This recipe for quinoa porridge is adapted
from a book called Vegan Soul Kitchen. There are plenty of variations around
the internet, but this one works for us. It serves two.
1. Rinse half a cup of quinoa in a pot of
water. Swish it around a bit. I used to think this was just to get rid of
random grit, but apparently it serves quite a useful purpose for taste as well,
by washing off some outer coating. I don’t know, just do it. Getting the water
out again is the tricky part … luckily my baking whizz girlfriend has a first
class sieve thing which does the trick.
2. I didn’t want to tell you this straight
away because it’s a bit ‘Grey Lynn’, but even better than quinoa is a half/half
mixture of quinoa and amaranth. Or, as we’ve been doing, an equal mix of dark
quinoa, light quinoa and amaranth. You can get this sort of stuff at good food
stores like Little Hero in Pt Chev or Harvest in … Grey Lynn. But actually
Fruit World has organic quinoa to. At least the Grey Lynn one does. God, I
definitely wouldn’t want to be friends with me right now.
3. Right, so the quinoa or quinoa and
whatever is now in the pot, wet but with most of the water drained out. Pour in
half a cup of milk and half a cup of water, add a pinch of salt and some
cinnamon (bark or powder), then bring to a very slight boil and simmer until
it’s all soaked up. That should take 20 minutes or something.
4. Now add the following ingredients, in
whatever proportions you like (here’s what I use): raisins (one third cup),
real maple syrup (one tablespoon), nuts (quarter cup), flaxseed oil (a drizzle)
and Clearwater organic yoghurt (generous big tablespoon). I always forget one
of these but it never matters (look at the photo, I’ve forgotten raisins in
this one). In terms of nuts (a phrase you don’t often get to write), I’ve used
pecans, walnuts, macadamias and pistachios. I’d probably use almonds too, but
not cashews because I don’t want breakfast to remind me of foodhall Chinese.
Speaking of which, you could toast the nuts first, but it does dial up the
savoury notes quite substantially.
5. Leave it for five minutes with the lid
on: this seems to help with the creaminess. Then spoon into two bowls, sprinkle
with a teaspoon of brown sugar and top with the fruit of your choice, although
tart is best: tamarillo, stewed rhubarb, or kiwifruit at a stretch.
6. So I guess that makes the full list of
ingredients: quinoa, amaranth, milk, salt, cinnamon, yoghurt, raisins, nuts,
real maple syrup, brown sugar and fruit. Sounds like a lot, but one good shop
will set you up for the week.
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