Quinoa Love and a Fruity Quinoa Loaf

We're on the quinoa bandwagon.  I bought a bag at Costco, not long ago after reading about how healthy these pearly little grains are.  I had hoped that it would be a nice alternative to rice.  As it happens, quinoa is incredibly nutritious and versatile.  I've discovered it works equally well as a savoury side-dish, a cooked breakfast cereal, and a cold salad ingredient.  As if that wasn't enough to declare quinoa a winner in our house, I was further amazed by what it contributes to baked goods.  I teased you with a photo of this loaf a couple of weeks ago, and today I'm sharing the recipe with you.

As I've become more comfortable in the kitchen, I've also become more adventurous with recipes and ingredient substitutions.  I mean, if we can hide avocados in brownies and spinach in smoothies, what's a bit of quinoa in a loaf?  Turns out some plain cooked quinoa can replace part of the flour in a recipe, not only boosting the nutritional value but also creating a loaf that's moist and dense.

Some of the inspiration behind this loaf was a rather pathetic looking fruit basket.  By the end of the week, most of the fruit was past it's prime... bruised, over-ripe, and blemished.  It was still edible but the kids would have no part of it.  The easy solution was to chop it up and bake something.  Like a Quinoa Banana Yogurt Apple Nectarine Loaf.  Yep, all that needs to be in the name ... there's just so much goodness going on in here :)

Quinoa Banana Yogurt Apple Nectarine Loaf

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

2 large, ripe bananas, mashed

½ cup Greek vanilla yogurt

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 egg, room temperature

½ cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups chopped fruit – I used apples and nectarine because that’s what I had, but any combination of apples, peaches and pears would be good too.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a loaf pan.  I like to put a strip of parchment paper in the bottom to help the loaf release easily after it's baked.

Combine the quinoa with the bananas, yogurt, oil, egg and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir to combine until just incorporated.
Fold in chopped fruit.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 min until toothpick inserted into centre of loaf comes out clean.  Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool before slicing.

 

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