Coconut Quinoa

As I  have said in many previous posts, including 7 days, 7 different syn-free breakfasts, I really struggle with breakfast. Starting my day well makes a massive difference to me in terms of how the day proceeds, and it also sets the tone for how I’m going to cope. If I don’t have  a decent breakfast, then I find myself hungry throughout the day, and I am more likely to splurge a load of syns on something unnecessary.

I don’t like to use my HEA or B at breakfast really, and prefer to stay syn-free if I can. However, most of my breakfasts seem to contain eggs and sometimes I just want something different, or something carby. I have to be careful with carbs and my diabetes as some can really spike my blood sugars. However, I stumbled across a few recipes using quinoa in porridge instead of oats or as a substitute for rice in pudding and thought it might be worth a try. Quinoa is obviously free, but I was concerned this might count as a SW tweak (using a free food in a different context to its original one and therefore making it synful), but checked with my consultant and she felt it would be fine – firstly, because it is swapping one carb for another which provides a similar function in a meal, and secondly because it will be portion-controlled and not eating an excessive amount. Although it does use part of the HEA, it is only a small part, and if you want to save HEA for something else, it’s still only low syns. After weighing it all up,  I decided to try it and I fell in love!

 

As a breakfast, it is so filling and really tasty. I’ve also made it as a pudding simply by adding sweetener to it and it worked really well as an alternative to rice pudding. It can be made in advance, eaten hot and cold (though I prefer it warm) and is super-easy to make.

Ingredients for one portion (though I have been known to make and eat double on a particularly hungry day!)

• 45g (quarter of a cup) of quinoa
• 250ml  (1 cup) of Alpro Fresh Original Coconut (you are allowed 600mls as HEA, or 2.5 syns if not).
• Half a tsp of cinnamon (this is enough to stop it being bland without giving it a particularly cinnamony flavour).
• A drop (or four!) of vanilla essence/orange essence/both! (I like to use both, again as it can be a little bland without the flavouring and they both go well in this. The orange means it needs less sweetener too, which is a bonus in my eyes). 
• Sweetener to taste, particularly if using as a pudding.

Method

• Rinse the quinoa. I place mine in a bowl, soak in water and then pour into a sieve. I find if I pour the quinoa into the sieve dry, it just falls through the sieve’s holes, but this happens less when already wet.
• Place all the ingredients in a pan over a medium heat (I have mine on 6 out of 9). Stir to incorporate the cinnamon, then leave.
• Once just starting to boil, turn the heat down (I drop mine to 4) and partially cover the pan, leaving the lid cocked so that the steam can escape.
• Leave to cook, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has been absorbed. This will take around 20 minutes in my experience. Don’t let it boil rapidly as the Alpro doesn’t cope very well with that!
• Remove from the heat and stir through sweetener if desired. I like it more savoury for breakfast, but dessert needs to be sweet for me! To my taste, one dessert spoon of sweetener is sufficient – the fruit will do the rest.
• Serve with a selection of fruit, the more speed the better. I like mine best with apple, strawberries and passion fruit, though I’ve also eaten (and really enjoyed it!) with lots of other fruits too, including raspberries, mango and banana.

 

Let me know if you try it!

Love me xxx