Quinoa Porridge

1

07/12/2011 by Katrina

This breakfast has officially made it way high up on my fav breaky list! Not that I miss my porridge and was looking for an alternative, but I’m always trying to discover new ways of packing a big nutritional punch into my meals. Quinoa is a SUPERFOOD. It has the perfect balance of amino acids, loads of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Our bodies love Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah). Quinoa is actually a seed from the Goosefoot plant which is related to spinach…now that’s gotta be a good thing! So it is not even a grain, even though it can be substituted as one. Brilliant for us who can’t tolerate gluten, as the seed has a low gluten content, it is one of the least allergenic “grains,” but its flour needs to be combined with wheat to make leavened baked goods. Quinoa flour can be used to make pasta.

An important part of this recipe is to soak the seeds overnight, or wash/scrub thoroughly the Quinoa. The outer shell (the saponins) is bitter and you don’t really want to eat it.

Quinoa Porridge

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp cin­na­mon
• 8 drops ste­via liq­uid con­cen­trate
• 1 tbs coconut oil or but­ter
• 1/2 tsp lime zest (option­al)
• Almond milk to serve (I used unpasturised milk)

1. Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a wide saucepan.
2. Add quinoa, sea salt, cin­na­mon, ste­via and butter/coconut oil.
3. Cover and reduce heat and sim­mer for 12 min­utes.
4. Remove from heat and scoop into a bowl add almond milk, scat­ter with lime zest and enjoy.

I skipped the lime zest, added chopped Medjool dates, crushed up cacao seeds (just buy from a health food shop), and ripe nectarine pieces. For my husbands breaky bowl I trickled in a bit of pure maple syrup. Seconds please?