GLOBAL GARDENS BREAKFAST FEAST
On a rainy Friday morning a couple of weeks ago we organised a Global Gardens breakfast feast. We chose to do a breakfast instead of a supper this month, as we thought it’s such a vital part of a day. A nourishing meal in the morning is an assured way to make you feel happier and stronger throughout the day.
We started the morning with a soaked oat recipe from Abel&Cole. It’s one of the most scrumptious that I’ve tried. The original recipe had a few extra additions that I didn’t use and I don’t think are necessary - the recipe below is so tasty already - but a spoonful of nut butter or a dollop of yoghurt could be a nice addition.
Another great thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t require any cooking, although you may choose to warm the oats or the orange syrup a bit in case you feel like having something warmer. You may even choose to fully cook it, but, I’d say, the uncooked soaked oats taste much better than the cooked ones.
I recommend using jumbo oats which are firmer and less processed than porridge oats. They will have a nicer texture and a firmer bite.
Overnight soaked oats
(serves 1)
Ingredients
1/2-1 cup Jumbo oats
2-3 pitted dates
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds)
A pinch of sea salt
Plant milk
1 orange (blood orange if in season)
1/2 tsp cardamon seeds
2 tsp of a sweetener (honey, sugar, maple syrup or any other)
1. Mix oats with dates, cinnamon, seeds and salt. For soaking you can use plant milk , or water or a mixture of both works quite well too. Leave it overnight to soak. You may try to experiment and see how long it actually takes for oats to be soaked. I once had soaked oats in just 4 hours and they were just as nice.
2. Zest the orange, then peel it and discard the peel. As you peel it, make sure to catch the juice, and squeeze out the bits of orange that get peeled off. Cut it into segments and mix it with the sweetener and cardamon seeds in a bowl. At this point if your oats are ready you can top them with the orange syrup and have it as it is. Enjoy!
The bowl of soaked oats was followed by taste of buckwheat porridge or ‘grikiu kose’ in Lithuanian. It is one of the breakfast dishes that’s traditional to Central/Eastern European cuisines. Despite the word ‘wheat’ in its name, buckwheat is a seed and is a good source of protein and fibre.
It is a very simple recipe to make and requires only 3 ingredients: buckwheat, salt and butter. If you don’t eat dairy, you can find some good vegan alternatives. I recommend that you use some kind of fat as otherwise the porridge might be too dry. Also the traditional recipe uses toasted buckwheat but you can use raw buckwheat groats and toast them yourself before boiling.
Buckwheat porridge
(serves 1-2 people)
Ingredients
About 100g of buckwheat groats
Salt
Butter
1. Toast buckwheat in a pot for several minutes. Keep stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn. Once the texture gets hard and the buckwheat darkens, add water. If you’re using 100g of buckwheat add 200g of water. Cook on high heat for about 5 minutes, with a lid covered.
2. Then turn the heat off, mix in salt and butter and then cover with a kitchen towel and leave it to absorb water for 15-20 minutes. Try not to lift the lid during this time. Buckwheat cooked in this way will be tastier and less mushy.
Granola
The final part of our breakfast feast was making a granola, which we baked and then shared between ourselves to take home. I demonstrated how to make one using my original recipe that I’ve shared on my food blog and you can read about it following this link https://onesmallspoon.com/my-recipes/just-granola/
Vaida is food coordinator at Global Gardens and a food blogger at onesmallspoon.com
