Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) enables people who bake and/or cook gluten free to produce superb bread products and pasta dishes. If you are not familiar with quinoa, I suggest that you start by watching this video (not quite 4 minutes long) called Quinoa 101. The video is excellent, but the demonstrator is not specifically addressing a gluten free audience so she makes one suggestion that is inappropriate for us. Gluten free cooks should never purchase items from bulk food bins. There is too much danger of cross contamination.

If the video not convince you, try this article from a site called "The World’s Healthiest Foods". Quinoa is certainly one of the best.

There are numerous collections of gluten free quinoa recipes. I recommend this general collection, this set of recipes using quinoa flour and flakes, or this collection which uses the quinoa itself. If you are attempting to make a gluten free version of another recipe, keep in mind that baked goods derive much of their taste and texture from the grains that werre to used to prepare them. No single flour will mimic the behavior of wheat flour. On many occasions, quinoa can be used as part of a mixture.

The most popular supplier of quinoa cereals, pastas, flours and other products is Ancient Harvest. Their products are also available on-line from The Gluten Free Mall. To purchase them, click on the picture below. This link will allow you to view Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Pasta Shells. You can easily move from that page to others that interest you.

Published 04/14/09