the new porridge

After complaining in a previous post about quinoa in breakfast cereal, I am now forced to eat crow. I have indeed made a super-porridge that features quinoa. But the key is to disguise the quinoa, which frankly does not do much for steel cut oats. The secret is amaranth.

1/2 cup steel cut oats
1/4 cup amaranth
1/4 cup quinoa (organic red, preferably)

1/4 cup dried cherries (dried fruit of preference, actually)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
some spices--cinnamon.
1 tbsp. butter

Heat the butter and add almonds and cherries. Turn up the damn heat. When it starts to sizzle, add the grains (yes, I know neither amaranth nor quinoa is technically a grain). Add any spices you want at this point. Stir continuously while a kettle heats up 4 cups of water on the stove. When the oats start to smell nutty, add four cups of water.

There will be a lot of double double toil and trouble fire burn and caldron bubble when one adds the water. Just don't panic.

Cover. Once the water is boiling freely, turn off heat and set aside. Let it sit overnight.

If one is cooking it up immediately, then just simmer for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. You'll know when it is done.

Amaranth is my latest find. An Aztec "grain." Adds both texture and sweetness to the porridge. Which is good, because the run on quinoa has meant that not even the DeKalb Farmers' Market has it in stock any more. It will clearly be a while before supply meets demand, or demand curbs enough to bring it back to the shelf. In the mean time, I am making an equal parts oats and amaranth breakfast cereal.

Quinoa Tabouli

Quinoifik

This one is hardly original, but it meets a couple of demands made by my diet. Because I assiduously avoid meat products before six, I have a hard time meeting my protein needs. Or, at least, I am pretty sure that I have a hard time meeting my protein needs. One cannot be sure given the shifting sands of dietary wisdom precisely how much protein one needs in a given day, but a day of vegetables and fruit eating certainly makes protein difficult to locate. Obviously I could turn to soy, but I don't really like tofu that much and have heard some nasty things about too much soy in the diet.

Grains are a good, but not great, source of protein. My farro salads and steel-cut oats in the morning provide some--typically close to 5 g. of protein for each serving I have. Quinoa, however, is a better source, providing 8 g for the same serving.

My Quinoa Tabouli is simple. I chop up a garlic clove, or green garlic (came in my basket from Vegetable Husband this week), a couple handfuls of parsley, and a finger full of chives. The latter herbs all are produced in abundance in my garden.

The Quinoa cooks on a 2-1 ratio. Boil the water, 1 tbsp. of butter and salt, add quinoa, reduce to simmer, cover, and cook for 12 minutes. Pop the lid--you'll know if it's ready. Please don't overcook it. Even five more minutes will turn it into an usable mush.

Drain Quinoa, but leave in the pan. Then add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Allow the Quinoa then to sit and relax for the next four or five minutes. I then add the herbs and begin mixing. I squeeze a quarter lemon on the tabouli, add some salt and pepper, and continue stirring. Let it relax another few minutes, then try it. Adjust seasoning.

One cup of Quinoa is giving me four salads, parsed out in individual containers. They are a nice supplement to my farro salads for a daily lunch. My only complaint is the garlic, as I don't seem to do well with raw onions or garlic anymore. Alas! old age is upon me.