Strawberries and Cream Breakfast Quinoa
Let’s start the week off with an amazing breakfast, shall we?
Oh, and it’s like 5 ingredients and vegan (but you’d never guess).
Now, this looks a little similar to my Spiced Banana Steel-Cut Oats, but they taste tooootalllyyy different!
The bases are completely not the same, they just both happen to be topped with strawberries. Quinoa for breakfast = my new favorite thing. It’s a super interesting alternative to oatmeal because the texture is so unusual and grainy, yet creamy. Usually, when you’re making quinoa in a savory application, you cook it in water, or maybe stock if you’re gettin’ all fancy and junk. For a slightly sweet and creamy breakfast-y version, I cooked mine in vanilla almond milk. It infuses all the little grains with vanilla creamy goodness, and it’s wonderful.
I mix a nice big handful of beautifully fresh, sliced strawberries into the quinoa in the last couple minutes so they get a little roast-y, but don’t completely break down. It’s all finished with a nice drizzle of pure maple syrup, some freshly-grated nutmeg (not necessary, but super good), and a bit more vanilla almond milk over the top. It’s a true comfort breakfast, and yet, it’s totally healthy!
While I was outside taking pictures, I made a surprise friend. I stood up on a chair to try to get a better overhead shot, and found myself eye-level with Mr. Froggie, here!
It was more that a little shocking, haha. I always forget how many little critters there are everywhere, in Florida. It’s both fascinating, and completely terrifying at the same time!
Oh, and before you try to tell me differently, yes, it’s totally okay to still eat warm grain breakfasts in Spring and Summer! I’m doing it in 90+ degree Florida heat and still loving it, so I know you can, too š
Happy Memorial Day!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa (I used a rainbow blend)
- 1 and 1/2+ cups vanilla almond milk
- pinch of kosher salt
- handful of fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- pure maple syrup, to drizzle
- freshly-grated nutmeg
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the quinoa, salt, and 1 cup of almond milk. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, until the quinoa is done. As it cooks and dries out, add more almond milk. In the very last couple of minutes, add in the sliced strawberries and stir to combine.
- To serve, scoop the quinoa into bowls and drizzle with maple syrup. Garnish with strawberry slices and serve with extra vanilla almond milk.
