Polystyrene Slice

Last week I went in to the city, which is only 5 or 6kms from our house but which we very rarely visit. I was there to record an interview with my friend James on ABC Local Radio about veganism, food, and blogging. While I was there, I dropped in to Plant Essentials to replenish my stocks of makeup and lotion. And when I saw a pack of puffed quinoa on a reduced to clear table, I grabbed that as well - good for granola, I thought.

But then, before I could even think about granola, Hannah posted a recipe for peanut butter bubble slice (or, peanut butter rice krispy treats). It looked really good, and I thought, I could make this with things I have on hand - that is, subbing golden syrup for the brown rice syrup, and using these quinoa puffs instead of rice bubbles.

So I tried it out. First, I measured my puffed quinoa into a bowl. Nacho was interested, so to avoid her putting her paw in the bowl, I put a few puffs onto the counter for her. That was my first indication that puffed quinoa has a lot in common with polystyrene balls (you know, the kind you fill a bean bag with). They flew across the counter on the power of the fan breeze, ending up all over the kitchen.

I forged ahead, using crunchy peanut butter, of course, because why not? I also threw a bit of LSA into the mix, so I could pretend this slice is healthy. And, since we don't have a microwave, I did it all on the stove.

These are not as good as I expect an actual rice bubble slice is - too much puff, not enough krispy. But, it's really not bad. It's salty-sweet-nutty, and the crunchy peanut butter helps the polystyrene-ish quinoa slice to have a bit of texture. It is a good mid-morning uni snack, with enough protein and carbs to get me through till lunch. So while it's not a total, utter win, it's certainly not a fail, either.