rather something called quinoa. Being a gluten/wheat intolerant individual I had the usual trepidations to trying something new that I didn’t know much about but I eventually gave in. WOW! I absolutely fell in love with its taste and by taste I mean, bland, like the taste of wheat based products. Was it possible? Had I found something that could completely replace wheat but actually taste like unbleached wheat?
As the years passed, I swore by Ancient Harvest Quinoa brand pastas and I wouldn’t use anyone else.I was so very thankful that I had found such wonderful pasta. As the taste, the flexibility, and overall uses for it evolved, I became more interested in learning about the quinoa grain as a flour.
The fact of the matter is that Quinoa, although it has been deemed the “super grain”, isn’t really a grain but a seed. Quinoa belongs to the Plantae kingdom and is a grain-like edible seed that is closely related to beets, spinach, and tumbleweeds. This seed originates from the Andrean region of South America, where it has been domesticated and used for human consumption for 3-4 thousand years.
Quinoa in its natural state is very bitter tasting and has a rather tough coating making it unpalatable. Commercially processed versions found in North America are usually processed to remove this coating.
Bob’s Red Mill (BRM) is a company that specializes in flours of all types. I love them! I have used some variation of BRM flours, substitutes, or additives since the beginning of my wheat allergy diagnosis. This company has an extensive and extremely constrictive quality control process as they recognize how important it is that cross-contamination doesn’t occur. Thursday evening I saw a small beacon of light shinning from the shelves of my local grocer; Bob’s Red Mill is now producing Quinoa Flour. HOORAY!!!!
I have been waiting for this day for SO long. I got so giddy; I could have easily bought out all of their stock. All I could think of on my drive home from the store was all of the amazing things I could do if I could just get the “perfect” flour combination out of Quinoa. As soon as I got home I jumped on the net and starting researching and “refreshing” my knowledge of Quinoa properties.
After doing a little bit of additional research, I was confident that I could come up with a flour combination that could be used to replace wheat flour and NOT have any of the weird twangs or nutty hints that are common to gluten free flours. I don’t want to jump the gun because I have only tested a few recipes but I think I may be on the track to figuring out my “super flour”.
Keep tuned in for additional posts, which will include recipes and information utilizing this “super flour” and the beautiful, wonderful, Quinoa.
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