Coconut Quinoa Breakfast Salad – 4th Blogiversary

Hi everyone, simpleglutenfreekitchen will be 4 years old next week. Time has truly flown. While I’m not posting and visiting blogs as frequently this year as I used to, I am still grateful to every single person who have visited and supported this blog for the past 4 years. Whether it’s just one post that you have read or followed me from the start, I want you to know that I truly appreciate that you’ve stopped by. THANK YOU! I’m very excited for the fifth year ahead and hope that you continue to share this journey with me.

My family and I eat tons of fruit all year long but I hate to see the mango season go. So to say farewell to my beloved mangoes and to celebrate my blogiversary, I have this wonderful tasting Quinoa breakfast salad with mangoes, pineapple and strawberries. It’s elegant, refreshing, nutrient rich and a perfect summer fare.

Energy is something we all look forward to begin our day with. Research has shown that eating a protein and fiber packed breakfast promotes satiety to a greater extent compared to a high carbohydrate breakfast. Both oats and quinoa make for good fiber and protein rich breakfasts and can be made in advance.  In summer regular oats porridge can feel too heavy so I like to swap oats for quinoa and enjoy a light breakfast. This coconut quinoa breakfast salad is a complete meal, offering protein and essential nutrients to meet your energy needs.

You can find quinoa in all different colors – white, red (ivory), and black are the most commonly available. Red and black being more firm and slightly bitter than the regular white quinoa. If you rinse the raw quinoa thoroughly under running water dragging your fingers through it as you rinse, you can never taste the bitterness.  I buy all three colors and use them depending on my mood or whichever is most appealing for the recipe. For this one I chose half tri color and half white. Tri color quinoa is a beautiful blend of white, red and black.

I started by cooking the quinoa in coconut milk, like rice. Then I added freshly squeezed lemon juice (sometimes I add orange juice) and mint and, popped it in the fridge to soak up the lemony flavor and fresh mint fragrance. I then finished off with tropical fruits right before serving. It is so simple to make, yet so delicious. I did not add any sweetener. If you want to sweeten the quinoa you can, but the fruit offers so much natural sweetness that you won’t  feel the need of extra sugar, just trust me.

Give it a try this weekend and let me know what you think.