Super Natural Every Day (5 page)

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Plain yoghurt, to serve

Water, to serve

Maple syrup, to serve (optional)

In a large bowl, toss together the oats, almonds, raisins,wheat germ, and salt. Transfer to a 1 litre-capacity glass jar (or equivalent) until you are ready to use it.

For each serving, spoon 115 g yoghurt into a bowl, thin with 60 ml water, and sweeten with a splash of maple syrup. Stir in 60 g muesli and let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or preferably overnight. Top with a small handful of raisins and serve.

SERVES 6–8

Granola

CURRANTS, WALNUTS, ORANGE ZEST

Nutty, orange-scented, and peppered with tiny currants, this has become our house granola. On occasion, I do a more decadent “weekend” version with double the butter and a bit more maple syrup.

400 g rolled oats

170 g walnut halves

60 g flaked coconut

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

85 g currants Zest of 2 oranges

85 g unsalted butter

120 ml maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 150°C (Gas Mark 2) with racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Set out two rimmed baking trays.

Combine the oats, walnuts, coconut, salt, currants, and orange zest in a large mixing bowl. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir in the maple syrup. Whisk until thoroughly combined, then pour the maple mixture over the oat mixture and stir until everything is well coated, at least 30 seconds. Divide the mixture equally between the two baking trays and spread into a thin layer.

Bake, stirring a couple times along the way, for 40–50 minutes, or until the granola is toasty and deeply golden. You may want to rotate the pans once, top to bottom, to ensure even baking.

Remove from the oven and press down on the granola with a metal spatula—you’ll get more clumps this way. Allow to cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

FILLS A 2 LITRE-CAPACITY JAR

Porridge

PRUNES, HAZELNUTS, BROWN BUTTER, YOGHURT

As much as I love chunky, hearty steel-cut oats and long, lazy breakfasts, there are mornings when I don’t have extra minutes to spare. Enter old-fashioned rolled oats. A pot comes together in about 10 minutes, simmering away while I get dressed. You’ll make a cranky mess of the pan, but you can simply let it soak while you’re out. Any cooked-on oats will wipe off later in the day with little effort.

Swirling a bit of plain yoghurt, cream, or (even better) crème fraîche into each bowl of cooked oats before eating helps emphasise the porridge’s creaminess. And when it comes to toppings, the combination of toasted hazelnuts, prunes, and brown butter is hard to beat, although some days I just enjoy the porridge straight with a sprinkling of soft brown sugar or muscovado sugar. Be sure to use rolled oats here, and not instant oats.

700 ml water

140 g rolled oats

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

60 g plain yoghurt, cream, or
crème fraîche

8 prunes, chopped

2 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste

20 hazelnuts, toasted (see
Toasted Nuts & Seeds
) and chopped

Drizzle of
brown butter

Bring the water to the boil in a small saucepan. Stir in the oats and salt. Reduce the heat to a simmer until the porridge has thickened and the oats are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and fold in the yoghurt and most of the prunes. Taste. Add maple syrup if you like a bit of sweetness and sweeten to your liking.

Divide the porridge into four small bowls and top with the remaining prunes, the hazelnuts, and the tiniest drizzle of brown butter.

SERVES 4

Multigrain Pancakes

WHOLEGRAIN FLOURS, BUTTERMILK

You might imagine a pancake made from 100 per cent wholegrain flours would be dense and heavy. Not so. Light, golden, and moist, with enough buttermilk to give a bit of tang, these pancakes are perfect on a Saturday morning. And, as a bonus, the left-over batter keeps for days. Little pancakes are my size of choice here, but you can certainly go larger. To switch things up, you can use the batter in a waffle iron as well. If you don’t have natural cane sugar on hand, substitute whatever soft brown sugar you do have.

125 g wholemeal flour

45 g oat flour

60 g rye flour

1 ½ tablespoons natural (unrefined) cane sugar or soft brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder Scant

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

475 ml buttermilk

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

85 g butter, melted and cooled a bit, plus more for the frying pan

Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs, add the butter, and whisk again.

Heat a frying pan over medium–high heat, brush with a bit of butter, and test the temperature. If a drop of water dances across the surface, you’re in the ballpark. When you’re ready to make the pancakes, pour the wet ingredients over the dry, and stir until just combined.

If you’re cooking small pancakes (what I like to call silver-dollar pancakes), about 5 cm in diameter, pour the batter, 2 tablespoons at a time, into small puddles into the pan. Keep in mind they spread a bit. If you want larger pancakes, pour the batter ¼–
¹
/
₃
cup at a time onto the griddle. Cook until the bases are deep golden in colour and the tops have set a bit, then use a spatula to flip the pancakes and cook the other sides until golden and the pancakes are cooked through. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve warm topped with butter,
blackberry-maple compote
, or your favourite syrup.

MAKES 24–26 SMALL PANCAKES OR 12 LARGE PANCAKES

Spinach Strata

WHOLEGRAIN BREAD, MUSTARD, FETA, OREGANO

You put together everything for this strata the night before you want to serve it, then bake it the next morning. Eggs, wholemeal bread, chopped spinach, and a bit of cheese make it substantial, but not overly indulgent. A couple of tips: leave the crust on the bread, it makes for a rustic strata with more structure. And, if you don’t have day-old bread, you can dry fresh bread in a 120°C (Gas Mark ½) oven for 10–15 minutes, letting it cool before using. I often make the strata with left-over Rye Soda Bread , but any dense, brown, or wholegrain bread will do.