Roasted Blueberry Coconut Quinoa Parfaits with Coconut Granola.
Before I left for vacation, I ate this every.single.day.
I mean really, every single day.
It was easy. If I wasn’t traveling, my husband was traveling, which means that I get to eat a bunch of things for meals that only a girl in her 20s would qualify as a meal. It was also insanely hot and even though I had a few ridiculous moments of turning on the oven for hours at a time, when it came to most of my own meals, I survived on things that came straight from the fridge. Cold things. Very cold things.
Want to know what else happened before I left for vacation?
Indulge me. It was terrifying.
The night before we left, I was running around like a crazy person trying to get things done – things like edit photos while eating the last mini cheesecake in the fridge so it wouldn’t spoil. Important stuff.
When I finally made it up to bed – with the hopes of getting four hours of sleep before we left – I spent a good 30 minutes wasting my life away on my iPhone. Because I am addicted. No other good reason.
But really, that happens every night. I’m spent. Exhausted. Can barely hold my eyes open. Yet I always find 20 minutes or so to waste away while looking up random garbage on my phone, like if these Nine West peep toe shoes I’ve been eyeing for three months have come back in stock. Guess what? They haven’t. I’M DYING.
Anyhoo. I’m finally soooo tired that I’m literally almost dropping the phone every 15 seconds, so I place it on the nightstand, roll over and get settled for some shuteye while watching Friends for the billionth time since a life without electronic interruptions does not exist.
I felt something weird on my arm, like a crumb or something. Maybe something that stuck to my arm while I was cleaning up the kitchen? It took all of ten seconds for me to realize that OMG, this could totally be a bug on my arm. I fly out of bed, trying not to disrupt my husband who is sleeping in his own bed for one night, flick on the light just in time to see this huge hideous bug scurrying about the covers.
MY WORST NIGHTMARE.
If you know anything about me, it’s that I loath bugs. Yeah yeah… I’m childish, immature, spoiled, whatever. But I hate them. I mean, I have many irrational fears in my life, and one of them is that a spider or something awful ends up crawling in my mouth while I sleep. And now there is a freaking BUG ON MY BED, which was mere centimeters away from my mouth. O.M.G.
But guess what? I was an adult. I flipped out mentally, but tried to hold it together and kill the bug without waking my husband who at this point, who had to be awake in three hours.
Which meant I had to be awake in three hours.
Which meant that by the time I had enough courage to actually get back in the devil-infested bed, I had horrible visions of things crawling all over me underneath the covers and was awake for another hour.
Needless to say… I’m still very tired.
So yes, two things I did before vaycaaaay: eat a thousand roasted blueberry parfaits and almost sleep with an insect. I like the first thing better.
I’ve been eating quinoa parfaits since I first saw Brittany share one years ago. In a word, I’ve become obsessed. Okay that was three words, but whatever. They are one of my favorite things to chew because they are so simple, so flavorful, and have a ton of texture. <- mandatory. I’ve been freaking out over coconut breakfast quinoa. And all I’ve been thinking about are the roasted blueberry cupcakes I made last year at this time and how I want to shove 50 of them in my face. At once.
This was just the most logical solution. The love child, if you will.
Roasted Blueberry Coconut Quinoa Parfaits with Coconut Granola
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pints fresh blueberries
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 2 cups light canned coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened flaked coconut
- 2 pinches of salt
- 1 (17-ounce) container plain Greek yogurt
easy coconut granola
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup unsweetened, flaked coconut
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, measured in solid form
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- For granola: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
- In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Melt coconut oil and add it to the oats, along with honey and vanilla, and stir thoroughly to moisten. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes. Remove and let sit for about 10 minutes to get crumbly.
Parfaits
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place blueberries on a nonstick baking sheet with a pinch of salt. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, or until berries start to burst. (At this time, if you don’t have granola or didn’t make it prior to, mix up the coconut granola recipe below and bake it at the same time, on the upper rack.) Remove both and set side.
- While blueberries and granola are baking, add quinoa and coconut milk to a saucepan along with another pinch of salt and the coconut flakes. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover, cooking for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
- When ready, assemble parfaits with layers of yogurt, roasted blueberries, coconut quinoa and granola. Eat!
Did you make this recipe?
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Even makes bugs and stuff better.
