31 January 2009

Quinoa for breakfast

Just a quick entry today; my new found breakfast food: quinoa and almond porridge. I love quinoa but usually I cook it as a savory dish. A favorite way is to mix cooked quinoa with sautéed portobello mushrooms, broccoli and pine nuts (yum, that will have to be another blog entry).

But back to breakfast, I have been looking to diversify my breakfast menu—I always have breakfast issues in the morning, many days start with my staring into my fridge trying to be inspired for something nutritious but quick and easy to kick start my day—I can only eat toast and granola so many days of the week.

I had seen recipes for quinoa porridge now and again (esp. since quinoa is the ‘in’ food these days) but the porridge bit did not quite appeal to me as I knew I did not like soggy quinoa (I know this because sometimes I add too much water when I cook my quinoa-- usually because I forget and I follow the box instruction (always too much water!)--I really don’t like it at all). I like the little crunch (or pop) that quinoa gives when you bite into a perfectly cooked morsel (well, perfectly cooked in Lin’s world).

Back to quinoa for breakfast; I had made a big batch of quinoa for dinner the night before in my rice cooker (1:1, quinoa: water ratio) and the leftovers was staring back at me when I opened the fridge the next morning, so I said hello and decided to give it try for breakfast. I mixed about a quarter of cup in a bowl with some milk, raw almond slivers, and a touch of brown sugar, and zapped this in the microwave for 1.5 minutes. Then I let it rest for another couple of minutes.

It turned out to be lovely, lovely. Nice and warm and comforting. The quinoa was not soggy, and the almond and milk made a nice medley of flavors to complement the earthy taste of the cereal (reminds me of badam khir—an Indian milk-almond drink). The hint of organic raw brown sugar (oh yes, baby!) lifted the dish to say Hello! Good morning! I love you too! I ate this for the next several days for breakfast (and sometimes late night snack) until I was out of leftover quinoa. I will have to make another batch soon for more quinoa breakfast love.

4 comments:

  1. Yummy looking. I love quinoa (but it has a lot of calories, good calories I guess). I wish I had a rice cooker. When I make quinoa, I use the traditional 1:2 (quinoa to water) ratio and it sometimes is soggy (ugh). I like the crispier bites. Anyway, I bet almond milk and toasted slivered almonds would work well with this recipe. You are so creative! (p.s. I am going to tag this entry as "breakfast".)

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  2. I have quinoa and have been trying to eat that in place of rice (Jasmine or Basmati). They're ok as replacement, but can't bet real rice when eaten with masak lemak or karahi style cooking. Aaaaahh.... Will definitely try this recipe....

    Georgia, does it really have a lot of calories? How come?

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  3. rice cooker is great for making quinoa. but i sometimes use a regular pot too. i find 1:1 or 1:1.25 is good to retain the little crunch.
    but i also live in the moist (hi shim!) tropics so maybe the less water ratio works well here.

    upik, yes watch out for the calories in quinoa. i was surprised to find that out too when jo told me earlier. but they are so yummy.

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  4. Quinoa has about 175 cals per serving but it's very nutritious and filling. Two sites of many: quinoatips.com/quinoa-calorie-count-for-dieters/ and www.myfit.ca/mealplans/nutrientsummary.asp?id=20035

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