QUINOA BREAKFAST BOWL WITH MANGOS AND COCONUTS

Quinoa for breakfast? Why not?  Quinoa is so nutritious, and personally, I can't think of a better way to start the day.
In fact quinoa has all the amino acids needed to make it a complete protein.
You can eat it hot or cold.  It's quite good either way. If you are pressed for time in the morning, you can easily prepare it the night before.
If you do not have a high speed blender, or if fresh Thai coconuts are not available where you live, you could make the "milk' using 2 cans of full fat coconut milk, 3 tablespoons of agave, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. You would just mix them together and put it in the saucepan, and then continue with the recipe by adding the quinoa and oatmeal as explained below.

QUINOA BREAKFAST BOWL WITH MANGOS AND COCONUTS

Ingredients:

*Meat and water from one fresh Thai coconut (see below on how to open a coconut)
1 cup of water
4 dates, pitted
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of quinoa
3/4 cup of gluten free old fashion oats
2 mangos, seeded, skin removed, and cubed
1/4 cup of coconut flakes
1/4 cup of hemp seeds
1/4 cup of raw unsalted cashews, chopped

Preparation:

 For coconut "milk":

Using a high speed blender, put the 5 first ingredients inside and blend until very smooth. This should give you 3 1/2 cups of milk, If you get less, add a little bit of water, and blend some more.

For the quinoa bowls:

In a small sauce pan, bring to a boil the quinoa and the coconut milk mixture under medium-high heat.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Stop the heat, add the old fashion oats, mix well and let stand, covered for 5 minutes.
Fluff with a fork. and split the mixture evenly into 4 bowls.
Top each of the  bowls with an even amount of mangoes, coconut flakes, hemp seeds, and chopped cashews.
Enjoy warm or refrigerated.

Bon appetit!

This will make 4 servings

*To open a coconut, I simply use a cleaver to whack around the top middle until a “lid” is created, then open that lid using the cleaver to grip it. I can then remove the water and scoop out the meat. please be careful of your spare hand, do not hold the coconut with it, or have it near by while creating the lid. Accidents happens fast!