Quinoa is pronounced ‘Keen-wah’ not kwin-owa.
Quinoa comes from a species of Chenopodium or goosefoot plants (resembles goose plant) and is not actually a grain, but technically a seed obtained from a vegetable that belongs to a family of Swiss chard, spinach and beets.
Quinoa originated around 5,000 years ago in the Andes district of what is now Peru, Chile and Bolivia.
Quinoa is known by the Incas as ‘the mother of all grains’ or the ‘mother seed’ because of it’s nutritional benefits as well as the hardiness of the plant.
Unlike most other food crops, quinoa thrives with low rainfall; high altitudes (and therefore high radiation levels); thin, cold air; hot sun; subfreezing temperatures; and even poor, sandy, alkaline soil. In times of drought, when other crops in quinoa-growing areas fail, quinoa can actually increase its yields. The crop can thrive on as little as three to four inches of annual rainfall.
