Cardamom Vanilla Porridge + Exciting News!

April 20, 2012 By Leanne Vogel March 30, 2017

We’ve been experiencing dreadfully cold mornings with rain, snow and lots of wind.

Chilly mornings don’t exactly put me in the mood for a cold smoothie for breakfast, but they’re guaranteed to bring on a craving for a bowl of warm and nourishing porridge! I could have gone for the obvious oat-based porridge, but I wanted to try something different yesterday morning. I used my sweet coconut pudding (coconut payasam) recipe as inspiration, subbed out the rice noodles for amaranth and quinoa and used coconut oil instead of ghee. Oh, and added some rose water. Gotta have that rose water in there!

We have loads of amaranth in the pantry that I bought over a year ago and still haven’t used up. I’m sure you could make this porridge with 100% amaranth, I just don’t like the gooey quality of amaranth on it’s own, so I combined it with quinoa. Millet would probably work, too!

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Cardamom Vanilla Porridge + Exciting News!

Author: Leanne Vogel

Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Refined sugar-free, Yeast-free, Corn-free, Grain-free

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 2 servings

Gluten-free amaranth and quinoa porridge infused with rose water, cardamom, and vanilla bean.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil
½ cup young coconut meat, diced
¼ cup amaranth
¼ cup quinoa
½ cup light coconut milk
1 cup coconut water or plain water
1.5 tablespoon demerara, palm or date sugar
10 cardamom pods
2 tablespoon raisins
Flesh from 1 vanilla bean + pod
1 teaspoon rose water
pinch of Himalayan rock salt

Instructions

To open the coconut: use a sharp kitchen knife, cut into the young coconut until you reach it’s hard core. Using a rubber mallet, hit the top of the knife until you feel it break into the core. Spread apart the sides and allow coconut water to drain into a glass or mug. Place the knife back into the slit and continue to hit the edge of the knife with the mallet until the coconut breaks in two. Alternatively, once you feel you’ve cut through it enough, you can pry the two sides apart. Scoop out the meat with a spoon and dice small.
In a medium sized saucepan, combine coconut oil and coconut meat. Saute medium heat, stirring constantly until coconut is browned, about 4 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes with the lid on. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes with the lid on to thicken. Remove the cardamom and vanilla bean pods and serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.

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You can find young coconuts in basic grocery stores anywhere. They’re much easier to open than the brown coconuts, which would also work for this recipe. Start by inserting a sharp knife into the top.

Then take a rubber mallet and hit the top of the knife until it breaks into the hard shell.

Flip the coconut upside down to drain the water into a large bowl, then pry it open with your hands, or the knife.

Scoop out the flesh, and you’re ready to go. Easy as could be!

My favorite part was sauteing the coconut. I grabbed a couple of pieces just to make sure the process was yielding the proper result ;)

Mmm vanilla bean specks are my favorite.

On Wednesday, I posted this Facebook update…

and wouldn’t you know it, it did! I’ve been keeping a secret from everyone, including many of my closest friends. But the final details were approved on Wednesday which meant I could finally share my ridiculously exciting news with the world… I quit my full-time marketing job! While I was in India, I learned that life is too short not to embrace what you love, take chances, and believe in yourself. And, that I could truly do anything I put my mind to, regardless of how scary it was.

The day I got back to the office from my trip, I went into my bosses office and told him I wanted to leave. It was one of the most intense moments I’ve ever experienced. I was doing something without having a clue of what the outcome would be. I didn’t have a plan, hadn’t rehearsed anything, just knew that this was the right decision. That was a month and a half ago. I’m not one to be able to keep a secret like this so I’m pretty proud of myself for holding on to it for this long. As of August 1, I will be a full-time blogger and nutrition educator. Working for myself, living out my dreams, and smiling every darn minute. Ah!