Blackberry Quinoa Parfait w/ Almond Yogurt

One of our favourite blogs is Closet Cooking, written by Kevin Lynch. Literally every single recipe appeals to us, he's just so smart and innovative with his cooking yet still takes a relatable and traditional approach, we just love what he's got going on there. A lot of his recipes aren't exactly vegan but there is still lots of veggie based dishes to choose from. His most recent post was a Blueberry Quinoa Parfait, I was like: parfait! Omg totally did not realize, parfait is perfect in french, could this be any more perfect?...haha...

I was intrigued of using quinoa (instead of granola) in a parfait, I mean the more protein the better, especially when it comes to breakfast right?

Kevin used regular yogurt, so I needed to find a substitute, while out at the store today I spotted: Amande yogurt. I've seen it around and Jenn has tried it before, and she said she didn't like it very much so I never bothered to try it myself. They had the little containers of them though on sale for 1.50 each so...peach it was!

Jenn tried the plain flavour of this yogurt and I think that's why she didn't like it, because I actually loved the peach flavour. If you want to try it, definitely prepare for it to taste very almondy, and it's not as tart as regular dairy yogurt but it has a nice creamy and thick yogurty texture that is just perfect to layer into a parfait. Plus it's sweetened with fruit juice concentrate, so no refined sugars! I dunno I probably wouldn't buy it all the time but it's definitely a nice vegan yogurt substitute. Stamp of approval!

nice consistency

The fruit involved in this parfait were blackberries and bananas:

Blackberries

They were too big, choppy choppy choppy

1/2 cup dry quinoa, cooked (not too much, you still want it to be slightly chewy)
1/2 banana sliced
10 blackberries, cut in half
1 single serving container almond yogurt
Toppings (chopped dry roasted almonds, dried cranberries)

Cook quinoa, drain and cool by rinsing with cold water. Mix yogurt with sliced bananas. Layer in a parfait glass (or in this case, it was a regular drinking glass) yogurt mixture, quinoa, berries, yogurt, quinoa, berries, yogurt, then top with toppings of choice. Makes one amazing and hearty breakfast.

Thanks Kevin for the inspiration! I actually ended up eating this for lunch, I reckon it's a good meal anytime of day because of how nutritious and filling quinoa can be.

zee finished product...parfait (w/ chopped dry roasted almonds and dried cranberries)