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Creamy Power Breakfast Porridge

Quinoa with Coconut Milk

Amanda Love's Cooking

Delicious, Healthy Seasonal Recipes
from the "The Barefoot Cook" for
October

I call this a power breakfast cereal because it is very digestible and rich in nutrients, unlike most other breakfast cereals, which contain hard to digest gluten-containing grains. All of these ingredients are rich in protein and amino acids and are gluten free so this should be a safe alternative for people trying to avoid the common allergen, gluten. Quinoa, (pronounced KEEN-WAH), while relatively new to the United States, has been cultivated in the Andean mountain regions of Peru, Chile and Bolivia for over 5000 years and is one of the few grains that boast a full amino acid ratio profile. Quinoa means "mother grain" in the Inca language. This crop was a staple food of the Inca people and remains an important food crop for their descendants, the Quechua and Aymara peoples who live in rural regions. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Amaranth, a very powerful grain, is also rich in nutrients and amino acids. I have also witnessed seeing amaranth sprout in a compost pile after being cooked. This is a very powerful grain, indeed. Millet, having been consumed in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Africa for centuries, is a very alkalizing grain. Adding the sunflower seeds and flax seeds gives this cereal an interesting texture, additional flavor and nutrients. Soaking is essential to make this cereal more digestible. Cook extra and warm up each time you eat breakfast and you will have breakfast figured out for several days.

Ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa

(Optional additions:)

¼ cup Amaranth

¼ cup Millet

1/8 cup Sunflower Seeds

1/8 cup Flax Seeds

4 cups water (2 cups for soaking and 2 cups for cooking)

2 Tablespoons Whey, yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, lemon juice or

apple cider vinegar (for soaking)

2 cups Coconut Milk

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil or Butter

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste

Directions:

Soak quinoa and other optional ingredients over night with 2 cups water (or more to cover) and whey. In the morning, rinse mixture. Bring 2 cups water and coconut milk to a boil with salt and add grain/nut mixture. If you are adding additional ingredients beside just quinoa, add 1 more cup of water. Slowly simmer while stirring periodically for about 15-20 minutes. Add coconut oil or butter, nutmeg and additional salt to taste. Top with maple syrup or preferred sweetener and more butter. Enjoy!

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