Hot Quinoa Porridge

I wasn't expecting much from this recipe because it looked so healthy, but was pleasantly surprised.  You know how sometimes you make a cake and don't want to tell others what went into it because it is so unhealthy?  Well, the opposite happened with this recipe, whereby I did not want to tell Aki what was in it because I thought that would negatively bias his rating of it.  Anyways, this recipe is from the new Fresh restaurant cookbook (Fresh: New Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes from Fresh Restaurants by Jennifer Houston and Ruth Tal), but was printed in the Toronto Star a couple of weekends back. 

Quinoa, Oat & Barley Porridge
1/2 cup each of quinoa, steel-cut oats, pearl barley
4 cups water
6 dried apricots, sliced (I used craisins)
6 dates, pitted, chopped
2 tbsp currants (I omitted these)
1/4 tsp salt
cinnamon & maple syrup to taste

Rinse grains under cold running water.  Transfer to medium saucepan (I used a pressure cooker), add water, apricots, dates, currants, and salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover.  Simmer, stirring occasionally until water is absorbed, about 20 to 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.  Top with anything you would like.