Overnight Oats with date drizzle and toasted almonds
Serves : 3-4
Cooking Time : 10 mins (plus overnight soak)
Chinese Medicine emphasises the importance of eating our food warm to aid digestion, particularly in winter. It also teaches that we should eat our largest meal at the start of the day and taper off towards evening. Warming, nutritious and filling, there are endless ways to make a bowl of porridge a delicious way to start the day.
Soak
Along with all other whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, oats contain phytic acid, which is nature’s way of enabling them to remain dormant until it is time to sprout. Which is very smart of the oats. But for us, the phytic acid can inhibit the absorption of magnesium, zinc, iron and calcium. Soaking our oats overnight helps to neutralise the phytic acid and also shortens the cooking time the next morning.
A good rule of thumb is to use 2 cups of water to 1 cup of oats. A squeeze of lemon juice or a dash of vinegar will also help the process. Soak overnight and then drain off the water and rinse before cooking.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups rolled oats
½ cup quinoa
Handful of goji berries, chopped unsulphured apricots or dates
1 teaspoon cinnamon
(you can also mix and match with other grains such as buckwheat, amaranth)
A handful of flaked almonds
2 cups of oat milk (you can of course use another milk instead)
For the date drizzle:
1 cup of oat milk
Yoghurt of any variety (coconut, sheeps, greek) to serve
Method
Soak oats, quinoa and dried fruit overnight in 4 cups of water (I soak in the pot I’ll be cooking in the next day)
Put the 10-12 dates and 1 cup of oat milk in bowl in the fridge to soak overnight
In the morning drain the water from the oats and rinse.
Pop back in the pot and add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of oat milk. Add the teaspoon of cinnamon. Cook on a low heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring often. You may need to add more water or milk as it thickens. You’ll know it is cooked when you can see the quinoa ‘balls’ have opened out into little spirals.
While porridge is cooking put the dates and oat milk you’ve had soaking in an upright blender (I use my trusty nutribullet) and whizz. It should have a thick pouring consistency. If not, add a little more oat milk and whizz again.
Toss a handful of flaked almonds into a dry frying pan and allow to toast at the edges (keep an eye on them, they burn fast!).
Serve porridge in a bowl topped with a swirl of date drizzle and toasted almonds. Top with a dollop of Sheep’s Greek Yoghurt. Yum.
Variations
…. Are endless! Any combo of fruit, buts and something sweet always works well. A few of my favourites are:
- – Sliced pears pan fried in butter or coconut oil with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a dollop of live yoghurt or kefir or coconut yoghurt.
- – Berries in season, pan roasted flaked almonds and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey
- – Pan fried bananas in butter or coconut oil and a sprinkle of cacao
- – Hiroe’s Apples. Slow cooked stewed apples. My kids like to take two bites out of an apple and leave it somewhere, so I tend to have a bowl of once-munched apples in the fridge. I chop them up, and put them in a heavy bottomed pan on a super low heat with a drizzle of honey for about 30 minutes. Stir them often and there is no need for any water. They turn out super sweet and tasty. Pop a few on top of your porridge along with a ‘breakfast sprinkle’ of whizzed up sunflower seeds, wheatgerm, flaxseed and maca root powder.