It’s the weekend! And it’s long one! Let’s celebrate with some homemade treats! Full disclosure — I actually posted these bars many years ago. But the images were so atrocious and I also updated the preparation method, so I thought it would be appropriate to re-post. I have no doubt many of you will be hosting or attending backyard shindigs this weekend. These are THE perfect dessert to bring to a fancy or casual affair.
Forgive me, but I’ll have to be brief today! We just finished shooting the cookbook this week and I was focused only on that. Over the next few short weeks, I have to finish writing the book. I am really excited to share these recipes with you, as well as all the great tips and tricks I teach in my classes. The book is titled “Fresh Start” because I feel like everyone has moments when they want to reset with a new beginning. The good news is that we are always given a fresh start every day. It’s never too late to take control of your health and take care of yourself. I’ll help you learn what you need to know to be the healthiest that you can be and it all starts with what you eat and cooking your own food.
Today’s recipe is a version of one of my favorite breakfasts, Bircher Muesli, a very digestible soaked oat and fruit porridge. The texture is wonderful with soft rolled oats, crunchy nuts and chewy bits of dried fruit. I am crazy about this strawberry bircher which is even more delicious than the original. I blended fresh strawberries into the yogurt mixture and swapped dried strawberries for the raisins. It has a bright, berry flavor and is satisfyingly filling. There’s nothing better than waking up in the morning knowing that breakfast is already made and is a good one!
You can eat this right out of the refrigerator or transfer some into a jar and take it to work and eat it at room temp. In the winter, you can even heat the bircher over the stove for a warm version. I went a little crazy on the toppings in these images, but that’s how I like to eat it, especially since berries are so amazing right now and they are antioxidant bombs! The beginning of every day is your chance to wake up to a clean slate. And this recipe is the perfect place to start!
I am a nut butter addict. I would be so skinny if nut butter didn’t exist! I love them all — almond, cashew, hazelnut, pecan, mixed nuts and my childhood favorite, peanut. Yes, yes, yes, I know peanuts are not actually nuts, but legumes. And I know peanuts are less healthy than other nuts and that you must buy organic because they are heavily sprayed. But I love the roasted nutty flavor of peanut butter and a little goes a long way. I actually eat peanut butter pretty sparingly, but when I do, I convince myself that it has a lot of protein (which it does) and I try to eat it with other things, rather than off the spoon as I was apt to do in college and during my three pregnancies.
I also love my homemade granola recipe. Granola + yogurt + fresh fruit is my go-to breakfast when I’m running late, or haven’t prepared anything else in advance. I actually never get tired of it. If I don’t post my breakfast on Instagram on a particular day (like Monday,) it’s because I’m probably having a granola-yogurt parfait.
Last spring I decided I needed to spice up my life a little, so I went out on a limb and decided to make my granola recipe with peanut butter. Oh yeah, I am a risk-taker if you don’t know that by now! Well, let’s just say I became super obsessed with this peanut butter version and my kids went crazy for it, too. Truth be told, I think they were starting to get bored with my standard granola which I have been making the same way for at least 15 years. I need everyone in this house to be into granola — with yogurt or almond milk, it’s the easiest, balanced, instant breakfast I’ve got up my sleeve. So this new version was just the thing to get everyone interested again.
The recipe is actually not much different from my original granola. All I did was replace the coconut oil with peanut butter and swap peanuts for almonds and pecans. So it’s still vegan and gluten-free (if you use GF oats, if that’s important to you.) I’ve done lots of different dried fruits with this granola, depending on what I have on hand, but diced dates are my favorite. I still keep this barely sweet so we don’t get any blood sugar spikes first thing in the morning. You’ll test it out and see for yourself if it’s the sweetness that you like. If not, the next go round you’ll add some more syrup.
We eat granola in the obvious parfait, but we also dip bananas in nut butter and sprinkle them with granola, use it to top oatmeal, I have even started making yogurt popsicles with layers of granola inside. I also eat it out of hand when I need a little pick me up in the afternoon the car waiting for Mr. Picky to get off the bus. Zzzzzzzz.
Mother’s Day is on Sunday! Buy those cards and flowers! Make a homemade gift! Bring her breakfast in bed, like peanut butter granola with strawberries and a side of almond milk! Above all, if you are a kid, no bickering with your siblings on Mother’s Day and do something that will pleasantly surprise your mama, like clean your room or the whole house, do the dishes or eat a green vegetable. Happy Mother’s Day to everyone!
I teach a breakfast cooking class once a year and in this past one, savory steel cut oats were on the menu. That’s right, savory oats, as opposed to the standard oatmeal with sweet toppings like bananas and brown sugar or raisins and peanut butter. There were quite a few raised eyebrows and comments like “I’m not so sure about this” or “I trust you, but this doesn’t sound good.” Needless to say, the risky recipe that month was also the surprise hit. No one could believe how much they enjoyed a savory version of oatmeal.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have a sweet tooth which needs no more encouragement than it already gets. Starting my day on a savory note often helps to keep sweet cravings at bay, at least until late afternoon. If an egg and veggie scramble or avocado and tomato toast is acceptable for breakfast, why not oatmeal with vegetables? Oats are so bland, the perfect backdrop for almost anything. In fact, I like to think of oats like pasta or risotto or polenta — infinitely versatile. One of my students thought she could easily serve her family these savory oats for Sunday dinner. Why not?
