I’ve been on a diet since age 12 and I’m sick of the whole process which has done little more than give me an eating disorder.  I cannot enjoy dining because I’m mentally counting carbs or calories.

First same Metrical (remember that awful canned science project?), then a series of deprivation diets such as Weight Watchers, The Mediterranean Diet, Atkins, South Beach and Slimfast.

Well, finally I’ve found the perfect diet – a healthy one that allows me to enjoy cooking and dining again. It has been around under various names but I like to call it the “Anything but White” Diet.You can have whole grain bread again and pizza… even dessert as long as it’s dark chocolate and flavored with pure maple syrup or raw honey.

This week I rediscovered Quinoa which one of my friends called Canoah. It’s pronounced Keen-wa.  It’s considered a whole grain but it’s actually tiny seeds which can take on any flavor you add  from sweet to savory.

I love it for breakfast mixed with avocado and infused with Olive Oil and Balsamic vinegar.  I like it for lunch mixed with vegetables and sometimes chicken.  Just this morning I had a brainstorm and used it as the main ingredient in muffins.  I mixed leftover quinoa with some leftover steamable vegetables, cheese and eggs. Scrumptious – with real buttah of course.  Like is good again.

Quinoa has a majestic history dating back 5,000 years but was all but forgotten by modern cultures.  It was the discovery of the Incas in the mountains of Bolivia, Chile and Peru. It was a staple, almost sacred crop to the Incas who called it the mother of all grains or chisaya mama.

My son, WIlliam, who is in the culinary industry first introduced me to the grain several years ago but I was on Atkins at the time and thought it had too many carbs.( I was carb phobic and not a happy one.)

Turns out quinoa is a wonderfully nutritious whole grain and far superior to rice or pasta. With 8 grams of quality protein per cup It also contains all the essential amino acids that we need. It is rich in potassium, iron and fiber.

You simply mix the tiny seeds with water and allow to simmer for  45 minutes and keep it in fridge to glam up a whole plethora of mundane dishes for days when cooking is far from your mind.