Written by Lorin Brice Hall
Commons served an exciting new meal during lunch from Feb. 4-8. This meal was the Quinoa Bowl, available at the Stir Fry/DIY Omelette Station. That counter is a vegetarian refuge during lunchtime, with all of the special meals that it serves on a weekly rotation helping provide the non-meat eaters of Roanoke with a meal option.
Quinoa has long been a staple of the cold salad bar that is also available during lunch, but this new warm dish was an absolute lunchtime game changer. The warmth of the quinoa creates a rich and hearty bed for the other ingredients offered. The other major staples of this dish were spinach, kale, sweet potatoes, cauliflower and mushrooms. The bar also offered a refreshing chutney or peanut sauce, which adds an element of zest to perfectly round out the meal.
Quinoa is an extremely healthy fuel for your body. It is chock full of iron, zinc, fiber, protein, and potassium. It’s a gluten-free grain that can drastically increase the nutritional intake of its consumers diet. The high protein count in quinoa speeds up one’s metabolism, so it efficiently fills up its eater, which cuts caloric intake in a healthy manner. The additional ingredients offered with the quinoa are all foods that are extremely rich in nutrients and vitamins, which ultimately makes the quinoa bowl one of the healthiest meals offered by the school.
It is also a delicious meal that Roanoke College Junior and longtime vegetarian Jake Dupont appreciated. “Quinoa was a tasty option for vegetarians and also good for anyone looking to eat healthier,” Dupont said.
The student response to this new option was overwhelmingly positive, and many Maroons expressed hope that the bowl would soon be offered by Commons again. This fresh addition to the vegetarian bar marks the second new meal created this year, the first being sushi. The 2018-2019 school year has certainly been a time of powerful culinary innovation. If you didn’t try the quinoa bowl during the week it was offered, you should definitely try it when it is offered next.
