I have a bit of a confession to make — I just recently began to appreciate the greatness of quinoa. Sure, I’d eaten it before, and my colleagues always sing its praises, but I never got around to really experimenting with it. But don’t worry, that dark period of my life is over now. This past month I discovered just how super this supergrain really is.

To make a long story short, my doctor thinks I may have a food allergy, so there are a long list of foods I have to avoid for a few weeks to see if I feel any better. Honestly, I wanted to shed a few tears when I first found out I couldn’t eat wheat, chicken, beef, potato, soybean or cinnamon for at least 2-3 weeks. Wheat seems to sneak into almost everything I eat, and I’m a bit of a cinnamon junkie, so I figured I was in for a few weeks of misery.
 
But as it turns out, all I need is quinoa. Whole grain lovers know plenty of traditional recipes for it, like salads and soups (and there are plenty more on our website). But the fun doesn’t stop there – it turns out quinoa can also be combined with corn and made into all kinds of pasta, such as spaghetti and macaroni elbows. I hardly noticed a difference in taste or texture; in fact my mom actually makes a dish with quinoa pasta that I’d eaten many times without ever realizing the noodles were not made of wheat.

The only real difference I noticed was that the quinoa pasta took a few extra minutes of cooking time. That’s a small price to pay for a delicious meal. On the days when I feel glum and miss my old diet, I can cook up some quinoa spaghetti and pretend everything is normal. I’ve used the quinoa noodles with different combinations of tuna, cheese, spaghetti sauce and vegetables.

The slogan on this pasta box says it all: ”You’ll never go back to plain noodles again!” Of course, I will return to regular whole wheat noodles once my allergy situation is figured out, but I will also be keeping the quinoa pasta in my diet, no matter what.

Honorable mentions go to brown rice and gluten-free cookies, because they too have been essential to keeping me satisfied during my allergy testing. But quinoa is definitely the MVP in this round. If you’re in need of a new brand of pasta to switch things up, or if you’re looking for a healthier option than regular refined wheat pasta, be sure to check out quinoa pasta. 

Learn more about quinoa here, and be sure to let me know if you have any creative tips for me! (Chrisanne)