Since it opened last August, Simple Joe Café in Mid City has hooked patrons with its homey menu and diner vibe. Amid the breakfast sandwiches, scratch-made pancakes and unpretentious coffee is a popular fruit-and-grain dish developed by co-founder Sean Braswell. His blueberry quinoa is an assemblage of homemade granola, fresh fruit, Greek yogurt and quinoa turned miraculously blue and subtly sweet. Braswell’s granola begins with rolled oats he soaks in apple juice before toasting. Once crisp and golden, they’re tossed with honey, raisins, dried cranberries, sliced almonds and brown sugar. For the quinoa, Braswell cooks down fresh blueberries in coconut milk and uses the creamy mixture to finish quinoa he’s partially steamed. “I use coconut milk because so many people can’t do dairy,” Braswell says. “So if you hold the yogurt, it’s a totally vegan dish. It has become a really popular item.”

Simple Joe Café and Confectionary
3057 Government Street
478-2999
simplejoecafeandconfectionary.com
Tues.-Fri., 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sat.-Sun., 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.