Baked Breakfast Quinoa with Plums and Pistachios.
Apparently I am alllllllll about breakfast right now.
I’m also all about cold summer iced teas and taupe booties and neon pink blush and chocolate chip cookies and the week old+ sunflowers on our new cream kitchen table but I’m not forcing all that stuff in your face now am I? At least not yet. The worst (best?) part if that I have like four more breakfast recipes in my backup arsenal at the moment. I hate when I get on a weird food streak and binge blog it. I don’t even realize it until it’s happening.
This recipe and the last are worth it though – because the waffles are kind of sort of like dessert. In a way. Or at least a weekend breakfast. And these breakfast bowls – which are CLEARLY healthy because they have the word quinoa in the title – are more like a weekday breakfast. So you can feel good about yourself and start the day of right. <insert every other cliché here>
I do this really annoying this where I still call quinoa, or should I say that I still pronounce quinoa, as it sounds – like kee-noh-ah. Mostly in the privacy of my own home. I accidentally on purpose trash up other words too, like acai which I still call ah-kai, any and all the time. But the worst was this past weekend when I had to do a little interview for the book and I started to say quinoa but was actually saying kee-noh-ah and it was live and I sort of wanted to die because then I really sounded like I had no idea what I was talking about. Which, let’s be honest, I usually do not. But I do know quinoa.
Even if the rest of the world pronounces it weirdly. It’s not me!
After seeing these breakfast quinoa flakes a few weeks ago, I was craving a breakfast like that. Maybe because fall is kinda sorta around the corner but also really because it just looked SO good.
And I kind of modeled this here after one of my all-time favorite breakfasts – the coconut milk quinoa breakfast bowl. There was a period when I ate this for months on end. Like no variety, which is insane me for, the queen of boredom. I think perhaps the best part of that breakfast, besides all of the texture of course, is the length of time it keeps me FULL. Seriously. We are talking hours. Like maybe five or six. Which so rarely happens. It has to be a combo of the nuts and quinoa and coconut milk – it isn’t offensively filling to the point when you feel stuffed, but it’s so satisfying that you might not think about lunch until, well… lunch.
For me, that’s unusual.
This is just the same! Maybe even slightly better, because I added a dollop of yogurt. Most filling breakfast ever.
But the real question is… why even bake the quinoa? It only takes like 15 minutes on the stovetop so baking seems rather pointless. And at times it might be. But I also really love the final result once this quinoa is baked – it’s ridiculously cinnamon-y and also takes on a slightly stronger crunch than the quinoa that absorbed the liquid on the stovetop – but not in a dried out kind of way. It also allows for other fabulous options like adding fruit to the quinoa before baking (let’s go with apples?) and have them get all soft and delicious inside the baked grains.
In this case, I stewed some plums quickly for the topping because I don’t want plum season to ever ever end ever. Maybe it already has ended but I just can’t stop eating them in every which way. Adore adore! I wouldn’t mind faceplanting into a bowl full of those. Plus, I think things like quinoa and oatmeal and cooked breakfast-y grains get better with boatloads of textural toppings, like nuts and fruit and yogurt and seeds and…. chocolate. Of course.
I left that one off this time but not on purpose.
Next time… add chocolate.
Baked Breakfast Quinoa with Plums and Pistachios
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
- milk, for serving
- yogurt, for serving
- stewed plums
- 4 plums, sliced
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In a bowl, stir together the quinoa, milk, water, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Pour it into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir well (to incorporate any of the milk laying on top), then bake for 15 to 20 more minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed.
stewed plums
- While the quinoa is cooking, make the plums. Add the plums, water and honey to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the plums are soft and juicy, about 5 minutes.
- To serve the quinoa, scoop some into a bowl and pour milk over top. My favorite here is coconut milk! Add some yogurt and pistachios on too, then spoon some of the plums and juice over it. Devour.
Did you make this recipe?
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ugh. it’s just so pretty!
75 Comments on “Baked Breakfast Quinoa with Plums and Pistachios.”
I’m not going to lie- I have to say quinoa like that just to remember how to spell it! For some reason, my brain dislikes that word even though I really love it. This is such a beautiful breakfast dish!
