zojicherrypie2

Cherry Pie for breakfast?

That has been the state of affairs around here lately.

I recently combined my love for a morning bowl of sweet steamy whole grains with a longtime adoration of dark cherries.

And believe it or not, this comes out tasting like cherry pie.

As a matter of fact, I’ll announce to my husband Greg that we’ll be “Having cherry pie for breakfast when I get back from my run.”

No complaints from him.  This treat is an all-around hit.

This is as easy as it gets.

Since acquiring my Zojirushi rice cooker a few months ago, using the porridge mode has been my favorite way to cook my morning grains.

First, meet my new rice cooker

I first encountered this rice cooker in my good friend Miyoko Schinner’s kitchen.

Yes, I mean the Miyoko of Mikoko’s Kitchen cultured nut product cheeses (and all-around mistress of anything veg in the kitchen) when I stayed for a couple of nights while we traveled together to Texas for Healthfest.

Something about the way the rice tasted coming out of this cooker sold me on the investment in one for myself.  In contrast to my previous rice cookers (I have two previous models, it gets used that much!), my Zoji seems to steam the grains more than boil the heck out of them.

And the difference is tastable. And that, along with how often I use this puppy, justified the price.

Needless to say, Zoji – as I fondly call her –  has stepped up an already busy rice schedule in our house.

Plus, she has an elephant on the label.

How can I resist?  Each encounter with Zoji takes me back to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage we have visited several times in Africa, where our first-fostered elephant, Mbegu, is thriving.

How we roll with brown rice around here.

How we roll with brown rice around here.

I buy organic short-grain brown rice in 12-lb. sacks at great discount at Costco – it’s something like $13 a bag.

Plus, though I don’t claim to be a ‘locavore’, it’s nice to know that Lundberg grows right down the road from us here in northern California.

Along with brown jasmine rice, short-grain brown is my favorite rice.

It is not only the perfect texture, sweet, and flavorful, it is extremely versatile and lends itself to not only the basic grains, beans and veggies, but provides the perfect backdrop to the beans and corn in my enchiladas and the chewy base of my Plant Burgers (recipe soon to be published in Plant-Based Journey!)

How to make breakfast-worthy cherry pie

Where were we?  Oh yeah, back to the cherry pie.

I simple measure in one part whole grains, usually steel-cut oats to about three parts water. Recently I’ve been mixing it up with part polenta, brown rice cream- they’re all good.

It goes into Zoji, I close the lid, scroll through to the ‘porridge’ setting, and an hour later she’s all cooked.

Then, I grab my bag of frozen cherries from the freezer and pour in a few handfuls.

Dark tart cherries work too - I buy them by the bag at Costco or Trader Joe's, where you can find sweet dark cherries in the freezer section.

Dark tart cherries work too – I buy them by the bag at Costco or Trader Joe’s, where you can find sweet dark cherries in the freezer section.

 

I stir, close the lid for a couple of minutes – just long enough to thaw the cherries – and then serve in bowls with a splash of plant milk and quite often, a slice of toasted sprouted raisen bread with peanut butter.

Cherry pie – with crust!

zojiicherrypie

The stir-frozen-cherries-in-at-the-last-minute method works for any fruit – and is a great way to plump up prunes, too.

 

Use the cooktop or microwave

Any rice cooker will do for this wonderful brekkie.  You could also simply use a pan on the stove or the microwave. The pie part comes with just adding the cherries at the end.

There you have it!  Breakfast-worthy cherry pie.

Let me know if you try it, and if you have some creative twists to share….by all means do tell!

Enjoy what you eat – always!

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