Quinoa Pilaf

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons finely diced shallot
• 1 fennel bulb, diced small
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced small
• Sea salt
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 3/4 cups Magic Mineral Broth (page 54)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or mint

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the shallot, fennel, carrot, and a pinch of salt and saute for about 3 minutes, until the vegetables start to sweat.
2. Stir in the quinoa, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, and cardamom, then stir in the broth and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil.
3. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender.
4. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork, then add the parsley and fluff again.
5. Do a FASS check and add a spritz of lemon juice to amp up the flavor if needed.
6. Rinse, rinse, and rinse again!
7. Quinoa is naturally coated with a bitter-tasting resin.
8. To get rid of the resin, put the grain in a bowl of cool water, swish it around with your hand, then drain it in a fine-mesh sieve.
9. Quinoa is gluten free, which makes sense when you consider that botanically, it isnt a grain at all; its more closely related to beets.
10. It makes a great replacement for couscous in Orange Pistachio Couscous (page 145).
11. Its also a great hot cereal; try it in place of oats in Best Oatmeal Ever (page 128).
12. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days.
13. (per serving)
14. Calories: 270
15. Total Fat: 9.9g (1.3g saturated, 5.7g monounsaturated)
16. Carbohydrates: 39g
17. Protein: 8g
18. Fiber: 6g
19. Sodium: 180mg
20. By now, most of us know that chemo can cause muscle loss.
21. But it can also lead to diabetes if youre not careful.
22. Less muscle mass is a double whammy: You burn less sugar than with normal muscle levels, and you also store less sugar, in the form of glycogen, in those muscles, meaning all that unused consumed sugar stays in your body (usually in the liver, blood, and kidneys), elevating overall blood sugar levels and forcing you to use more insulin.
23. Dr. Jeanne Wallace says that on top of that, when youre given chemo, youre often given a steroid that really increases the glycemic response, creating the type of blood sugar spikes and insulin surges that can predispose people to diabetes.
24. Wallaces suggestion?
25. While youre in treatment, forget the USDA food pyramid.
26. It suggests 6 to 11 servings of carbs per day.
27. You want to eat fewer carbs, so shoot for half of that if not less.
28. When you do eat carbs, avoid refined white flour and sugar and stick with whole grains, as their higher fiber content slows the release of their sugars into the body.
29. This may have direct anticancer benefits too, as some studies have shown that lowering blood sugar levels in animals suppressed tumor growth.

extravirgin olive oil, shallot, fennel bulb, carrot, salt, quinoa, turmeric, ground cinnamon, ground cumin, ground ginger, ground cardamom, parsley

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/quinoa-pilaf-379261 (may not work)