Quinoa-stuffed mushrooms with garlic tomatoes and poached egg

This is a good way to start your day, and the ideal breakfast recipe to help you think outside the cereal box. The quinoa will keep you full all morning, and will help those energy levels to soar. I like to serve this with a slice of gluten-free bread to mop up any egg yolk and tomato juices.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 40g quinoa
• 200ml water or gluten-free vegetable stock
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Lucy Bee coconut oil, melted
• 4 flat mushrooms, ideally Portobello, stalks removed
• Handful of cashew nuts (optional)
• 2 medium eggs
• Handful of baby spinach leaves
• Himalayan salt and ground black pepper

To serve

• Chopped parsley or pea shoots
• Slices of gluten-free bread

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

2. Put the quinoa and water or stock (for more flavour) in a pan and cook over a medium heat for 10-12 minutes, until softened. Drain and set aside.

3. Place the tomato halves on a baking tray, sprinkle with the garlic, drizzle over half the coconut oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place the mushrooms and cashew nuts, if using, on a separate baking tray and brush with the remaining coconut oil, then place both trays in the oven and bake the tomatoes for 15 minutes and the mushrooms and cashew nuts for 10 minutes.

4. Stuff the cooked mushrooms with the drained quinoa, then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, add boiling water to about a 10cm depth to a saucepan. Lower the heat so that the water is just off the boil, then crack both eggs into the water and cook for 3 minutes (for a runny yolk). Remove with a slotted spoon.

6. Spread a layer of spinach across each plate, then add the mushrooms and cashew nuts. Scatter the tomatoes over the mushrooms and then place poached egg on top. Season, scatter over chopped parsley or pea shoots, then serve immediately with slices of gluten-free bread.

From Coconut Oil: Nature’s Perfect Ingredient. Recipe text © 2015 Lucy Bee Limited.