Saffron Quinoa

Quinoa is not from Iran, but South America, where it was first cultivated 3,000 to 4,000 years ago in the Andes. It is not a true cereal, in fact, but more closely related to beetroot and spinach. The Incas considered it a sacred crop and their emperor would traditionally sow the first seeds of the season. Although a very good source of protein, the Spanish colonists dismissed it as “food for Indians.” It is much more appreciated today—indeed the United Nations General Assembly declared 201