Raspberry Almond Coconut Breakfast Quinoa
Holy deliciousness batman. If you haven’t tried quinoa yet, please try it for the sake of this recipe. If you have tried quinoa, then I know you love it as much as I do, and you’ll be excited to see another opportunity to use it. Either way, make this breakfast quinoa with whatever fruits and nuts you have around your kitchen this weekend. Trust me, you’ll thank me for it.
I was SO excited when we got fresh raspberries in our CSA. It was our first fruit in the box. Even though it was just one little carton, Hubby and I were ecstatic. Hubby and I gobbled up about half of the berries after getting them home and I knew we needed to use the others up quickly. So the next morning, I whipped up this breakfast quinoa.
This made a great breakfast and I can’t believe I waited so long to make it! It was very filling but still light and fresh. You can use any combination of fruits and nuts that you have on hand, so it’s also very versatile. I always love the flavor of almonds with raspberries, so I toasted up some chopped almonds to throw in with the raspberries.
Then I also mixed in some toasted unsweetened coconut that I had in the cabinet (leftover from these Pina Colada Cupcakes). The coconut was an amazing addition and gave a subtle sweetness and tropical feel to the meal. I can’t wait to make this again with blueberries, dried cranberries, strawberries. You name it, I’m sure it will be amazing!
Two Years Ago: Goat Cheese Potato Salad, Salmon with Yellow Pepper Cilantro Pesto, and Monkey Bread
Three Years Ago: Champagne Cupcakes and Tomatoes Stuffed with Salmon Dill Dip
Raspberry Almond Coconut Breakfast Quinoa
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 cups milk
1 cup uncooked quinoa
pinch salt
2-3 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup chopped, toasted almonds
1/4 cup toasted unsweetened coconut
Directions:
Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Milk will boil and bubble over very quickly, so keep an eye on it. Add quinoa and salt, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, until three-quarters of the milk has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook, covered, until almost all the milk has been absorbed, about 5 minutes.
Stir in raspberries, nuts, and coconut. Cook until warmed through, about one minute more.
Recipe inspired by Apple A Day, who adapted this Martha Stewart recipe
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I am really very terrible at frosting/decorating cake :\ This came out way better than anything I could make!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:18 pm
Ha – I’m pretty bad too. That’s why I love putting stuff on the sides. Coconut does a good job of hiding my sloppy decorating skills.
Coconut and almond, you’ve already got me reeled in 🙂 two of my favorite flavors rolled into what looks like a moist, fluffy cake. YUM
This cake looks so beautiful and the texture is perfect! I love curd as a filling between cake layers but i never knew the trick for preventing it from seeping out – thanks!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:19 pm
Yea, it’s definitely very helpful. Even more so when you ACTUALLY do it 😉
We’ve all had those cake experiences. It looks like it turned out well in the end! And it sounds delicious!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
Glad to hear I’m not the only one. I think it’s easy to get wrapped up in thinking we all need to project that all of our baking/cooking endeavors are hugely successful…
Regardless of any kitchen mishaps, this cake looks divine! Layer cakes always look so special, and the addition of fruit here makes me swooooon!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
I agree. Layer cakes always look special 🙂
Oh this looks amazing. And aren’t we all our own worst critics when we bake? I can’t tell you how many times I say something is terrible and my husband looks as me like I’m crazy.
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:21 pm
I agree. At the end of the day, it tasted delicious and no one knew about all the issues I had with the cake. I did want to keep it real on the blog and not give anyone any false sense that things are always easy for me…
I always shy away from layer cakes – yours always come out well, I need some more practice I think! Your “mistakes” are great learning points – did not know about the frosting damn, but it makes so much sense!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:23 pm
That’s why I wanted to talk about them. I definitely could have posted about this cake without mentioning any of the issues I had. I’m hoping they’ll help someone (myself included) to learn something for the next time they tackle a layer cake. Yours will definitely improve with practice. Mine surely are. I really want to make that coconut cake you just posted!
i’m always hard on myself too, but you wouldn’t know by the taste i’m sure! looks absolutely wonderful, not to mention i’m drooling over the flavor combo 🙂
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:24 pm
I agree, I think we all are. I wanted to keep it real with this post in case anyone else found it to be a difficult set of recipes…
Yum, your cake looks so delicious and I really love the sound of the blackberry lime curd!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 1:27 pm
Thanks!
I love coconut cake, and blackberries are my favorite fruit. Such a great idea to put them together. This cake is gorgeous! I would happily take a large slice . . . or maybe the whole thing 😉
beantownbaker — April 27th, 2013 @ 10:02 am
Then you would definitely love this cake!
Could anyone post the blackberry lime curd recipe? The link is no longer working.
Thanks!
beantownbaker — August 12th, 2013 @ 7:39 pm
Sorry about that. I updated the recipe link, but here it is as well: http://www.beantownbaker.com/2013/03/blackberry-lime-curd.html