Chocolate-Banana Quinoa Pudding

Here’s a recipe to quench your sweet tooth, because I sense it has been feeling ignored over the past few posts. Bones, avocados and fish are all good, but desserts, for some reason, are always the superstar.

Pudding is a great type of dessert, as it is very versatile. It can be raw or cooked like a custard, it can be smooth or textured (like our local rezz b7aleeb / رزّ بحليب , or rice milk pudding), it can be light and fluffy (on the mousse side), runny, jelly like, or firm as a soft cake.  Ultimately, it can be mixed or topped with a choice of fruits, nuts, cookies,… You can really unleash your creativity in puddings.

I invented this (very) simple pudding one day, improvising a snack for Karma with some leftover quinoa I had cooked for a tabboule. It was an instant hit, and it brought me to make it every now and then, as a wholesome dessert (that happens to be gluten and dairy free, in addition to using whole grains and not plain starch like most puddings).

CHOCOLATE-QUINOA PUDDING

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked quinoa (⅔ cup uncooked)
• 2 large bananas (preferably ripe)
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• Up to ½ tbsp grape molasses (less if  bananas are very ripe)
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Wash the quinoa thoroughly 2 to 3 times (to remove saponins that make them bitter).
2. Transfer to small pot and cover generously with water.
3. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 min.
4. Drain quinoa and put in a powered blender.
5. Add bananas in large pieces, cocoa, molasses and cinnamon.
6. Blend to reach desired consistency (I like it a tidbit textured).
7. Pour in individual bowls and serve, or chill.

Click on any photo for a larger view / slideshow

This is a 5-ingredients pudding: quinoa, bananas, grape molasses, cocoa powder and ground cinnamon.

If you don’t have leftover cooked quinoa, start from scratch: wash it…

… and cook it (doesn’t take more than 20 min).

Now drain it (I’m giving it an extra rinse so I cool it and use it right away).

The quinoa goes into the blender, then the banana chunks,…

Then the cocoa, molasses and cinnamon.

Now give it a whizz.

There: the sweet-smelling banana gives this dark chocolate pudding the right balance of thickness and moisture.

Even I (who DO NOT EAT BANANAS), love this pudding!

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