107 Comments on “Roasted Blueberry Coconut Quinoa Parfaits with Coconut Granola.”
I am TERRIFIED of bugs. Any kind. Eek!!
But at least the sight of that parfait makes it all better :)
I don’t know if I can ever go back to sleep now…partly because of the bug thing but also because I’m kind of starving and want like 80 parfaits now…
I totally do the same thing with breakfast…I eat the same thing every day for weeks. This looks delicious – the blueberries…YUM!
This looks amazing going to pin it to my Gluten Free Desserts board! Yummy!
Eeeeeeeeek! I could not deal with a bug in bed my other half would definitely have to wake up and get rid of it for me! Gorgeous photos of a gorgeous dish too!
Just a quick question…for the coconut oil…what does measured in solid form mean? Is is a solid? Basically I’ve never cooked with it and wondered what I should be looking for…looks delicious.
Yep it is a solid at room temp, sort of like butter or shortening. When you look for it, it will be in a jar. You want to measure it out of the jar in it’s solid form, then melt it!
You lived my worst nightmare, a bug in bed? How does one recover? The whole room is tainted!
I need this parfait. I have yet to have quinoa for breakfast! This sounds fantastic.
oooh, I would not be able to fall asleep after that as well!
These parfaits looks absolutely amazing Jessica! I am definitely making them – ASAP.
And, thank you for the shout out. :)
Love this recipe! I am so on the Quinoa train!!
Bugs – I hate bugs too and when I was laying n bed watching tv a Black Widow walked across my chest. I flew up like a crazy person. I bet that spider didn’t realize it could fly! Ugh!! I hate bugs and insects!
WHAT.
This recipe looks amazing, Jessica! And bugs? Oh glory! I can’t stand them. In the bed with me? I think they could just go ahead and call the coroner.
I would have died died DIED. DIED. DIIIIED.
Once I woke up, put my yoga pants on, felt, something…crunchy…in my left leg, swat it, took the pants off. and. found. a. freaking. roach.
I’ll never recover.
Give me that parfait thingy.
Never wearing yoga pants again.
It’s like we were separated at birth. But I’m a couple years older, so not sure how that would work.
Hate bugs too! And you’re not going to be impressed about this, but I STILL haven’t tried roasting blueberries. However, the photos you’ve got here today are totally convincing me that it needs to be done this weekend. PS. Ditto on the iPhone time wasting. I’ve developed a night time routine of washing my face, brushing my teeth, climbing into bed, checking to see that all is right in the world according to Instagram, and about 8 times out of 10, falling asleep with my iPhone in my hand. Woops!
YES this.
Ugh, bugs are horrible! In bed would be the worst thing ever. I would definitely have flipped out and made sure my husband woke up to find and kill the bug before I could even go back in the room. Going to the kitchen for something delicious like this seems perfectly reasonable to me!
Yeah, a bug in my bed is seriously high up there on the worst nightmare list too! Gosh, then you have the heebee jeebee’s for the rest of the night…at the very least! The parfait looks and sounds amazing! I love quinoa parfaits and make them with my coconut cream since I can’t do yogurt. My favorite version so far was zucchini bread, but I now need to try the blueberry! I bet cherry would be amazing too this time of year! Looks delicious!
Zucchini bread?! OMG yum.
I hate bugs, too, and I would freak out if there was one on me in my bed! The lights would be flipped on for a full inspection before climbing back in for sure! :-) The parfait looks delicious! Have fun on vacation, Jessica-I can’t wait to see the gorgeous photos of the lake and sunsets!
I put blueberries in and on EVERYTHING. Including in and with my quinoa. Hi, hello, creamy coconut milk. Nice to meet you.
I hate when I am waiting on pins and needles for something to come back in stock—- especially cute shoes! I feel your pain, Jessica. I feel your pain!
Beautifully delicious recipe!
I can’t get enough blueberries right now and I love coconut, so this is perfect!
ICK! A spider…noooooooo!!!
This recipe looks amazing!!!!!!
Love this parfait for any time of day!
coconut granola is my favorite! and I am posting a recipe with roasted blueberries this week too:) Great minds!
Whenever I see a bug in bed, I then dream about it… even though I’ve killed it. Ugh.
Ok, on to something better. I totally would eat this every day. Hey, it really isn’t bad for you!
Bugs in the bed are like the worst thing ever. And I neeeeever sleep the night before a trip. It’s like the one night a year (besides Christmas Eve, yes I am like a small child) that I develop insomnia. It’s ridiculous really.
