Coconut Quinoa Pudding

In trying to come up with new uses for Quinoa recently, and knowing you can use it in place of rice in many recipes, I thought about trying a Quinoa Pudding. I had also been thinking about making a Coconut Flan, so I decided to take a stab at a Coconut Quinoa Pudding. It actually had a consistency more like Tapioca than Rice Pudding, but I definitely liked it. Of course, I love Tapioca, so that makes sense. The only downside is how often am I gonna wanna stand around cooking up a batch of quinoa? It's one thing if you're making it as a side dish, since you're already in the kitchen working on the entree. Hmmm...I think I just answered my own question. I made this one night on a whim, when I wasn't doing anything else, so I was bored waiting for it to cook down. If I made it while I was making dinner sometime ...  

Being Armenian, we almost always make Pilaf, so the only time we ever really think to make Rice Pudding is if we order Chinese takeout and have leftover rice that nobody will end up eating otherwise. You don't really want to make Rice Pudding with rice that's been cooked in butter and chicken broth and has noodles in it!  😉

I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, so I only made a small batch - 4 servings.

Bring to a boil ...

1/2 c quinoa
1 can coconut milk
1 can milk (I just poured it into the coconut milk can) 

Stir in ...
1/2 c sugar
1/4 t salt 

Lower to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the quinoa just starts to bloom. Put about 1T of cornstarch in a measuring cup and pour in a little of the liquid, stirring to make a slurry. Add that to the pot and continue to cook until the mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 t vanilla and 1/2 t coconut extract. Pour into 4 ramekins and chill to set.

Serve topped with pineapple and toasted coconut. I didn't have any fresh pineapple or pineapple tidbits, so I popped open a can of pineapple rings and just diced up a few. For the coconut, I toast it in a dry non-stick pan over medium heat - just remember that it will continue to cook when you remove it from the heat, so don't let it get too brown, and pour it onto a paper towel or plate so the residual  heat from the pan doesn't burn it.