Quinoa gets a lot of love from people at lunch and dinner time, but it is also an awesome option for breakfast. It has has so much strong, slow-release energy, and is basically guaranteed not to leave you feeling sluggish.

Sweet deal.

My first time eating quinoa I cooked it myself, and my reaction boiled down to “WTF?!” Oh man; something was NOT right. What went wrong? Turns out that I had made a rookie mistake: I didn’t add enough flavour to the water-based broth that the quinoa was simmering away in.

This made for something bland and beige and blergh. Never again! Now I know that for the tastiest quinoa, the key thing to remember is that it soaks up flavour super well, which is best taken advantage of to get the best deal for our tastebuds and our bellies. You definitely wanna add a few extra flourishes!

Including fruit juice is a perfect way to begin adding those flourishes when cooking sweet quinoa, and that is what helps make the taste pop in this recipe. Juicy navel oranges and crunchy walnuts combine with the special golden, slightly malty sweetness of coconut sugar to simmer into existence a little something that explodes with flavour.

 

 

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Sweet Orange & Walnut Quinoa with Fruit

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed well
juice of 2 large navel oranges (around 2/3 cup)
1/2 – 2/3 cup water
2 tbsp coconut sugar*
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp walnut pieces

sliced fruit to serve; strawberries or pears are perfect!

 

What to do:

Add quinoa, juice and water to small saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low. Add coconut sugar, walnuts, maple syrup. Simmer for 15 minutes, until liquid is reduced and quinoa cook, adding more water if needed.

Serve with fresh fruit. Add a spoonful of gently heated, cinnamon-spiked coconut cream for extra tastiness.

Serves one (or a lil snack for two).

 

* you can use pure maple syrup or raw sugar instead of coconut sugar if need be. FYI, I score my coconut sugar from Commonsense Organics; some regular supermarkets around here sell it (e.g Countdown Newtown) but it is cheaper and tastier at Commonsense; worth the trip if you can make it happen, Wellingtonians!

 

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Feature image via my Pinterest