Warm Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

My youngest boy has eczema, and I've been trying to find what might things set it off. There's the heat (especially the dry heat in the winter); it also seems to flare up when he's teething or ill. I think he may also have a sensitivity or allergy to peanuts, and I've been wondering if he may have any other food allergies. Since allergies or sensitivities to food can cause a flare-up in eczema, as well as other things, I have been reading up on food allergies.

In Allergy-Free Cooking for Kids by Antoinette Savill, Karen Sullivan does a great job explaining food allergies and sensitivities and what may contribute to them. One thing I have learned is that the most common allergens are foods that we eat the most of; milk, wheat, and eggs are some of the most common. If you think about it, most people drink a lot of milk, eggs are in a ton of things, and on some days we have wheat at every meal, and snack time as well. On some days, my boys might have toast for breakfast, cheese sandwich on wheat bread for lunch and pasta for dinner; not to mention all their snacks.

Even though I don't think my boy has a wheat allergy, I have realized that it's good to have a variety of grains and other carbs in our diet. Therefore, I've been trying to incorporated new grains into my family's diet. They're okay with rice, sometimes they'll eat potatoes. When they're in the right mood they love my oatmeal for breakfast. However, I want to get them used to other grains: barley, millet, and quinoa for example.

Tonight I cooked with quinoa. Quinoa is a great grain; it is (I believe) the only grain that is a complete protein (containing all of the essential amino acids). I found a recipe on Mark Bittman's website that looked really tasty; Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad. I wanted to try that for dinner tonight, but made a few changes.

Instead of a cold salad, I wanted a warm one. Also, my boys have a hard time eating raw peppers. So, I roasted the red bell pepper under the grill/boiler, and removed the skin after letting it cool in a foil pouch. I seasoned the sweet potatoes and roasted them in the oven with a bit of oil and some water until soft. After mixing the pepper and minced onion with the cooked quinoa, I mixed the sweet potato and the dressing, then put it back in the roasting pan and put it back in the oven to warm everything through.

I thought it was delicious. My boys wouldn't eat it. Well, it's something new, so hopefully after exposing them to this grain a few more times, (and when they're not quite so tired), they'll be more apt to try it. That's the tricky bit about cooking for kids, they don't always like trying new things.