LOOOOVE this parfait. The flavors are perfect!!
I’ve never roasted berries or had quinoa in breakfast/sweet form. I need to start living..now!
I get so frustrated with how boys wont consider parafaits etc meals. The other night – with my husband away – I had half a (4 person!) crumble to myself for dinner. With cream and red wine (with a little lemonade because I still dont like it on its own). Heavenly!
These look so good – and refreshing – Jess! Hope you are having a fabulous time on holiday. xox
Oh god, I could not handle a bug in my bed. On ME in my bed. Although for me, a spider would definitely be worse.
Longest.Title.Ever? Enjoy your holiday xx
This recipe is a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
i once woke up to find myself fondling something squishy. Once I came too enough to realize what I was doing and have a look, imagine my horror to discovered a freshly killed mouse, brought to me by one of our cats, in my hand!
Never thought of quinoa in a parfait. Will have to try this!
I hate bugs. And would not go back to bed at all for fear of them getting in my ears. Yikes. But these parfaits. Stupid good looking. Now I want to eat them every single day. They look that good.
I can see why you would eat this every single day
I wouldn’t have been able to hold it together and would have a) slept on the couch and hoped the bug didn’t eat my husband while I let him sleep, or b) been unable to suppress some sort of noise which would inevitably woken (is that a word?) husband up, at which time I would have made him dispatch the bug and do a complete bed search, including under the bed, in the closet, under the sheets, etc.
This recipe looks really good and I have never seen quinoa used this way. Must try. THank you.
I HATE bugs. I have a minor freak-out when I feel anything resembling a bug crawling on me… hair, strings from shirts, you name it. Not. Okay.
But, on a brighter note, that parfait looks realllly good. If I had more patience in the mornings, I would totally make it. Maybe for dessert with whipped cream on top…
OMG, I lived this just a few weeks ago! Went up to bed, just got all cozy and snuggled up with my Crate & Barrel catalog, when a GINORMOUS spider crawled across me. I flew out of bed screaming like a crazy person but I could not take my eyes off the spider because I wanted to make sure when husband came running that he could spot it and kill it immediately. Unfortunately, while running to my rescue, he tripped. And smacked his face on the ironing board. And then fell on his face. He thought I was getting murdered by a psycho killer, when he realized it was a spider he was not pleased. Much cursing ensued. Even though he did reluctantly kill said spider, I haven’t been able to sleep since then. Scarred. For. Life.
These look awesome, between the coconut granola (Bet your house smelled so good!) and the roasted blueberries, it’s all there.
And bugs. In bed. Shudder. I hate bugs; I actually am more okay with cockroaches than ants. Ants are like my #1 I hate hate hate them. Big bugs I am more okay with; it’s the little ones, that never seem to leave!
Mmm this sounds delicious and so refreshing!
These look sooooo good! I’m going to make them for our family breakfast next weekend. We’re all obsessed with blueberries & coconut!
These looks sooo good. I love the use of quinoa. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Whoaaaa this looks awesome! So creative. I want it now!
I love this! So simple, yet both delicious and nutritious! The blueberries are my favorite – such a great fiberlicious treat!
This looks perfect for these hot afternoons…
Bugs! yikes!!!!
I manned up and bought coconut oil this weekend. I will def. be making a whole mess load more of your recipes now. :)
Your bug story (shiver) reminded me of a not-very-pleasant encounter with a mouse scratching away at my pillow…right beside my head. After I leapt out of bed, he just sat twitching his whiskers, waiting for his close-up. Ugh.
These parfaits are nothing short of heavenly. I’m totally intrigued by the addition of quinoa.
thanks for the recipe… my post today was about finding goof granola recipes!
Just finished my own iPhone and friends routine…eerie.
Two things: these pictures are like the best ever…and this bug story is going to give me nightmares! I loathe bugs more than you, I’m very sure of this…
I LOVE this recipe! In fact, I follow only 2 bloggers, YOU and one other (Vegan,,,for my brother who is.) Every email you send, puts a smile on my face…thank you! And yep, I’m the EXACT same way with bugs, especially spiders…eek! Cheers, Wen
A bug in a bed might not get to me, but if his family is there, I’m hysterical. Love the blueberry breakfast or lunch or dinner here.