Breakfast for Hippies

Nope, not homemade granola this time. I came across a recipe for creamy quinoa with cranberries in the May issue of Vegetarian Times when I was scanning through it in the library, and I was quite intrigued. I enjoyed quinoa last time, when I tried the Gourmet recipe, but the "cakes" really didn't hold together so well. Quinoa in a bowl like oatmeal for breakfast, though, that sounded like a good idea to me! I didn't have quite enough dried cranberries in my bag, so I also used some apple rings, which I hastily tore into little pieces. They puffed up quite a bit in the pot, so if you want to try this idea, just chop them nice and fine.

The recipe itself is super-easy. Just bring a cup and a half milk, a cup of water, and 1/4 t salt to a boil. Stir in a cup of quinoa and half a cup of dried cranberries, or if you're me, half apples and half cranberries. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15-20 minutes or until it's tender and the liquid is all absorbed. Take it off the heat and stir in 2 T maple sugar, 1 t cinnamon, ½ t ginger, ¼ t allspice or cloves, ¼ t nutmeg. I couldn't follow the recipe exactly as my spice cabinet was a little thin, so I used organic cane sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice. That was a bit of a dumb idea. I think less spice would have been fine, though it was still tasty. The recipe suggests serving warm with 1/2 cup toasted pecans and milk. I found the milk with warm quinoa to be weird, but if you like your oatmeal with milk you may like this, too. I didn't toast the pecans, just broke them up and that was fine.

A bit of a side note - I always find it interesting what kind of trends sweep the blogs at different times of year. I know ice cream season is coming up, and I'm going to once again be sad that I have no ice cream maker when I see some of the creative flavour combinations. It appears that the cupcake may be on the way out, but the macaroon is definitely in. I've never had this style of macaroon - the sandwich cookie looking thing - but I may try it. One of the fads I've noticed lately is rhubarb, but I ignored all the recipes because I didn't think I'd be able to find any. Well, lo and behold, I went to the Farmer's Market today (opened last Saturday but I missed it) and there was rhubarb everywhere! I bought a bunch for three bucks, and then came home and went to my Google Reader (which I am now obsessed with) and searched the foodblog folder for rhubarb. I was intrigued by some of the recipes, but I decided to be true to my last post and pick something easy. You'll see what it is later this week. Also purchased - green tomatoes, red raspberry jam, homemade toffee, pecan cream honey, and a spring roll for breakfast (only a dollar, always my favourite). Happy spring!

(Don't forget - A Vegetarian Feast in a Quiche is due at the end of the month! I already have two entries, which I'm super-excited about. There's still plenty of time to get in your vegetarian quiches, tarts, and savoury pies.)