Nutty Quinoa Porridge
My in-laws are creatures of habit. They like to eat the same breakfast every day. Porridge oats, made with water, followed by toast. I do find it odd how so many people eat the same things for breakfast every day, but wouldn’t dream of having the same lunch or dinner every day. Don’t get me wrong, I do like porridge but it can be a bit boring, and doesn’t quite fill me up the way it’s meant to. To make it tastier and more filling, it needs a source of protein. And what could be more on trend than quinoa. This really is so simple and can be made with pretty much anything once you have the basic porridge right. I have listed a few variations below which help to make things more interesting and avoid falling into those bad habits of eating the same breakfast every day.
This makes enough for two – porridge doesn’t really keep so you will have to eat any leftovers straight away.
2 tablespoons quinoa
1 heaped cup or so of porridge oats
2 cups of your favourite non dairy milk – I used unsweetened almond milk
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon tahini
1 handful each of dates, walnuts, hazelnuts
A few berries – I used raspberries and blueberries
Put the quinoa, oats, milk, water, and tahini in a pan. Stir slowly over a medium heat until simmering and thick. The oats and quinoa will absorb a lot of liquid so you may need to add a little water to keep it from going too thick. The porridge needs around 15 minutes to make sure the quinoa is well cooked. Roughly chop the dates and nuts and stir into the porridge. Serve hot, topped with the raspberries and blueberries. Nuts: Try brazils, pistachios, almonds or cashews Dried fruit: Semi dried prunes, apricots or figs all could be use instead of, or as well as, the dates Fresh fruit: Banana, strawberries, cherries. Frozen bags of mixed fruit work well. Just pop a few on top and the heat from the porridge will defrost them as you eat Finally, try adding a sprinkling of flax, chia or sesame seeds. Add these during the cooking stage.