Keen-Wa, Quinn Noah, what?

When you think about it, Meatless Mondays have got to be the ultimate nightmare for Garfield (the cartoon cat). This is a guy who hates Mondays and loves meat. To wit:

And maybe some devoted followers of the MM movement also feel this way at times. If only you had a source for great recipes that made you forget they didn't contain any meat AND what day of the week it even was, anyway. 

Then along came this blog post, and all was right with the world again. This family-favorite recipe (adapted again from 101 Cookbooks) of the week makes use of the seed-like grain of the week (sorry, grain-like seed), quinoa. Keen-what, now? If you haven't heard of these little superstars, you need to drop everything and drive to the grocery store right now. I'll wait here. (Sound of 1950's era movie intermission music, inconsequential crowd noises and conversation, someone calls out there is a phone call for Gerald, can he come to the lobby, muffled laughter, somewhere a door slams; you're back.)

This delicious grain (which is actually a seed) can be prepared in a pilaf the same as rice, couscous or barley or even as a breakfast grain like oatmeal. If you're seven years old, as some in our family are, you will be delighted to know that each grain looks like a tiny planet Saturn when cooked. Quinoa contains all nine essential amino acids, which is a complete protein for those of you who are counting, and it contains about twice as much of them/it as other grains. It's also got plenty of iron and calcium and, get this, less than a cup of cooked quinoa gets you 50% of your day's requirement of manganese! And there it is--the clincher.

Happy Family Day, President's Day or just another Monday, depending on where you are tomorrow.