I love your quinoa story! That’s classic about the interview going live :)
Love these red plums. Sadly they seem about done in my grocery stores. The last couple weeks they weren’t looking too hot. Sniff.
Pinned!
This definitely will be better than Quaker Dinosaur Oatmeal,now i just have to come up with a silly name ,so Charlotte will eat it. How about Inca Oatmeal ,because this is a Peruvian Grain.??????
Now I wish I had a bowl of this yummy goodness. Can’t wait to see you in Boston!! Are we aloud to take a picture of us your signing.
its early and I can’t spell or form sentences. What I meant to ask is, can we take a picture with you at your signing.
of course!!! :)
Toasted grains are simply the milestone of cooking that need to be discovered earlier. if I knew about this soon I would be a warm breakfast person for many years. Haha so Cute about the pronunciations; I have ones too. I actually said Chriozo like cheerios!
This sounds and looks amazing. Keep bringing the breakfast recipes–fall is the only time I actually want to cook breakfast!
This looks delicious!
Yum! Seriously love how quinoa can be used in so many different ways. Including this awesome looking bake! And totally loving the plum + pistachio combo with so many lovely warm spices!
(also, thanks for the link love! xo)
So, I used to say (and still do in my head) paleo – the diet, not era – as pa-lay-oh instead of pale-eo. Uhhhhh …. oops? Plus the approach of the diet makes more sense when you say it correctly. I blame it on my bread consumption.
:D
Please tell me you’ve seen the NFL commercial with the guy pronouncing quinoa wrong?! If not, please enjoy this addition to your Monday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TobvW77tuwQ
HAHAHAHAH
I’m the same way with cooking binges, and lately it’s allll dessert in my life. I’m loving your breakfast recipes–if I start my day with a healthy recipe like this, the cookies don’t count right?
(PS. YES chocolate version!)
Have you tried making a big batch of this and reheating it each morning? Any good? I’d like to make it on a Sunday for a week’s worth of breakfasts.
yes i totally reheat!! it’s not quite as “texturized” as the first day of eating, but i still think it’s great!
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This looks so yummy! can’t wait to try it (:
I am also prone to fixating. I like an ingredient and I cling to it, using it in everything. Or I bake 5 quick breads in a row. Then I’m over it for a while. Now that has a name: binge-cooking. Good to know!
Love that this really is a ‘healthy breakfast’ but looks far more decadent and dessert-like. Delicious. Thanks for sharing!
ahh, breakfast is my favourite. love it for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, omg allthetime! we’re totally nerds and for fun call it kee-noh-ah too, which was fun till my dad ordered the kee-noh-ah salad at dinner and it was all we could do to not fall off our chairs we were laughing so hard. (hashtag dads)
I have never cooked quinoa, and this looks like a great reason to start!!! Looks like a perfect fall breakfast.
LOVE baked quinoa! Hilarious about the pronunciation. ;)
I have a hard time pronouncing words properly all the time. My mouth often refuses to cooperate with my brain, haha. I love this quinoa breakfast idea. And your photography is stunning.
Everything I see here, I always just want to eat! Congrats on your new book and hope you’re having fun on your book tour (great to see on instagram)! : )
I am so making this for breakfast tomorrow and adding apples like you suggested. So excited!!!
YUM! I love baked oatmeal, but never thought of doing baked quinoa. Love this!
Mmmm I’m definitely going to try this recipe this autumn.
I love quinoa for breakfast, and it really doesn’t matter how you pronounce it — it looks delicious! :)
I always want to say quinoa “keen-WAHHHHH” like a ninja assassin. It is super bizarre, and I don’t know why it reminds me of a ninja. I imagine wood board being karate chopped…and it makes me happy.
It’s here! It’s here! Damn Canadian Amazon finally got me my copy of the book. it’s beautiful!
YAY! thank you!!
Hahah, I always say “ah-kai” for acai… I’m also guilty of calling Lululemon “Lu-Lu-Mon”, which doesn’t even phonetically make sense, so I’m not sure why my brain sees it that way lol.
