Walking through Whole Foods over the weekend I saw a box of a grain I never saw before. It is called quinoa. It looks like tiny little seeds and is a deep red color. I bought it with the intention of cooking it ahead of time and then eating it cold as a breakfast food with milk and Nurtrasweet. I like it, but Sheri doesn't; I think because it smelled like potatoes while it cooks. I looked it up on the web and it is amazingly nutritious. It also has a very low glycemic index so it is good for diabetics.

Nutritionally, quinoa might be considered a super-grain--although it is not really a grain, but the seed of a leafy plant that's distantly related to spinach. Quinoa has excellent reserves of protein, and unlike other grains, is not missing the amino acid lysine, so the protein is more complete (a trait it shares with other "non-true" grains such as buckwheat and amaranth). The World Health Organization has rated the quality of protein in quinoa at least equivalent to that in milk.