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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Bowls of Goodness

As you all know, I am quite a fan of the hot-breakfast-in-a-bowl. Of course, as much as I love my oatmeal (I'm missing it right now! I'll explain why in my next post.) sometimes, other grains are just as good. My grandma recently gave me a bag of Gluten-Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal from Bob's Red Mill. It's made from whole grain brown rice, corn, sorghum, and buckwheat. By itself it's a little boring, so I thought I would jazz it up a little:


The directions on the package make four servings, so I had to devise a way to make this a single serving. Especially since (and I've noticed this with most cereals that contain coarse ground corn), the amount of water you use quickly evaporates after about 2-3 minutes and the cereal is not yet done yet. I know, I know, I suppose I could just use more water, but I was more interested in making a creamy porridge. So, to remedy this situation, I added unsweetened almond milk at the point where most of the water is gone and continued to cook it until the cereal was done. Perfect! Then, to add some flavor, I added either chocolate chips (gluten-free) or carob chips (not gluten-free), cinnamon, a touch of almond butter, and some protein powder (because that's how I roll) and topped it with flax seeds and nuts. The result is a super-satisfying hot cereal that keeps me going until lunchtime! I can't really think of a name for this, since it's just a breakfast thing I put together, so how about...

Jess's Tasty Gluten-Free Chocolate-Almond Porridge?

I mostly just love the word "porridge".

Ingredients:
1/4 c. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal (what a mouthful!)
3/4 c. water
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
dash of salt
1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk
1 Tb. gluten-free chocolate chips
1/2 Tb. almond butter
2 Tb. chocolate protein powder (I use Lifetime Life's Basics Plant Protein)
2-4 drops vanilla stevia, optional
1 tsp. sliced almonds, for garnish
1/2 tsp. golden or regular flax, for garnish

1. In a small saucepan (real small), bring the water and salt to a bowl. Stir in the Hot Cereal, and reduce heat to medium (or medium-low, you want a nice, slow simmer). Cook for 2-3 minutes or until most of the water is gone. Be careful not to burn the cereal!

2. Stir in the almond milk, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and almond butter, turn up heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and allow the cereal to cook for another 7-8 minutes. Stir well to make sure all the almond butter and chips are melted. Add a little more almond milk if it's too thick for you liking.

3. Remove from heat and stir in the protein powder and stevia, if using. Garnish with the sliced almonds and flax and enjoy!

This was actually the last of my Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal, so I'll be moving on to some brown rice farina next, and we all know how much I love my farina!

I have also been cooking from The 30-Minute Vegan's Taste of the East. It's a really good cookbook and the food is divided up into sections: Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Thai, and Fusion. Although I've really been digging the recipes from the Chinese section, I just had to make this Black Rice Pudding from the Thai section:


This particular rice pudding has a chewy texture and a hint of nutty flavor from the black rice. It's made creamy with coconut milk and sweetened with agave and brown sugar. When I made this, I used only about 2/3 the amount of the sugar, just because I wanted something I could also eat for breakfast. And, although I didn't add the optional mirin (no thanks!), I did put in a good amount of cinnamon. To finish it off, I added some unsweetened coconut chips and granola pieces for texture. The crunchy granola bits really added a something-something to it that I liked.

In total, I've only made about three recipes from this particular cookbook, but I really enjoyed them! I can't wait to cook more! Next up, I'll be making the Cantonese Lemon Tofu. I've got my wok (the one I got this past Christmas) completely seasoned and ready to go!

And finally, I've got a pretty big announcement in my next post and it will involve the most epic pantry challenge ever. Stay tuned!

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