Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Quinoa

Happy October!

I can’t believe it’s already October – I have absolutely no idea where September went (or the whole year, for that matter). I’m hoping this month goes a lot slower because fall is always over so quickly here and there are too many things to enjoy before they’re gone, like the beautiful red and gold leaves on the trees, sunny weather with crisp air, being able to wear light jackets and boots before the parka and heavy boots come out for what feels like forever, and of course, pumpkin spice everything!

This is the first pumpkin recipe I’ve made this fall and I know I’ll be making it several more times before the season’s over!

I love pumpkin oatmeal, but replacing oats with quinoa retains the comforting porridge-like texture while adding lots of protein to give you energy to start your day! And because quinoa can be left alone while it cooks, it’s still easy to make this on a weekday morning while you’re getting ready for work or school.

All you need to do to turn plain quinoa into this cozy pumpkin breakfast quinoa is replace some of the cooking water with milk, then stir in some pumpkin, vanilla, spices, a little maple syrup for sweetness, and top with some pecans for crunch.

If you usually add milk to your oatmeal, you can do the same with this breakfast quinoa too – your choice! And if you want this to be even more of a treat, feel free to throw in a spoonful of chocolate chips!

Pumpkin Spice Breakfast Quinoa

Adapted from several sources, including a recipe by Two Peas and their Pod seen on Make and Takes

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk – I used almond milk but any milk will work

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Pinch of salt

2-4 tablespoons chopped pecans

Directions:

Bring milk and water to a boil in a small to medium sized saucepan.  Add quinoa, cover, reduce heat to simmer, and let cook 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes.  Uncover and fluff with a fork, then stir in the pumpkin, maple syrup, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.  Taste and adjust any amounts to your liking (i.e. add more sweetness or spices).  Divide into two bowls (add milk if desired) and top with desired amount of pecans.

Chicken, Pear, & Goat Cheese Salad with Wheat Beer Vinaigrette

Now that fall has officially begun, I’m craving all things autumn: apples, pears, cranberries, squash, sweet potatoes, apple cider, warm drinks, and pumpkin everything, though I’ve had particular cravings for pumpkin baked goods and pumpkin pie. It’s crazy to think that (Canadian) Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away and I haven’t made anything with pumpkin yet – I think that needs to change this weekend!

But before I start baking, my first venture into comforting fall dishes began a little healthier with this salad!

I’ve been wanting to try using beer in a vinaigrette for a while now - the house salad at a popular restaurant chain around here includes a beer dressing, and though you can’t taste it, the idea of including beer in your dressing makes the idea of salad for dinner so much more exciting!  So I found a recipe for a pear and walnut salad with wheat beer vinaigrette from Vegetarian Times and used that as a base for the salad that I had in mind.

Wheat beer is pretty mild, but when you reduce it, it intensifies in flavour (which is why you don’t want to start with a strong or bitter beer).  Once you add all the other ingredients for the dressing though, you’d have no idea there’s beer in there, it just subtly enhances the flavour in a nice way that complements the other fall ingredients in the salad – including pears, goat cheese, pecans, cranberries, and chicken.

I loved this salad as is (and think it would be great for Thanksgiving!), but you could also make tons of substitutions to it to make it your own. Blue cheese instead of goat cheese would be delicious, or apples instead of pears, walnuts instead of pecans, spinach or arugula instead of mixed greens, or even leave out the chicken for a vegetarian side salad. You could also of course use any dressing you like if you don't keep beer in the house - a maple balsamic vinaigrette would probably taste great!

Hope you all enjoy the first official full weekend of fall!

Chicken, Pear, & Goat Cheese Salad with Wheat Beer Vinaigrette

Adapted from Vegetarian Times

Serves 4 as a main dish

Ingredients:

For the Dressing:

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons wheat beer

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1/2 tablespoon honey

1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)

1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper

For the Salad:

~4 cups mixed salad greens

2 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced

2 ripe bosc or red-skinned pears, halved, cored and thinly sliced

3 oz goat cheese, crumbled (or as an alternative you could use blue cheese)

1/4 cup toasted pecans or walnuts

1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Prepare the vinaigrette: Add wheat beer to a small saucepan, bring to a boil, and let simmer until reduced to 2 tablespoons (about 5-7 minutes).  Remove from heat and whisk in the remaining dressing ingredients (shallot through to pepper).  Set aside.

Prepare the salad: Divide greens among 4 plates or bowls.  Top each salad with sliced chicken and pears, and sprinkle pecans, cranberries, and goat cheese on top.  Drizzle each salad with the vinaigrette and serve immediately.

Note: All amounts are approximations - adjust based on your own tastes if desired.

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Cranberry Quinoa Salad

After the Toblerone cheesecake bars I last posted, I felt obligated to share something a little more on the healthy side today!

