This berry-studded, seed-laden, quinoa bowl is our go-to weekday breakfast. It’s one of the top two things that get me out of bed in the morning. (Number one being a three-year-old yelling at me from the bathroom to wipe his butt.) This is a tactical post more than a recipe; a few tips on how to have an amazing breakfast ready within minutes of waking up. I love it because it’s packed with nutrition, specifically nutrition that’s important for vegans to pay attention to, and my kiddo loves it. I know that when I get this into his belly first thing in the morning, he’s getting a head-start on the day.
Basically what you’re looking at here is a bowl of cold, pre-cooked quinoa with soy (or almond, or hemp, etc) milk with a bunch of nutrient dense things thrown in. I’ve written a bit about quinoa in the past, so I won’t bore you with nutritional details. Suffice it to say, it’s good for you. It’s a complete protein, and it’s a great source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese and folate. It’s also quick cooking, which is nice. I also find it to be pretty forgiving, unlike rice. Personally, I never measure when I’m cooking the stuff.
The I-don’t-like-to-measure method for cooking quinoa:
- Dump a bunch into a medium sauce pan (eye-balling about how much you think you’ll need for the next few days).
- Fill the pan with water and then dump it through a fine mesh sieve. Repeat a few times – rinsing the quinoa until there are no more bubbles when you add water.
- With your quinoa in the sauce pan, add enough water to cover it by a few millimetres.
- Cover the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and fuggedaboutit for about 10 minutes. Easy. Let it cool and then throw it into the fridge. It’ll be ready for you when you wake up in the morning!
In preparing your bowl, you can add whatever you like, but I make it a point to add these specific things every day.
Heavy Hitting Add-ins:
- Ground flaxseeds for anti-cancer lignan compounds, for bringing down blood pressure, for keeping you regular, and for a healthy dose of Omega 3’s.
- Pumpkin or Sunflower Seeds for a million reasons including magnesium, zinc, and more Omega 3’s!
- Chia Seeds for more protein, healthy fats, Omega 3’s, fiber and antioxidant power. Click here for more reasons.
- Hemp – for more Omega 3’s!, protein, heart health, and the list goes on…
- Berries – for antioxidants and yum factor
Check out Dr. Michael Gregor’s Daily Dozen video for a list of things to try to work into your diet on a daily basis. This breakfast bowl hits 6 of the 12!
So why all this focus on Omega 3’s? In a nutshell, our Omega 3/6 ratio is very important. As vegans, we risk getting our ratios way out of whack by consuming too many 6’s (think snack foods, potato chips, fried foods, cookies, crackers, and processed foods) and not enough 3’s. Meat-eaters get Omega 3’s from animal products, and while they still get their fair share of 6’s, their ratios stay in closer balance. It’s very important that we pay attention to this if we want to increase our longevity! What can we do to make sure our balance stays in the right range? Basically, cut down on 6’s and increase the 3’s. If you ever have a spare hour, I highly recommend checking out this video: Dr Michael Greger – 40 Year Vegan Dies of a Heart Attack! New research on Omega-3’s and B12
Cool? Here we go!
INGREDIENTS – per person
- 3/4 up cooked, chilled quinoa (see headnotes for cooking instructions)
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
- 2 tbsp pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp hemp seeds
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries
- A sprinkling of dried cranberries (optional)
- A drizzle of maple syrup (optional)
- Unsweetened plant-based milk of choice
METHOD
- Dump everything into a bowl and enjoy!
- If you don’t like fussing with the individual ingredients every day, pre-mix the seeds and keep them in a jar in the fridge.
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