My friend Amy introduced me to quinoa (pronounced ‘keen-wah’) a couple of years ago as I was desperately searching for some allergy friendly variety for our diets … and I am SO glad she did!!

It is an amazing seed – a real super-food; high in amino acids and full of protein, iron and calcium and a great source of low GI gluten-free fibre. For all of these reasons it has become a regular feature on our menu. Quinoa has a lovely nutty taste – almost like a mix between the chewiness of barley and the fluffiness of cous cous. It can have a bitter taste, but that is easily fixed by soaking and rinsing before you cook it.

This is one of my favourite quinoa recipes;

Salmon and roast vegetable quinoa.

• 1.5 cups quinoa (I use the white variety, but it also comes in black and red)
• spray oil
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 tsp Massel chicken stock
• dill (to taste)
• 1 large tin of salmon, bones and skin removed, flaked
• 1 large zucchini
• 1.5 punnets cherry or grape tomatoes
• pumpkin

Place the quinoa in a large saucepan and cover with about 2L of water. Allow to soak for at least an hour (mine often sits for a few hours before I get back to it!), then drain and rinse well.

While the quinoa is soaking, cut up the vegetables (leave the tomatoes whole) and place in a large baking dish. Spray with oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in a pre-heated 180 C oven for about an hour, or until they are just cooked (you don’t want them to get too squishy).

Return the drained quinoa to the saucepan and cover in 4 cups chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for about 15 mins. Drain the excess stock.

Add the salmon, dill and olive oil to the saucepan and gently mix through on a low heat.

Serve the quinoa into bowls and top with the roast veggies.

Serves 4-5