Breakfast Quinoa

I've wanted to try making quinoa for breakfast for awhile. I've been eating cereal in the morning for almost 30 years... and I'm getting a little tired of it. I've also wanted to try healthier breakfasts, as sugary cereals are pretty much the worst breakfast food. I'm not into smoothies (too cold and not enough food-like substance), oatmeal's a little heavy and I can't keep eating homemade egg mcmuffins on a daily basis - so here's my attempt at Martha Stewart's Breakfast Quinoa. Why Martha Stewart? Because it was the easiest of all the recipes I googled. That's how I roll.

I like quinoa and it's supposedly super good for you, etc etc but I was curious if it would taste good sweet instead of savoury, since it's got quite a strong, nutty taste to it. First, I brought 2 cups milk to a (careful) boil. Add in 1 cup quinoa (rinsed for 3 minutes first in a mesh strainer) and turn the element to low. Let it simmer until 3/4 of the milk is gone, about 15 minutes.

It actually took me more like 20+ minutes, either I had it too low or I thought it looked too milky. I then added about 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon, and continued cooking it for another 8 minutes until all the milk was absorbed. Do keep an eye on it during this time - the bottom of mine got a little burned. I didn't have blueberries, as the recipe calls for, so I threw in dried cranberries.

And that's about it! To serve, the recipe suggests adding extra toppings - more fruit, spices, and enough milk to make it porridge-y. It was sweet and milky, and any fruit (fresh or dried) would have been fine. I found it a little too milky - I don't think I would add extra next time... something about hot milk didn't appeal to me. I wanted something more like oatmeal - thick and filling. It would be easy enough to make in advance and just reheat bowls in the microwave in the morning, which I appreciate, but it wasn't my favourite. I will give it another try, though.

Peruvian Baked Quinoa and Cheese

I found this Peruvian Baked Quinoa and Cheese recipe on the Vegetarian Times website while looking for something else, but I thought it sounded good - I really like quinoa but had never made it in cheesy bake form. I was a little skeptical of the description - 'an alternative to mac-n-cheese' - but I thought I'd give it a shot.

First in the pot: an onion and bell peppers, which gave me a few minutes to rinse the quinoa. Then the quinoa went in with some garlic. Then I put in the water - but this is where it got confusing. The recipe states that the water will (mostly) be absorbed in 3-4 minutes - which is crazy talk. Quinoa is made with a ratio of 2:1 for water:quinoa, and usually takes at least 15 minutes to absorb/cook. I did wait until it was fully cooked, to be on the safe side, just not sure why the recipe was so off?

I did let it sit for a few minutes, but I was still a little worried the eggs would cook when I mixed them into the quinoa with milk and cheese. No need, though, it mixed fine and turned into a wet rice pudding-like substance. I wish I had added more veggies in though - it wasn't very colourful.

While it didn't brown very much on the top - maybe putting extra cheese on top would have helped - it was still quite tasty. Next time I would add more spices and make it a little more Southwestern - jalapenos would work well, since it was similar to corn bread. It's a good recipe for potluck dinners, and even better eating it cold out of the fridge the next day. Seriously.