Whole-Wheat Quinoa Pancakes With Mango-Blueberry Salad Recipe

Published July 23, 2013 07:21PM

This flavorful carb-packed breakfast will fuel your morning workouts. Recipe from triathlete-chef Kevin Couch.

Ingredients

Pancakes
1 cup whole-wheat flour
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder³/₄ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 large eggs
1½ cups buttermilk
3 T molasses
1 tsp bourbon vanilla extract
2 T canola oil
1 cup cooked quinoa

Salad
1 cup fresh mango, diced
1 cup fresh blueberries
1-2 T fresh mint, to taste
¼ cup honey
¼ cup fresh orange juice

Directions

Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, molasses, vanilla extract and oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients then slowly whisk in the wet ingredients to form a thick batter. Fold in the cooked quinoa. Let rest 5 minutes. Ladle about 2 ounces of batter onto a heated skillet or griddle pan lightly greased with vegetable oil. When bottom is golden brown, about 1–2 minutes, flip and cook on the second side for about 1 minute. Recipe makes about 12 4-inch pancakes. To make the mango-blueberry salad, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine juice and honey, and heat in a microwave for 5–10 seconds, then blend well with a spoon. Mix all ingredients and macerate for 15 minutes before serving. To serve, place 3–4 pancakes on a plate, and top with mango-blueberry salad, your favorite vanilla Greek yogurt or pure maple syrup.

Meet the Triathlete-Chef

Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Southern New Jersey resident Kevin Couch is now a senior executive chef for Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar, so he spends his work weeks traveling among the restaurant’s three locations—Atlantic City, N.J.; Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. He’s found that triathlon has helped him keep a healthy life balance. “I think the combination of fitness helps alleviate the stress and makes the job easier,” he says. “It’s very demanding—it’s a lot of hours—so being physically fit definitely helps.” He started racing triathlon after 10 years of running started to take a toll on his body. Now in his second season, he’ll race a couple of Olympic-distance events and hopes to get a half-iron-distance race in before the end of the year. The 45-year-old husband and father hopes his kids will follow his lead: “I want to lead a healthy lifestyle and set a good example for them.”