Thursday 6 February 2014

The "Blonde Moment" Apple Quinoa Bake

While I was at school this week, one of my classmates approached me with a recipe for an Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast Bake. I was instantly intrigued and couldn't wait to make it, so of course I made it that weekend as a lovely breakfast for my roommates and myself.
The bake didn't take long to prepare but being a relatively new cook, and one who is far from bad but far from amazing, I (of course) did not read the instructions through carefully... What!? I was excited! Apparently I was supposed to cook the bake the night before I served it. Oopsie...I realized this about halfway through the preparation process so I made the conscious decision to only add about half the milk the recipe called for, otherwise I would've had a lake…not a bake (cue “joke” drums).
Luckily the bake came out the perfect consistency, and I saved breakfast. I really enjoyed this bake but I think with the lack of milk compared to that which was called for, the spices were very overpowering. 
I really want to make this recipe again, but make sure I make it the proper way. So I thank my classmate for handing over this recipe and I apologize for having a HUGE blonde moment.
So with that said, what did we learn this week folks? Always read the ENTIRE recipe beforehand. I don't think I can stress that enough, can I?
Here is the Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast Bake with a couple of my personal changes, as usual, in the brackets.



The Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast Bake 



Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast Bake

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked Quinoa
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 apples, peeled and diced
¼ cup raisins ( I didn’t use raisins because I didn’t have any but I’m sure they’d be great)
2 eggs
2 cups vanilla soy milk (since I didn’t make it the night before I only used one cup – the liquid from the apples, eggs and maple syrup would make up for the rest of the milk)
¼ cup maple syrup
1/3 cup almonds, chopped

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 7 by 11 inch baking dish (an 8 by 8 works too). In a small bowl, mix the uncooked Quinoa with the spices. Pour into a greased dish. Sprinkle the apple and raisins (if you use them) on top of the Quinoa. In the same small bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the soy milk and maple syrup. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the top of the fruit and Quinoa. Lightly stir to partially submerge the fruit. Sprinkle the chopped almonds on top. Bake for one hour or until the casserole is mostly set with only a small amount of liquid left. Allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate. In the morning, cut a square, microwave it on a plate, and enjoy alone or withhh a few dollops of Greek yogurt.  




4 comments:

  1. Hey Devon, I'm so happy that you decided to try out this recipe. I've never actually tried quinoa but I love all things apple and cinnamon. So I am excited to give this a try and now I know to not skip the "make it the night before" instruction.
    Thanks again!

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  2. Devon, I love quinoa! I am really enjoying your blog. I will dig through my recipes and bring some to you. I can't wait to try this one out, I think it will be perfect for my weekend skiing. Keep these great recipes coming!!
    -J

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  3. Hey Devon, I agree with Jessica. I've always been curious about quinoa and after reading, I'm seriously considering trying this recipe out. Really enjoying your blog so far, keep it up!

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  4. I love apples, and I may have to learn how to bake just to make this.

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