Monday, August 29, 2011

Breakfast Quinoa with Berries & Bananas


When I saw this recipe in the current issue of Whole Living magazine, I was very intrigued. Quinoa is technically not a grain because it's not part of the grass family {it's a relative of chard, and spinach}...but, because of it's grain-like texture it's marketed as one. It seems I'm always hearing about how good it is for you, and I've had the good intention to use it more in my cooking...but, really don't all that often. It's very high in protein, making it an ideal breakfast choice for me, or my kids.
My guys are super oatmeal fans...during the winter months it's the breakfast of choice around here. I make a big batch of steel cut oats, then store it in the fridge to heat up during the week. That saves me from having to take the time daily to make it. You can use the same method with this quinoa hot cereal by multiplying the recipe. I had high hopes that they would like this. Unfortunately, they were not all that wild about it.
If their love of oatmeal was not so deeply ingrained, they may have. These kids won't even eat instant oatmeal because they've grown up eating the real stuff and think the processed version is "disgusting". So, getting them to like this was a long shot.
I, however, loved it. It was definitely much different than any hot cereal I've ever had, but I loved the texture and flavor. As the mornings begin to get cooler, I know I will be making more of it.

This recipe is very adaptable. You can substitute any fruit for the raspberries, blackberries and bananas I used here. I used 2% milk, but you can use whole, skim, soy, or almond milk too. Quinoa is low on the glycemic index...if that's important to you, you can use agave nectar, or stevia as the sweetener. I used maple syrup, but brown sugar would also be delish. If you like a bit of crunch in your hot cereal, chopped nuts would be great.

Breakfast Quinoa with Berries & Bananas

Adapted from Whole Living Magazine, September 2011
Serves 1-2 {depending on your appetite}
Being a "grain" which contains loads of protein, Quinoa is very nutritious way to start your day. This recipe is very adaptable...you can use any fruit {apples, pears, apricots}, milk {whole, skim, soy}, or sweetener {agave, brown sugar, stevia} here. It would also be great with some chopped nuts on top!

1/2 cup quinoa {rinsed + drained}
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon maple syrup {or to taste}
pinch of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup mixed fresh berries
sliced banana

Bring the milk and quinoa to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the quinoa is tender, and most of the milk has been absorbed {about 15 minutes}.
Remove from heat, and stir in the maple syrup and cinnamon. Serve topped with berries and banana slices.
Click here for the printable recipe.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you posted this recipe. I've been wanting to try to use quinoa in more than the one recipe I currently have. This looks fantastic!

Calophi said...

This looks delicious! I need to remember this on a day where I feel like dragging myself out of bed to make it. =D

Dishy said...

I've tried a breakfast version of quinoa before but yours looks worlds better! Thanks so much for sharing.

And I must tell you, PS - your site is just *so pretty* ! Every time I visit I'm enchanted.

:)

Laurie {Simply Scratch} said...

Ooooh quinoa for breakfast... love that idea!

firma contabilitate said...

Hmmm this recipe looks so delicious and nice and i think that fits perfect with my taste and in my opinion is a very easy recipe, so i think i will try it. Thanks for sharing.

Joanne said...

Yay for quinoa! It's one of my favorite (not)grains and though I make it in place of rice incredibly often, I've never tried it for breakfast. I think it's time I did!

Anonymous said...

Funny, I have some quinoa in the cabinet I've been wanting to make up. I'm up for a new breakfast idea!

Katherine Martinelli said...

Yum! I'm a huge oatmeal lover and also a quinoa lover and have been meaning to make it in this fashion for some time. I will have to try soon! Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I've never eat quinoa but I'm gonna try it. ;)

Maggie said...

I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow! This sounds delicious!

Ali said...

Would definitely love to wake up to such a meal :)Quinoa for breakfast!! Great photos and nice blog.

Winnie said...

Yum! I love this sort of bfast...gorgeous photos, as always!

Elise's Kitchen said...

Yum, I love quinoa for breakfast. It's so comforting. Yours looks delightful!

Cathy @ Savory Notes said...

I've never tried quinoa for breakfast, it looks delicious and sounds healthy :)

Anna said...

This looks so interesting! I love quinoa, but haven't really tried it in anything sweet. It looks like the mixture is runnier then oatmeal, but I'll have to give it a try.

Anonymous said...

Oooooh. Thank you for posting this. My kids will probably even eat this, but at the very least, I would! For sure.

Wife said...

What a great idea! I've never used quinoa before but this looks like such an easy way to incorporate it into breakfast. :) Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

YEA!! thanks so much, my son ate this :) and i LOVE it! never been able to include much quinoa in our diet, now we will!

The Vegan Cookie Fairy said...

Stumbled upon this on Tumblr. It looks absolutely marvellous! I'm dying to try this one out. Thanks for posting this recipe.

Anonymous said...

I made this the other day and it was SO good! Thanks for a new breakfast idea!!

marla said...

Love this breakfast quinoa! So pretty too.

Miss Val said...

Love your idea, I am on an all raw diet, but this sounded so good I had to try it. So I used hemp milk and decreased the amount by 1/2 cup placed the quinoa in a small oven proof bowl added the milk and the agave in the bowl then placed in in the dehydrator when I went to bed and got up this morning and I had a warm bowl of quinoa waiting for me. the whole thing took about 6 hours but it was SO VERY good this morning. Thanks for sharing

Tina@Cadieux et Langevin said...

Great breakfast idea..my kids will love this!

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