Breakfast in Bolivia

For today's breakfast, I tackled the intimidating stash of quinoa that has been living in my pantry since my forays into vegetarianism a few years go. Relatively high in protein (6g per 1/4c serving) for a grain, Heidi Swanson's recipes make it sound delicious and somewhat approachable. I decided to start off the day with an interesting oatmeal replacement:  Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa.


The quinoa I used is red quinoa from the Anapqui cooperative in Bolivia and is USDA Organic and Fair Trade, distributed by Alter Eco. After visiting coffee cooperatives in Chiapas, Mexico, I am really supportive of this kind of deliberate consumption. By providing fair wages, fair trade provides farmers an alternative to losing most of their income by selling at a low price to corporations or losing their lands altogether because they are unable to support themselves on it. Large agro-business is strong in Latin America, especially due to the lack of legal protections for many farming and indigenous communities. It may seem like a small thing, but an extra dollar of income means a lot to people in underdeveloped nations who are dependent on income from farming. (I am not affiliated with Alter Eco Fair Trade or the Anapqui Cooperative.)

I also took this opportunity to repackage my red quinoa as well as an open bag of regular quinoa (also organic) into airtight containers. We've had some problems with mice. They've mostly gotten into my roommates things, and only got into two packages of spaghetti for me. I'm trying to get better about keeping things sealed. I've mostly been tossing open bags of things into plastic shoeboxes, but I'm running low on those and it makes it hard to find things as I need them.



I made a couple of changes to fit my "what I have in the pantry" guidelines, but mostly just followed the recipe. Because it's just little me, I thirded the recipe (which, according to Heidi, was initially 4 servings). My 1/4 cup measurer parted ways with its handle, so until I reunite them or find a new set of cups I like, I'm stuck. I also didn't have milk, but have plenty of heavy cream, so I substituted part of the milk with cream and the rest with water. I just guesstimated on the pecans, cinnamon, and agave nectar. Basically, here's what I ended up with:

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa with Blackberries

1/3 c. quinoa
1/3 c. water
1/6 c. heavy cream + 1/6 c. water (eyeball it)
Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer for 15min, until quinoa has absorbed the liquid.

Meanwhile, toast some walnuts in toaster oven for 6min at 350. Wash those sad looking blackberries that have been in the fridge for 2 weeks but are miraculously edible. 

Put the quinoa in a bowl, mix in a dash of cinnamon and 5-6 blackberries. Top with toasted walnuts and a generous drizzle of agave nectar. Nom.

It ended up being a bit much for me so I probably should have stuck with the 1/4 cup servings, but I have a little bit in the fridge (sans blackberries) for a snack later. I'll see how well it microwaves.