Quinoa has become a very popular “superfood” in the last few years, and there’s a ton of info out there about its nutritional value so I won’t repeat it all here (but check out this link if you want a quick overview). Quinoa’s one of my favourite things to cook with because it’s so versatile and works great in big batches of healthy dishes that I can eat throughout the week for healthy and energizing lunches or dinners.

While this dish isn’t a revolutionary new way to eat quinoa or anything, it’s a really tasty and healthy meal that makes a great addition to your repertoire of quinoa recipes. Protein-rich quinoa is combined with even more nutritious ingredients like sweet potatoes and kale, with some pearl onions and cranberries thrown in for added sweetness and texture.

I loved the combination of all those ingredients, but the balsamic dressing really tied it all together and soaked right into the quinoa to boost the flavour of the dish even more. I love adding flavourful dressings to dishes like this, but if you aren't a big fan of balsamic or find it overpowering, you may want to start by adding less of the dressing and tasting it to make sure you add the amount that suits your taste.

A sprinkle of pecans on top added the perfect finishing crunch to the dish (I recommend adding them individually to each serving so that they don’t get soggy). And if you wanted this to pack even more of a "superfood" punch, I bet pomegranate seeds in place of cranberries would be a great substitution!

I actually made this back in December when I wanted to have a big bowl of something healthy on hand for the holiday madness, and my sister and I loved grabbing servings of it for lunches for at least a week. Even Ryan, who is usually pretty skeptical of “healthy food”, enjoyed it for a few lunches himself too. So whether you’re a quinoa lover or skeptic, you’ll love this easy and satisfying dish!

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Cranberry Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Dressing

Adapted from Domestic Fits

Serves at least 4 as a main, or serves a crowd as a side

Ingredients:

For the quinoa:

1 package quinoa, about 3-4 cups cooked
2 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups pearl onions
1 bunch of kale, leaves finely chopped
2/3 cup dried cranberries

For the dressing:

1 large shallot, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Optional add-in: 1/4 to 1/2 cup pecans

Directions:

Cook the quinoa according to package directions.

Cook the sweet potatoes in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water until tender, about 7-10 minutes. Drain.

Cook the pearl onions in a medium pot of boiling water for 5-7 minutes. Drain and let cool slightly. Cut off the ends, peel the outer layer, then chop the onions.

If desired, blanch the kale in a pot of simmering water for one minute, then drain. I prefer the kale this way rather than raw, but you can leave it raw if you like.

In a small bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired. If serving the entire amount at once, mix the pecans in along with all the other ingredients. If planning to have leftovers, add the pecans before serving so they don’t get soggy.

*Keep leftovers refrigerated. Can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature - I enjoyed it each way!

Holiday Cranberry Brie Wreath

Back in November I was lucky enough to be selected as one of six Canadian food bloggers to be featured in Eat in Eat Out's premiere issue. My gingerbread crepes with eggnog whipped cream appeared on pages 48-9 of the digital magazine (and if you haven't made them yet, I don't know what you're waiting for!), but we each actually created two original recipes for Eat In Eat Out. My second recipe, which will be featured on their homepage next week, was this amazing holiday cranberry brie wreath.

When I first tried thinking of holiday flavours to incorporate into my two recipes, my thoughts went to gingerbread, eggnog, and cranberry. Since the first two were already covered in the crepe recipe, I decided to make something a little more on the savoury side using the cranberries. Cranberries pair so well with brie cheese, and I don't know anyone who can resist melted brie, so I decided to wrap them together with some crunchy pecans in a sweet dough formed into a festive wreath shape.

I was a little worried that the whole thing would somehow explode in the oven and turn into a giant mess, but while it may not have been a perfect wreath shape after baking, it actually did hold together quite well. The real test came when I sliced into the wreath to try a piece, but as soon as I saw the layers of sweet cranberry sauce, soft dough, and oozing brie, I knew it would be good. One bite in, and I was in heaven!

I knew I would devour the whole thing myself if I stayed in the house with it, and since I wanted to share it with others while it was still warm, I cut a bunch of slices and rushed it over to my Grandma's where some of my family members were already gathered. They all finished their plates pretty quickly and agreed I had a winning recipe.

The only problem was trying to figure out how to classify this recipe. I originally intended it to be an appetizer, which would work well because it feeds a big crowd if you cut really thin slices, and you only need thin slices as it's pretty filling. However, because it's a little sweeter than most appetizers, I think it would also work as a brunch offering, or even a dessert. I guess my problem with figuring out how to categorize it isn't really a bad thing, since it gives you a lot more options for serving it! However you think it should be classified, I hope you give this a try, just make sure you have lots of people to share it with!

