uncommon foods

i really like to have variety in my diet - try new foods, new recipes, etc. and i eat quite a bit of variety, but i'm always on the lookout for MORE. haha. i recently picked up some quinoa and whole wheat couscous (both of which i'd been meaning to try) and i ate the quinoa last night in a latin-style dish, and it was DELICIOUS. so do you guys have any suggestions about new, uncommon foods i should try? what are your favorites?

If you like quinoa, you might like bulgur. It's another whole grain that doesn't take too long to cook (15 mins or so). It reminds of brown rice & cous cous.

I also love to add a tbsp of wheat germ to my plain yogurt (which I sweeten with 1 tsp of agave nectar) or to my oatmeal for added fibre.

If I'm making chicken nuggets for dinner I add alot of wheatgerm toasted to the whole wheat bread **** and bread my chix breast and bake its really good. I also toast whole flax seed and sprinkle on my salads nutty and yumm.

I made a coconut millet pudding the other night that was really good. I have used buckwheat instead of rice in some dishes, and I like cracked wheat rather than oatmeal for breakfast some mornings. Hmmm whatelse... Almond Milk has totally replaced skim milk in my diet. I put ground flaxseed, wheat germ, and bran in my smoothies. Spaghetti squash was my favourite find so far this year, however I did make a morrocan curry with butternut squash the other night which was wonderful... There are sooo many yummy things out there!!

thanks you guys. i'll have to try some of this stuff out - especially other grains, like bulgur. i'm not trying to reduce my calorie intake - i'm eating at maintainance - but i've been wanting to try almond milk for a while, and i've heard a lot of good things about spaghetti squash. i live in a teeny-tiny town, but i have a grocery store near me that stocks nearly EVERYTHING, (including some trader joe's stuff, which is rather nice ) and there's lots of different ethnic foods and "health" foods sold there. so i'll be on the lookout for the stuff you guys mentioned. i need to buy wheat germ anyway, because i'm planning on making some whole wheat bread when i get around to it....

katy I have a GREAT recipe for something new! I made this myself and l-o-v-e-d it. It's funny that everyone suggested bulgur wheat because that's exactly what I'm thinking too!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recip e/0,1977,FOOD_9936_20307,00.html

It's lentils with bulgur wheat and caramelized onions. It's so good and it makes so much you'll be eating it for lunch and dinner all week. I didn't make the pita myself but instead bought some whole wheat pita at the grocery store. It was my first time cooking with lentils, second time with bulgur. Very easy recipe. Also I found that bulgur makes for a great substitution for rice in stuffed peppers!