Quinoa… the ‘mother grain’ of the Incas!
Several years ago, very few people had even heard of it (let alone knew how to pronounce it!). But today quinoa has become almost a ‘mainstream’ food – so much so that WE can even buy it locally, here in the Bahamas (a part of the world somewhat slower than others to follow food trends!).
Packed with protein and gluten free, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah if you’re still wondering!) also provides calcium, fibre, iron and lots of other vitamins and minerals.
It is an ancient food, believed to increase the stamina of warriors (hence the Inca reference). We enjoy it regularly as part of our main meal, but it’s a particular favourite of our littlest ‘warrior’, who has loved it since his very first taste at 6 months.
Although it tends to be used as a savoury item, we thought we’d share with you today our very simple recipe for a quinoa dessert.
What we like to do occasionally is cook our quinoa in plain water, with no seasoning – then, once cooked, we set some aside for a ‘sweet’ dish, and go on to season the rest for dinner. This is a great time-saver, and you can use your sweeter quinoa for either dessert or breakfast.
When we say ‘sweeter’, we don’t mean that you should add sugar to it, of course. You can provide a delicious sweetness to this nutritious food with the simple addition of certain fruits, and that’s what we do in today’s recipe.
Please note that we used tricolour quinoa to make this dish – hence the interesting speckled appearance! But you can, of course, use regular quinoa too.
To Make Banana Berry Quinoa Dessert You Will Need…
2 tbsp cooked quinoa (follow the instructions on the packaging)
1/2 ripe banana, chopped
1 tbsp fresh blueberries (halved) or frozen blueberries (thawed)
2 tbsp natural yogurt
2 drops vanilla
Preparation is easy!
Just combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
Serve immediately.
This is a textured dish, ideal for babies able to manage soft lumps. It can, however, be pureed to a relatively smooth texture, although you may need to add a little more yogurt or a tbsp of breastmilk/formula to achieve the perfect consistency!
Learn more about this superfood and try more quinoa baby food recipes
jayne
Thursday 27th of January 2011
Great recipe, thanks for posting!