eclaire (what’s in a) name?

do you know about the amazing-ness of quinoa?  i learned about it a few years ago, and quickly became obsessed with quinoa because it is super quick to cook, has a very satisfying texture and taste, and is a complete protein (i.e. it contains all of the essential amino acids, something that can be challenging to find in one food item for vegetarians/vegans).  if you clicked on the link above and read the wikipedia page on quinoa, you’d know that part of what makes quinoa so special is that it’s a faux grain – it’s actually a seed.

when i decided to become a vegetarian at the tender age of 8 (my mom, dad, sister, and mike are all chicken/fish/turkey meat eaters), my parents requested that i take an active role in understanding what kinds of foods i needed to eat to be healthy.  my mom and dad made a lot of vegetarian meals prior to my decision (thus i knew that i had options that didn’t include meat), and they are very health conscious in general (we ate carob and no refined sugar for most of my formative years), so i learned a lot from them, as well as from the book diet for a small planet, by frances moore lappe.  on my journey to vegetarianism, i became educated about essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals, and what foods compliment each other – like beans and rice – to make complete proteins.

i should take a minute here to answer the question i get most often when i tell people i’m a vegetarian – why did i become a vegetarian?  the real answer is that i never, ever, ever can remember liking meat, unless it was super disguised as a turkey hot dog, potsticker, or in a delicious pineapple croissant casserole ring (i have no idea what it was called, but my parents made it often).  i can remember having lots of negotiating sessions at the dinner table, such as:  dad: “it’s wonderful that you ate all of your vegetables, but i need you to eat five more bites of chicken before leaving the table.”  me: “how about one bite?”  mom: “how about four bites?”  little sister: “chicken is soooo good – i’m eating all of mine!”  me to my sister: “want my chicken?”  …i think you get the idea.  so my extremely caring and accommodating parents began making more vegetarian food, and always ensured i had a vegetarian option when they were making meat based meals.  i was one lucky kid to have parents who would use one pan to make spaghetti sauce, then split the sauce between a ground turkey pan and a cubed tofu pan.  as i grew older, i learned more about animal rights issues and about the impact of meat consumption on our environment, and i was happy to learn that my food consumption matched my personal belief system.

ok, so all of this information is to say that for almost two decades, i’ve focused on proteins and nutrients, and preparing well balanced food (in fact, one of my catch phrases is “where’s the protein?”).  so when i found out that quinoa was a COMPLETE protein, all in one little seed, i was very excited and began to replace it for other grains i might have used (like rice, pasta, etc).  quinoa was always relegated to  dinner or lunch, as it’s very nutty and savory.  however, when i stumbled across this recipe on 101 cookbooks, i was delighted to see quinoa work its way into the breakfast realm.

i love warm cereal for breakfast, but had not explored past oatmeal, cream of wheat, and grits (we went to north carolina to visit my sister at a music conservatory, and how can you not eat grits when you’re in the south?!!?).  i put this recipe for warm quinoa in the queue, made a few tweaks to it as we made it, and voila, in minutes was enjoying a hearty, healthy, tasty bowl of quinoa.  so, if you’re looking for an alternative to your normal warm cereal in the morning, i suggest you try this.  and now that i’ve waxed on and on about how fabulous quinoa is, i promise to post more recipes that include this super “grain” of the incas.

quinoa breakfast cereal

adapted from 101 cookbooks
yields 4 servings

• 1c water
• 1c (soy) milk
• 1c organic quinoa, rinsed
• 2c fresh or frozen blueberries (or other favorite berry), at room temperature
• 1/2 – 1t ground cinnamon (depending upon how much cinnamon you enjoy)
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 4t honey (or more, for sprinkling over the top)
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1. combine water, soy milk,  and quinoa in a medium saucepan, bringing to a boil (be careful to watch the pan – mine overflowed quickly when it started boiling)
2. once boiling, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed over medium-high heat
3. turn off heat, and let stand covered 5 minutes
4. stir in blueberries and cinnamon, and serve with pecans, a dash of cinnamon, and honey over the top