As it turned out, my rice pudding became quinoa pudding, because when I looked up how one made the original I was perplexed by references to "pudding rice". I could have used risotto rice instead, but didn't have any of that either. I know myself well enough to avoid buying ingredients on a whim if possible, so quinoa pudding it was.
I have actually made a quinoa breakfast pudding before, when recipe testing for Ricki Heller's Living Candida Free. However, that was an oven-baked dish and this is a creamier, stove-top affair. This is also firmly suitable for pudding, although by virtue of the ingredient list, you could have it for breakfast too. By using two forms of fresh fruit as well as dried raisins, you hardly need to add extra sugar and there is nothing to stop you enjoying this first thing in the day.
I know I was craving this sort of thing, so my judgment is inherently biased, but this really was very, very good. It was exactly what I wanted, but better, because traditional rice pudding is a bit heavy and dense whilst this quinoa version is satisfying without being stodgy. It is sweet enough and creamy enough without being too much of either, and genuinely doesn't taste quinoa-y. Of course, you can also make it with rice and you can serve it cold as well as hot.
I recommend it highly, even if you're not in late winter Britain.
Apple, pear and raisin quinoa pudding
A delicious pudding or breakfast, served hot or cold
Makes enough for 4 to 6
Vegan and low in fat
Author: Bite-sized thoughts
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa (or pudding rice, or risotto rice)
3 cups unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
2 to 3 medium apples, diced (no need to peel)
2 to 3 medium pears, diced (no need to peel)
1/2 cup raisins or sultanas
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Method
Combine the quinoa and almond milk in a large saucepan. Bring to simmering point and then add all remaining ingredients and reduce heat to low. Allow to cook, uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the pudding fluffy.
What have you enjoyed making this weekend?
Sounds like something I'd like! Pinning!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tina
DeleteI can't say I am quite in rice pudding mode - more in baked beans mode which we had for tea last night. I am interested in your pudding - and we are having cool enough days for pudding. I love your spoons - they look the type that you use with one posh little pinkie finger sticking out :-)
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely posh spoons :-) So posh that I rarely use them!
DeleteYou can't beat a classic British pudding, but I like your twist on it with using quinoa.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dannii :-)
DeleteThis sounds just like my kind of thing - but I would sub back the rice.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely would ;)
DeleteYou've just reminded me how very, very long it's been since I've had rice pudding, and I loved rice pudding so much when I was a kid (I used to have that stuff in the tin!) I really need to go and revisit that good pudding. As for steamed suet puddings with custard - definitely!
ReplyDeleteYou can revisit rice pudding while I acquaint myself with suet puddings :-)
DeleteYour quinoa pudding is reminding me that I need to eat more quinoa! I actually never liked rice pudding - I never had it until I went to boarding school during my high school years, and the other girls referred to it as "maggots" which totally put me off eating it. My husband loves rice pudding though, so he makes it for dessert sometimes, and I've grown to like it over the years we've been together. He is fussy about the rice he uses - he always tells me to buy long grain white rice so he can make the pudding - not brown rice, or jasmine, or sushi rice, or any other rice that I might have waiting in the pantry, hahaha. I'm not sure exactly what "pudding rice" might be though!
ReplyDeleteYour husband sounds like a rice pudding expert! I sympathise with your boarding school memories though - I've heard a few sad tales of awful school rice puddings.
DeleteI'm loving overnight oats but lately I've gotten a bit sick of them. This looks like a new breakfast I'll have to try!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary, I hope you enjoy it!
DeleteWhat a GREAT pudding, Kari! What I LOVE about it is...it doesn't have eggs in it! I'm not sure about the quinoa as I've never had it before but, I do love a good rice pudding especially since we are in mid-Winter too and it's really getting to look like pudding weather. Perhaps halfy halfy might be interesting, lol...Pinning:)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing, Kari...Stay warm:)
P.S. LOVE, love, love those spoons!
DeleteThanks Louise! And if you have never had quinoa, you must definitely acquaint yourself with it in some form :-)
DeleteI didn't grow up eating rice pudding because my mother hated it. She was scarred from a childhood of having to eat it and she found if very gluggy. But then I bought a rice cooker and it came with a little recipe book and in it there were a few rice pudding recipes. I started making them (and so easy to make in a rice cooker) and they became favourite inexpensive mid-week desserts on cold wintry nights. I love how your recipe has a lot of fruits and spices xx
ReplyDeleteA rice cooker sounds like a great way to make rice pudding. I imagine it avoids the glugginess too!
Delete