Breakfast: Quinoa Porridge

This summer my sister-in-law said to me, “I want you to give me cooking lessons.” Don’t worry dear Reader, I laughed. She is a good cook in her own right and didn’t need much from me. After she requested the lessons but before she came to my house, I sneaked away to visit sister-friends in Berkeley (oh you know the kind…you can’t call them girlfriends when they are oh so much more). While I was there we had many discussions about what we would teach people to cook if we had the chance. Those discussions naturally led to a lot of recipe sharing. This is one of those recipes. It is from Linda–an elegant lady who sews as well as she cooks–and that is saying something. Let my love for quinoa flow and flow. And now let us eat it for breakfast.

Quinoa porridge*

*Start this recipe the night before. Instructions below want you to soak the grains for 12 hours.

2 c. Quinoa

2 c. Whole milk plain yogurt

2 Tb. Whey (This is the liquid that builds around your yogurt. You may want to gather it ahead of time.)

2 Tb. Butter

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

Diced mango

Diced apples

3/4 c. Roasted nuts

Pure maple syrup

Whey: scoop out a hole in the yogurt. Scoop out whey when it forms and put in a glass jar in fridge(unless into recipe).

Rinse quinoa. Put in bowl and add warm water to 1/2 inch above quinoa. Add whey and let soak 12+ hours. Rinse again. Put in pot and add water to 1 inch above quinoa. Bring to a boil; then cook on low for 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.  Enjoy.