Good Morning Sunshine: Greek Yogurt w/ Toasted Quinoa & Dates

"Wake up, wake up, you little sleep head, get your little buns out of bed............." (it's a song).

Truth be told, I don't eat breakfast until 11 a.m.

Some would call this an "early lunch", or brunch, except "brunch" is usually reserved for weekends.

I just can't eat anything before that hour with my 2 cups of Goya coffee.

You have seen my breakfast of champions.

Whole grain toast swiped w/ mashed avocado & lemon juice, or a delicious scrambled egg of some kind with a vegetable and cheese thrown in the mix.

Well, today, I am a new woman.

I tried this odd sounding breakfast of toasted quinoa, over Greek yogurt with my beloved Medjool dates, and felt very pleased with myself.
I even ate it before 10 a.m., and felt energetic and satisfied until well after lunch.

It was originally seen on the Bon Appetit Cleanse for 2013 diet.

Greek yogurt is a high protein snack, with 13 grams of protein, and quinoa also is packed w/ protein and anti-oxidants.
So you can have this as a mid afternoon snack too, I won't hold you to the breakfast routine.

This recipe sounds very Persian or Greek to me. Maybe it's the pistachios added in, or the beautiful Mediterranean dates.

I loved this.
Maybe it will change my bad habit of skipping breakfast.

Greek Yogurt w/ Toasted Quinoa, Nuts & Dates: (adapted from Food52)

6 oz. of plain Greek yogurt (I used 0% fat)
2 Medjool plump dates, chopped
3/4 tbsp of quinoa
5 almonds, chopped (you can use more or less)
5 pistachios, chopped (you can use more or less)
a little bit of lemon zest
drizzle of honey for the top

Here's the deal:

In a small skillet, toast the quinoa dry on medium heat until you hear it pop like popcorn! It will smell nutty, then you know it's ready. About 3 minutes.

Toast up the nuts (I do mine in the toaster oven). Careful they don't burn.

Spread the yogurt in a flat bowl and sprinkle w/ the hot toasted quinoa and nuts. Dab on the chopped dates.

Sprinkle with some lemon zest and a drizzle of honey.

*note: the next morning I made this, I used Oikos honey Greek yogurt, only used 1 Medjool date, added more quinoa (about a tablespoon), and only the almonds, and I liked it even better.

Play around with it, and see what you like!

Enjoy and have a great day!