Keen-what?

I’d like to think that Hal has an open mind when it comes to trying different foods. He loves sushi and Indian food. He likes Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean BBQ (I’m sensing an ethnic theme here). But when it comes to certain basics, I like to call him a purist. He prefers margarita pizza, spaghetti with marinara, iceberg lettuce, white bread...you get the idea. Until recently, whole wheat anything, ground turkey and romaine were not invited into his diet. And he doesn’t usually vary far out of the box when it comes to his interpretation of food. Rice is a side dish (best served with Chinese food); hamburgers are made with ground beef (and yet he likes Boca burgers); Craisins should never be added to salads (no matter how much they can enhance the experience). Every once in a while I am reminded of his purist nature (like in the grocery store on a Sunday evening), and then make a mental note to introduce dried cranberries, pesto sauce, goat cheese and whole wheat pasta into our children’s diets from a very young age.

In the middle of Stop & Shop...

Hal: Have you heard of that stuff...uh…kween…

Jenn: Quinoa? (Keen-wah)

Hal: Yeah, that’s it! What is that?

Jenn: It’s a grain. It’s supposed to be good for you. Why?

Hal: People at work have been talking about it. We should take a look at it.

Jenn: Really? Okay!

Considering we’ve only recently added brown rice into his diet, I was surprised that he wanted to explore other grain options. I found it encouraging, but was cautiously optimistic that we’d be adding quinoa to the cart, especially after watching Hal drool over frozen cream puffs. Some things just seem too healthy for his liking.

We got to the organic, natural, wholistic, unprocessed, sowed from the earth, area of the supermarket and I picked up a bag of red quinoa. In hindsight, I should have grabbed the regular, white quinoa which might’ve looked mildly familiar to Hal.

Hal: What’s that?

Jenn: The quinoa you were just talking about.

Hal: It looks like that? That looks weird. And it's like 5 bucks for that small bag.

Jenn: It’s not weird. It’s a grain, uncooked. What were you expecting?

Hal: I don’t know. It doesn’t look edible. What are you supposed to do with it? Use it like rice?

Jenn: Yeah! I’ve seen people make salads out of it. Like rice or couscous or lentil salad but instead you use this. (pause, sigh) Judging by the blank expression on your face I’m guessing you’ve never had rice salad and/or do not know what that is. And I’m guessing that the quinoa is a no-go.

Needless to say, Hal looked a bit turned off, actually disgusted would be more accurate, and bewildered by this never-before-seen food item that seemed beyond his comprehension, or digestion.

Hal: (exasperated) I don’t even know what you’re saying to me right now.

Jenn: AND, we’re done here.

We tried. For those more open to trying foods with funny spellings, click here for what looks to be a delicious greek quinoa salad.