Cranberry-Pecan Spiced Quinoa Breakfast Bowls

SNOW DAY! I made so many delicious kitchen things. *I attempted to make so many delicious kitchen things. Success rate – 50 percent. But those that were successful, are delicious. Like Cranberry-Pecan Spiced Quinoa Breakfast Bowl.

A recap: There was yeast dough that did not rise. There were gingersnaps. There was homemade whipped cream that I fancied up to be the coolest, prettiest, most fancy-pants whipped cream ever. There were blood oranges baked into pancakes. There’s a pizza dough, but no stone for it to be baked on.

So many good and potentially good kitchen things. And when the potentials fell flat (yeast dough, I’m lookin’ at you), I held my head high, packed my things, and spent the rest of the afternoon with friends, wine, and French fries.

We’re talking, best snow day of the season so far. (Only snow day of the season, but after this one, I want more!)

I’m going to start all my snow days (and maybe just all my wintery days) with Cranberry-Pecan Spiced Quinoa. Whole grains for breakfast? Gimme, gimme. Cloves and nutmeg and cinnamon? FOOD BLANKET. Deep, rich, wintery flavors? Tart cranberries, sticky honey, buttery pecans? We are all best friends, holding mittened hands, giggling and making “HA” sounds to watch our breath rise in the snowy air.

More good, basic, dietitian-y reasons to love quinoa in the morning:

• Make it ahead and take it to work. Tupperware, people.
• Whole grain = all the fibers, all the proteins.
• And none of the glutens.
• It’s gonna make you smile. Especially if you eat the Cranberry-Pecan Spiced kinda quinoa.

Print

Cranberry-Pecan Spiced Quinoa Breakfast Bowls

Course Breakfast

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 13 minutes

Total Time 18 minutes

Servings 2

Author Danielle Cushing

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup sliced pecans
• 1 5.3- ounce container plain non-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons chia seeds.

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, bring quinoa and milk to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 12 minutes. Divide quinoa between two bowls and sprinkle the bowls evenly with cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
2. Rinse the saucepan and add 1 tablespoon water and the cranberries. Place over high heat about 1 minute until the cranberries soften and just start to burst. Drain the water. Add the honey and toss to coat evenly. Divide the cranberries between two bowls.
3. Top each bowl evenly with pecans and Greek yogurt. Sprinkle with chia seeds.