Breakfast Quinoa: A Hot Cereal of Quinoa, Fruit, and Maple Goodness

Quinoa Hot Cereal with Fruit and Coconut

First off, thanks for the get well wishes, emails, and comments! I had been feeling pretty miserable, and it did me a lot of good to hear from you. Thankfully, I think I am finally on the mend. One of the ways I can tell I am getting better is that I have actually been getting very specific food cravings! During the last two weeks, I didn't really feel the same way I normally do about food, (or anything, for that matter), so it was a very good sign the morning I finally managed to drag myself out of bed and make this breakfast.

I was craving something sweet and hearty, and so I decided to combine the high-protein goodness of quinoa with the sweetness of maple syrup and fruit.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 sliced banana
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 3 chopped dried plums
• 2 chopped pitted dates
• Coconut for garnish
• Almond milk to taste

 Begin by rinsing the quinoa in a strainer and make sure all of it gets pretty wet. Then heat the quinoa in a saucepan over low to medium heat, stirring it and lightly toasting it for a few minutes before adding the water. Afterwards, add 3 cups water and turn the heat to high to bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, add the fruit, (except for the banana), and re-cover.

Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until done. Remove from heat, add the banana and the cinnamon, and then let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the maple syrup, and serve with almond milk (or whatever your milk of choice is).

I originally added the coconut sprinkles as garnish, but I found the flavor combination of banana and coconut to be really awesome, so in the future I might make this combo it's own thing. There are a ton of possible variations, so no worries if you don't have dates or hate raisins or want to use another kind of fruit. (Although I really think the banana makes it so much better than it would be without it.) Also, if the combination of maple syrup and the fruit is too much for you, then you can always omit the syrup. I was just really craving something super-sweet.

Let me know if you come across any quinoa hot cereal variations that you think work particularly well. And if you have any of your own favorite hearty breakfast recipes, please feel free to send them my way. I am looking forward to finally returning to my regular, busy, fun-and-food-filled life, and getting back to my regular weekly blogging routine. Thanks for hanging in there with me through my unfortunate hiatus!