Breakfast Quinoa with Apples and Pecans. Tom McCorkle/photo; Gina Nistico/food styling, for The Washington Post When my friend Marisol, who grew up in Peru, told me she regularly had quinoa for breakfast as a child, I did a facepalm. Why hadn’t breakfast quinoa occurred to me sooner? It makes perfect sense – people around the world start their days with their staple grains.
In China there’s congee, a rice porridge; in India, a savory cream of wheat called upma; and in Eastern Europe, kasha, a buckwheat cereal, for example. When Marisol told me her mom would simmer chunks of apple in the quinoa as it cooked, it sounded so good to me I practically ran to the stove the next morning. (Okay, I shuffled there a little less sleepily than usual.
) I cut up some apple, choosing Golden Delicious for its sweetness and tender skin (any sweet apple will work, peeled or unpeeled) and put it into a saucepan with some quinoa, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a pinch of salt and low-fat milk. I used milk as the cooking liquid to provide creaminess and an extra boost of protein. You could substitute any plant milk you like, but to get a comparable amount of protein go with either soy milk, which is inherently protein-rich, or a protein-fortified option.
As the mixture simmered, a comforting, warm fragrance filled my kitchen. Once the quinoa and apple were tender, I transferred the porridge to a bowl and topped it grain-bowl style, artfully piling on toasted pecans, raisins, shredded coconut and a .
