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Creamy Quinoa & Chia Porridge

Creamy Quinoa & Chia Porridge - Quirky Cooking

Autumn is here, and it’s getting too cool for cold breakfasts of raw chia pudding and green smoothies. The other morning I was trying to think of something warm and comforting for breakfast while browsing through food photos on Instagram (as you do), and I noticed a photo of banana chia quinoa porridge that was posted by Jessica Cox (a nutritionist with lots of great recipes), and I was inspired! I couldn’t find a recipe, so I just made up my own. (Thanks for the idea, Jessica!)

I love quinoa, but whenever I’ve tried to make quinoa flakes into porridge it’s usually ended up kind of sludgey, and I didn’t really enjoy it. Until now. Adding chia made all the difference for me, as well as cooking it very lightly, not overcooking it. And I’m sure all the coconut cream, banana, cinnamon and nuts helped as well!

You could cook it in the Thermomix like I do, or in a pan on the stovetop if you keep the heat really low and stir until done. Or use the soak overnight method (below the recipe).

Note: The addition of mesquite powder is optional. I love to use it in my breakfast porridge as it’s low GI and great for stablising blood sugar levels, plus it’s high in minerals and protein. So when you combine that with chia and quinoa, you have a breakfast that keeps you from getting the blood sugar ‘lows’ all morning. (It’s also slightly sweet, and has a caramelly flavour that goes well with the bananas and cinnamon.) Mesquite flour and chia are both traditional foods of native Americans, and it’s really interesting to see these ancient ‘health foods’ making a comeback! My Cherokee great great grandma would be pleased to know I’m using them. 

Creamy Quinoa & Chia Porridge - Quirky Cooking
 
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Quinoa & Chia Porridge

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  • Author: QuirkyJo

Ingredients

Units

100g raw almonds

500g water

50g quinoa flakes

50g chia seeds

2 Tbsp raw honey (or preferred sweetener)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla powder

3 Tbsp mesquite powder (opt)

a pinch of fine sea salt

Toppings

coconut milk or yoghurt

sliced bananas (or whatever fruit you like)

chopped walnuts (opt)

a drizzle of pure maple syrup

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Instructions

1. Weigh almonds into a Thermomix bowl, and grind for 10 seconds on speed 9.

2. Add water and blend on speed 9 for 1 minute.

3. Add the quinoa flakes, chia seeds, honey, spices, vanilla, mesquite powder & salt, and cook at 50C for 5 minutes, reverse speed 2. (Gently blend it up for a few seconds first on speed 3 to mix together.)

4. Spoon into bowls, add toppings and serve!

Overnight Soak Method

Make almond milk, mix with other ingredients apart from toppings, and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, warm gently then serve topped with fruit, nuts, etc.

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creamy quinoa chia porridge - quirky cooking

23 thoughts on “Creamy Quinoa & Chia Porridge

  1. Donna says:

    Love this! And so does my 1yr old!
    How long does this keep in the fridge Jo?
    And could it be
    Frozen??

  2. Donna says:

    Love this! And so does my 1yr old!
    How long does this last in the fridge Jo?
    And can it be frozen??

  3. Belinda says:

    I would like to cook amaranth porridge for my 14 month old. Could you please share the amounts and proportions of amaranth and water and how to cook this in the thermo. I am not very confidant with creating my own thermo recipes yet! I will not be adding any milks, sweeteners etc, as it will be one of her first carbohydrate solids we introduce.
    Also, I wondered if you could do the same for rice porridge from scratch.
    Much gratitude and thanks.

  4. Nancy C says:

    I’m on day eight of going gluten and dairy free and this porridge was comforting and yummy. Really appreciating all your dairy and gluten free recipes you’ve shared with your readers ? Off to look through some more of your inspiring recipes…

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Hi Lyndee! 🙂 Mesquite powder or ‘flour’ is made by grinding the tree-ripened seed pods of the Mesquite tree, a relative of Acacias that grows in southern America. It gives a caramel flavour to foods. You can buy it from The Source Bulk Foods or several other online stores. xx

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