Breakfast Tapioca Porridge (Gluten Free)

This is my hubby's new breakfast that is elimination diet compatible.  Breakfasts are probably the hardest meal for elimination diets!  He always liked oatmeal (and granola!) but we're currently staying away from it to test food sensitivities.  We came up with tapioca pudding as a good substitute.  This is a warm comforting breakfast porridge.

I cook enough for a few breakfasts at once, and then the subsequent leftovers get reheated in the microwave for faster breakfasts on the following days.

The only bummer is that tapioca seems to be less filling than our normal breakfast choices.  I bet this is fairly calorie dense from the coconut milk so it's not a diet breakfast!  Since I'm using canned coconut milk it has the BPA risk.  I'm looking into whether I can make this satisfactorily with home blended dried coconut and water instead.

Note on tapioca: you can boil tapioca like pasta in lots of water, then drain off the starchy water.  Then later add the coconut milk for porridge, or use it plain like a grain or starch with a meal. The only issue is it hardens up really fast (like 10 minutes?!).  But luckily you can easily rehydrate the hardened cooked tapioca pearls by recooking in liquid, while breaking up clumps with a spoon.  I did read somewhere that you can store plain boiled and drained tapioca pearls in a sugar syrup to help keep them from sticking to each other, but I think that's more useful for boba tea.  One of these days I want to see if I can cook the tapioca in the rice cooker... (akin to how we used to set up steel cut oats in the rice cooker overnight with a timer to get them cooking before we awoke).

Note on blueberries: I pick bunches of these in the summer and freeze them. In the winter they are easy to thaw-- heat up water in the electric kettle; pour frozen blueberries into a ceramic/heat resistant mug; pour hot water over the top and let sit for a couple minutes; then strain by holding the berries back with a spoon while pouring the water from the mug out into the sink.

Method:
Combine 1/3 C small tapioca pearls with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, stir and boil for 5 minutes or until the tapioca softens. Add more water if needed (if it gets too sticky).

Turn off the heat, cover and let the tapioca sit for 10 minutes. This helps prevent the sticky-center problem with tapioca.

Now add some coconut milk, to taste. For this amount of tapioca, I'd say shoot for 1/4 to 1/2 the can of coconut milk.  Stir and bring to a gentle simmer.

Add a pinch of sea salt, and 1 - 2 TB sugar (or use agave or maple syrup).

Serve hot, with blueberries on top.   Or try bananas-- they are a good tropical match for tapioca and coconut.