I loved cooked quinoa, but I never thought about baking it! I’ll have to try this out, because it looks insanely delicious!
This looks great! I tried quinoa for breakfast once years ago (actually my first time cooking quinoa ever) and it wasn’t very breakfasty. I think I only had some maple syrup going on probably. But I love this baked recipe, so I think that I’m ready to take another stab at the whole quinoa for breakfast thing!
I’ve never done baked quinoa before, even though whenever I see a recipe for it, it looks incred! Do you use coconut milk in the actual quinoa part or just on top? I’d like to use it for everything, but I’m wondering if it would be too thick for the quinoa to absorb. Do you think lite coconut milk would work?
i use it for both – but i often do use a lighter version if i cook it in the milk. i like the trader joe’s lite coconut milk. i also use almond milk and will sometimes mix full fat coconut milk with some water. usually the topping is full fat coconut because i love it so much!
Seriously, bring on the breakfast food binge — I FREAKING LOVE breakfast – yes, hands down my favourite meal of the day … This breakfast bowl, umm – yea, sign me up!
Can’t wait to try this!
i do that too! and i pronounce jalapeno with a J, so i sound REAL dumb when i order stuff at mexican.
I am incredibly excited to try this baked quinoa (my auto-correct wants to change that to “Joaquin” …). Waiting (not so patiently) for the mail lady to leave a certain cookbook on my doorstep!!
This looks totally amazing and loved that you used quinoa instead of oats!!
I’m so excited that you’ve made a few recipes with plums (plus the one in your book which is so simple and wonderful) because I have ten billion of them in a bowl in my fridge. Thank ya, lady!
BRING ON ALL THE BREAKFAST FOOD. Because I ridiculously need more breakfasts like this quinoa situation in my life.
This is my favorite recipe ever, i eat it all the time.. minus the nuts, not crazy about nuts. Have you tried to stew peaches like that? I go between peaches and plums.. but plums add that nice sour taste.. mmm.. so good!
i have not… and now i must!!
I just inherited a big bag of plums so I am DEFINITELY going to be all over this.
This looks like a great use for leftover quinoa. And, if it’s any consolation, certain people in my household still pronounce it wrong. It makes me laugh every time!
What an awesome and creative way to eat quinoa! I’m definitely trying this!
I’m like that with cooking too! I’m also on a breakfast hype at the moment, and all I want are breakfast bowls. Pitaya bowls, acai bowl, avocado bowls… I’ll have to try this baked quinoa bowl! It looks so amazingly delish! Congratulations on your book! Can’t wait to see you in San Francisco!
Binge blogging.. yes! I do it all.the.time and I drive myself mad because I suddenly realise I have sixteen ice cream recipes at once… aargh! I love stewing plums, especially when they’re just a little sour – they’re so juicy and sweet!
I can never have too many breakfast recipes! Breakfast is great, even for dinner or lunch
i have yet to try quinoa in the morning but lately, steel cut oatmeal is my goto breakfast. Quinoa is up next!
My breakfast this morning was a chocolate chip muffin, but this totally would have been better. Can I employ you? I can’t pay… but I could just bedazzle everything in your LIFE for you, in exchange. Let’s discuss the deets over nachos, k? ♥
I’d have this deliciousness for breakfast EVERY day, and I love the binge blogging of awesome recipes, keep ’em coming!
I’ve never had quinoa for breakfast! I could get down with that though.
I am always all about breakfast—-so this all works for me. Plums like apricots
are underused fruits. I guess because now you see them, now you don’t. So it’s good to see that you are taking advantage of them while they are here.
This sounds awesome and a great way to sneak in some tasty fiber for my 8yo twin boys. Will this do well if made ahead of time? And if so, would it be best to freeze the baked portion or just leave in the frig?
I am eating this as I type! SO thankful my baby napped long enough for me to get this in the oven! So deiish and wonderfully packed with protein! I also roasted some peaches after being inspired by your waffle recipe so I can top a bowl or two with those later this week!
ugh, I have a serious problem with only using exclamation marks…seriously.