Needing something different for breakfast? This dish is a similar concept to oatmeal but with a different texture. While quinoa is not often found in sweet dishes, this combination proves that it’s very versatile.
Morning Fuel
Avoiding breakfast or grabbing something small is often the norm, but having a filling meal such as this one sets the stage for the day.
Food is your fuel – it makes sense to put plenty of quality fuel in your tank at the start of the day for top performance. A filling breakfast also keeps the appetite in check the rest of the day. Also, every meal is a nutrient opportunity. Skipping a meal means missing out on a chance to flood the body with nutrients. ??
Ingredients
Some perks of this recipe: flaxseed can help control cholesterol and blood pressure, goji berries are packed with antioxidants and pepitas (pumpkin seeds) have an impressive dose of protein, fiber and iron.
When you’re shopping for quinoa you’ll find that it come in multiple colors – white, red and black. Like many things, color = nutrients. So mixing up your quinoa colors can be a better option than always choosing white. Personally, we’re fans of rainbow quinoa (*affiliate link).
While any non-dairy milk works great in this recipe, we used JOI (*affiliate). We’re a fan of this plant-based milk concentrate because it’s made with just one ingredient. No preservative. No additives. Also – one container makes 27 cups of plant-based milk!
Antioxidants
When chopping your apple be sure to leave the skin on. Have you ever noticed how quickly the inside of an apple turns brown after its cut? That’s because there’s not a lot of antioxidants in the flesh – most of the antioxidants are in the peel. This makes sense as the peel is the apple’s first line of defense against the outside world.
Looking for other yummy breakfast recipes? Check out our Chocolate Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal, Creamy & Easy Steel-cut Oats, Lemon Blueberry Oat Pancakes, Weekend Waffles, Spiced Granola, Goji Granola, Dessert-for-Breakfast Chocolate Pancakes, & Scrambled Tofu
We used this sauce-pan (*affiliate link) to make this recipe.
Apple Cinnamon Quinoa
Equipment
- medium sauce pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa rinsed
- 2 cups water
- 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup optional, to taste
- 1 apple, chopped
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp unflavored non-dairy milk We use JOI
- toppings (pecans, pepitas, walnuts, goji berries, raisins, maple syrup)
Instructions
- Place water and quinoa in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add flaxseed, maple syrup, apple and cinnamon. Stir well, cover and let cook for 5-10 minutes, until apple is soft.
- Divide into 2 bowls. Top each with 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk and toppings of choice.
Notes
Nutrition
*We are a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. We use the products and ingredients that we link to and recommend them because we believe they are the best choice for you.
Is maple syrup as alternative to date paste in this recipe? Thank you.
Hi Theresa – Thanks for catching that discrepancy. We recently updated the recipe and switched from date paste to maple syrup, simply so we could make it without getting the food processor out (one less thing to clean!) But date paste can absolutely be used in place of maple syrup. That would be a healthier alternative as dates have fiber and maple syrup does not. Hope this clears that up!