My brother recently took out a big stack of cookbooks we had stashed in a cabinet to find some creative ways to make breakfast and lunch. I think he gave up pretty quickly, as usual, but he never moved them back into the cabinet. Since the stack of books was right in front of me, I rifled through them and was intrigued by the concept of quinoa porridge in The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook. This cookbook was gifted to me by a friend, and the recipes are quite easy and interesting to make.
The next morning, I made it and changed a few things, such as replacing the milk with almond milk, switching the sugar with maple syrup or honey, and changing the toppings.
The porridge turned out oozingly sweet.
I hadn’t actually looked at the quantity of sugar to put in so I put in way too much honey. It was really hard to eat. If you keep the amount of honey less or as stated in the recipe below, you’ll never encounter my mistake and it’ll taste great.
So why quinoa? It’s an amazing gluten-free grain. It is loaded with all nine essential amino acids, provides a lot of protein and has a lot of nutrients that support bone health. This recipe also turns out to be vegan, so vegans, go ahead and make it!
Berry Almond Quinoa Porridge
For breakfast, change it up and make it healthier with a bowl of quinoa porridge. You can top it with savoury stuff, or, like this recipe states, with berries and almonds.
Adapted from: The Hungry Student Vegetarian Cookbook by Spruce (Octopus Publishing Group)
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups almond milk
1/2 cup white quinoa, rinsed
2 tbsp. maple syrup or honey (no more than that or it will taste way too sweet!)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup blueberries, washed
1/2 cup raspberries, washed
1/4 cup almonds
2 tbsp. sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and/or hemp seeds
Instructions:
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, boil the milk and add the quinoa. When it starts boiling again, reduce the heat to low and cover 2/3 of the saucepan with the lid. Avoid covering everything because the milk will overflow. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Mix in the maple syrup/honey and cinnamon, and replace the lid on the saucepan (covering 2/3 only). Cook for another 8 to 10 minutes until the milk has been absorbed and the quinoa is soft.
- Divide the porridge between two bowls and add the blueberries, raspberries, almonds and seeds on top. Optionally drizzle a bit of maple syrup or honey on top.
A Kitchen Fable 