Holiday Cranberry Brie Wreath

Serves about 20

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (110° to 115°)

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided

1 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon salt

3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

1 (12-oz) bag fresh cranberries

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

200g double-cream brie cheese, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Optional egg wash: 1 egg + 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

Dissolve the package of yeast in 1/4 cup warm water, with 1 tablespoon sugar. Stir and let sit 5-10 minutes, until yeast starts to foam. If it doesn’t, the yeast may no longer be active, and try again with a fresher pack.

Add 1/2 cup sugar, the warm milk, butter, salt, and 2 cups flour to the bowl. Beat until smooth (either with an electric mixer or a whisk). Add in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead 6-8 minutes, adding more flour as necessary if the dough is too sticky, until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Place in a large greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 1.5 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare cranberry sauce by bringing 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add bag of fresh cranberries and reduce heat. Let simmer about 10 minutes, until cranberries break down and sauce is thickened. Let cool.

Punch down dough and roll on a floured surface into a 16 inch by 12 inch rectangle. Spread cooled cranberry sauce over the surface of the dough. Make sure the sauce spreads all the way to the shorter edges of the dough, but leave a 1-inch border on the long edge of the dough furthest away from you (the edge you will be rolling the dough toward). Cover with slices of brie, as evenly as possible. Sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans. Beginning with the long edge of the dough closest to you, roll the dough towards the opposite end, jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam to seal.

Spray a round baking pan with cooking spray. Transfer the rolled dough to the pan and form into a wreath, pinching the two ends of the log together as best as you can. Use scissors to cut into the wreath so that the filling is slightly exposed - cut about 1/2 to 1 inch into the dough, at about 2 inch intervals (you don't want the filling to fall out, just to show). Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F.

If desired, prepare an egg wash for the dough by whisking together one egg with 2 tablespoons of water. Before baking the dough, brush the surface evenly with the egg wash (make sure you cover every part of the dough evenly so there are no differences in colour).

Bake the wreath for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool slightly, then slice and serve warm.

Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake

I hesitated to post this recipe because I know cinnamon chips aren’t available to everyone (including us Canadians), but this cake was just way too good not to share! I hope that by now, more grocery stores in the US are carrying cinnamon chips, but if not, you can always order them on Amazon (they’re worth it). I also hope that Canadian stores will start carrying these, but until then, I’ll have to keep driving to the States to get them (no I don’t drive all the way there just for cinnamon chips, but I do go shopping there once in a while and I always grab a bag of cinnamon chips when I do!) For those who are still stuck, I have seen cinnamon chips in bulk food stores before, so don’t give up hope!

This coffee cake is full of those delicious little cinnamon chips, and it’s also really dense, moist, and delicious! The original recipe name was Cinnamon Chip Applesauce Coffee Cake, but I removed the word ‘applesauce’ from my title because you really don’t taste it at all, I think it’s mainly there to add moisture to the cake. The recipe didn’t specify which kind of applesauce to use, so I guessed and bought unsweetened applesauce. Once I tasted the cake, it was very sweet already, so I was glad I used the unsweetened kind. It’s definitely sweet enough to serve as a dessert cake, but I also enjoyed it for breakfast (though next time if I plan on serving it only for breakfast, I might reduce the sugar a bit). I also left out the nuts because I was sending the cake to work with Ryan, and I always try to omit nuts when they’re not essential so that people with allergies aren’t left out. But I’m sure this would be delicious with the added crunch of some pecans so go ahead and add them in if you don’t need to worry about allergies!

This cake is so easy and quick to throw together. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool before removing it from the pan, because it smells so amazing – but it’s important to let it cool so that it will keep its shape when you invert it out of the pan. The cake is perfect on its own, but I decided to add a simple maple glaze just to dress it up a bit. However, you’re also supposed to wait for the cake to completely cool before adding a glaze, otherwise the glaze just kind of gets absorbed into the cake. I was in a hurry and so that’s exactly what happened to mine, but if you are a little more patient than me, it will look much better!

One more thing I wanted to add before I get to the recipe is that my twin sister Genevieve (from Vanilla & Spice) and I have decided to have a “Thanksgiving Week” on our blogs for the week leading up to Canadian Thanksgiving (which is next weekend already!) Every day next week, starting on Sunday and ending on Saturday, we will both be posting a different Thanksgiving recipe idea on our blogs. So be sure to come back on Sunday and follow along if you’re in need of some inspiration!

Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake

Adapted from Hershey’s Kitchens

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-2/3 cups (10-oz. bag) Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips

1 cup chopped pecans (optional – I left them out)

Glaze ingredients (optional):

3/4 cup icing sugar

1 teaspoon maple extract

2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 12-cup bundt pan.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in applesauce.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, beating until well blended. Fold in cinnamon chips, and pecans if desired.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the thickest part comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

If using a glaze, mix together the icing sugar, milk, and maple extract, and drizzle over cooled cake before slicing.