Coconut Breakfast Quinoa

It is too hot for oatmeal. It is even too hot for pancakes (gasp!). In fact, it is so hot in my apartment right now that I refuse to turn on my stove while the sun is shining. Instead, I am spending the long sunny days strolling downtown or reading in the shade. But what to do about breakfast?

Luckily, I had a little bit of forethought this week. During the (relatively) cool evening last night I prepared a batch of creamy, dreamy coconut quinoa and packed it up in the fridge. So, come morning, all I had to do was cut up some fresh fruit, add a splash of coconut milk and a touch of maple syrup, and voila!

Of course if you aren't living in an oven, this breakfast quinoa is equally delicious served warm, right out of the pot. For an extra treat, you can heat up the additional coconut milk before serving.

The local nectarines and raspberries are amazingly flavourful and juicy right now. I love the way that these two fruits complement each other, and it seems so fitting that they ripen and flood the market at almost exactly the same time of year. It's like they were destined to be friends in my breakfast bowl! 

While I usually like to buy my fruit and vegetables at the farmer's market, I still check the organic produce section of my supermarket for good deals every time I am there . So when I saw a cute little basket of kiwi fruit begging to be taken home, I couldn't resist. I figured they would get along nicely with the others.

Coconut Breakfast Quinoa

makes 2 servings

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa

1/2 cup coconut milk (the canned kind)

2/3 cup water

pinch sea salt

1 tbsp chia seeds

fresh fruit, maple syrup and extra coconut milk for serving

In a medium-sized pot, add quinoa, coconut milk and water. Mix together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer approximately 10 minutes, or until liquid is noticeably reduced. Stir in chia seeds (add a little more water if needed) and continue to cook another 5 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. 

Transfer quinoa to a container, cover and place in the fridge overnight. In the morning, spoon half of the quinoa into a bowl and top with coconut milk, maple syrup (if desired), and fresh fruit.

 

Of course, I had to completely demolish my beautiful rainbow before digging into the bowl. How else would I be able to get a little bit of each colour into every bite?