Quinoa "Rice" Pudding

I love rice pudding.  There's something about all those flavors and textures married together that create an explosion of happiness on my taste buds. Still in the spirit of taking comfort foods to the next level nutritionally, I thought I'd give the classic baked rice pudding recipe a make-over.

Quinoa is a grain that is now on my radar.  This super-food looks a lot like couscous, can be used in place of rice or pasta, and has a nutty, earthy flavor.  

Today, instead of preparing quinoa into a savory dish, I'm still listening to the call of my sweet tooth, and elevating a much-loved, traditional family fave.  But WHY QUINOA?  I could have replaced the typically used white rice in the rice pudding recipe with brown rice.  Brown rice is certainly a healthier option when compared to white rice.  Opening my cupboard, I had 2 packages of quinoa already on hand.  And I'd originally purchased them because I'd read a few places that it is a super food that is gaining in popularity.  Whether prepared sweet or savory, it's a great way to get added protein, fiber, zinc, and iron into your diet.   

Today I decided to prepare a family-sized portion of my Quinoa "Rice" Pudding.  But before that could happen, I needed to cook some quinoa.  It's very simple.  I followed the cooking directions on the package.  I used:

• 1-1/4 cup quinoa
• 2-1/2 cup water 

Add the water and quinoa to a pot, and turn the burner to HIGH.  Once it reaches a boil, turn the burner to LOW, and cover with a lid.  Set your timer for 10 minutes.  I didn't stir during cooking time.  After my timer went off, I removed the pot from the heat, and let the quinoa, still covered, rest for 5 minutes.  After that, just fluff with a fork and allow to cool.

Now that I had some cooked quinoa cooling, I was ready to get the rest of my ingredients put together.  The amounts listed above will give you just enough quinoa for my rice pudding recipe make-over.

This is what everything looked like just before baking.  Even at this point, it smelled heavenly.

Golden-brown goodness!  The house was filled with the smell of sweet cinnamon.  

 

Beautiful!  The texture is just like traditional rice pudding.  

I couldn't wait to try a bite. It's so delicious!  It has the perfect level of sweetness, too.

AND it won't break the bank calorie-wise.  

Another success! 

Quinoa "Rice" Pudding

 

 3 cups prepared quinoa

6 eggs

2/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk

2/3 cup honey

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)

1-1/2 Tbs cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 cup raisins

 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. If using freshly prepared quinoa, allow to cool to room temperature before preparing recipe.  *If you do not allow it to cool, the heat could scramble the egg mixture.*
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, honey, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.  Make sure everything is thoroughly incorporated.
4. Add raisins to cooled quinoa, and combine.
5. Add egg mixture to quinoa mixture and stir to combine.
6. In a parchment-lined 9x13" baking dish, pour quinoa-egg mixture.
7. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the dessert comes out clean.
8. Once removed from oven, lift the dessert out of the dish by grabbing and lifting up on the parchment paper.  This will keep the dessert from sweating in the bottom of the pan.  Place and allow to rest on a cooling rack.
9. Slice into 12 equal servings, and serve warm or cold.  Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Yields 12 servings.

Nutritional Facts based on 1 serving.