This post is more about encouraging skeptics to try this, than providing a specific recipe. Because once you are open-minded about eating oatmeal with veggies, you’ll see that you don’t really need a recipe. But, I would like to point out that I always try to incorporate high quality fat and protein in my breakfasts so I will have staying power until lunchtime. Protein can be anything from an egg to nuts and seeds to dairy, like cheese, yogurt or milk. Good fats are in eggs, nut and seeds, avocado, olive oil, ghee or organic butter. I’m a texture gal, and since oatmeal is creamy, I do like to add something with crunch, like nuts. But that’s my personal choice. I do think oats can accommodate bold flavors in the flavor department, so don’t be shy with garlic, crushed red pepper or ginger, for example.
Let me come clean. Even though I am crazy about savory oats, my kids prefer sweet. But the beauty of making a pot of oatmeal, whether it’s rolled oats or steel cut, is that you don’t have to commit to sweet or savory. I leave the pot on the stove and everyone does his or her own thing. I will do a quick sauté of veggies for myself and anyone else who wants them. If I have no takers, they know where to find the bananas and pecans.
I took images of my favorite combo, which is sautéed kale and mushrooms plus gomasio and chopped walnuts. But I have done many iterations of veggies on oatmeal and I’ve listed a few at the bottom of the recipe. If it looks like I won’t be eating lunch until late and I won’t have time to take a snack break in the morning, I will add a drizzle of olive oil. In my June class, I sautéed lots of garlic, crushed red pepper, cherry tomatoes, shredded zucchini and basil in olive oil and served it over the oats with grated Pecorino on the side. It was absolutely delicious.
What do you have in the fridge from last night? Roasted cauliflower? Reheat it and put it over oats with sautéed garlic and shallots, toasted pine nuts and raisins. In fact, you don’t have to use oats! You can use your favorite warm porridge, like this gluten-free blend I sometimes make. You know I probably shouldn’t play this game, because I’ll be here all day coming up with great possibilities for oats. I would love to hear from you though. Are savory oats a thing for you yet? Any combinations you’d like to share?
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day not only because it jumpstarts your brain and your metabolism, gives you fuel to get going, provides energy until your next meal, but it also sets the tone for how you feel and what you crave the rest of the day.
Hypothetically speaking, if I eat a doughnut for breakfast, my blood sugar will surge, then plummet, making me cranky and not able to think very clearly. I will be hungry a short while later, and psychologically other things can happen. That sugar may initiate more cravings for sweets during the day. I might be annoyed with myself for eating something “bad” and feel depressed afterwards. I could even think my whole day of eating has already been “ruined” and so I throw in the towel and eat a whole other bunch of crap, which we all know is a crazy thing to do, but it happens to the best of us.
The key is to eat the right amount of the right combination of high quality protein, fats and complex carbohydrates at breakfast.
At least twice each week, I make a big pot of warm porridge, usually steel cut oats, but occasionally another grain or two. I set out a bunch of different jars on the counter so everyone can make their own “power bowl” with fresh or dried fruit, nuts or nut butter, seeds, coconut, granola, and the like.
Last year I decided to change it up a bit and mix a bunch of different grains I had lying around and see what would happen. It’s always a good idea to expose yourself to more nutrients and flavors! I chose grains that all had similar cooking times — millet, quinoa, rolled oats and “creamy buckwheat cereal.” The buckwheat cereal is just the cut version of whole buckwheat groats, so it cooks faster. I loved it and so did my husband! My son, who doesn’t like to try anything new, thought it was “ok.” But he finished his bowl and eats it all every time I make it. (I think he secretly likes it.)
Many of my students have asked me for the “recipe” after seeing many a bowl of multigrain porridge on my Instagram feed. There’s really no one recipe for how to do this. I usually use 1 cup of mixed grains, so you can divide that equally into 1/4 cups of each of 4 grains. Or you can do mostly oats if that’s what is most familiar to you and a couple tablespoons of the other ones. (Mixing the grains makes for a more complex flavor than just one note.) I like to cook with water and when the grains are nice and soft and porridge-like, finish it off with something creamy like almond milk. If you are desperate to get more protein into your breakfast, you can certainly cook your grains with milk from the start.
You can also use other grains like wheat berries (not GF), brown rice, spelt (not GF), barley (not GF) and steel cut oats, but keep in mind those take longer to cook even if you soak them the night before (which you should do — see this post for why.)
There are infinite possibilities for toppings or add-ins, but I have included a few images of my latest creations (sorry there are no images of the porridge in the pot — the steam fogged up my camera and the pictures were a mess!) and you can check this post on some of my favorite oatmeal concoctions. Make your next breakfast count!
I had no intention of posting this recipe today because I already have a muesli recipe on my site. But that was from so, so long ago and I know I don’t even remember what I posted on this site back in the beginning so I don’t expect you to! Plus this one is better and ironically I made it up on the spot. I threw this muesli together on a whim on Sunday night because 1. it’s my favorite summer breakfast, 2. Mr. Picky was starting day camp on Monday and I needed one less thing to do in the morning, 3. it has actually been very warm and summerlike here in Manhattan Beach which never happens in the summer, just in September and October when everyone has gone back to school and resumed soccer on the weekends, and 4. I was a little naughty this holiday weekend which involved a homemade cherry pie, a new favorite rosé (did you see my instagram?) and some (a lot of?) mozzarella. Ooops. And that was after 9 days at my parents’ house which always involves too much pasta, pizza, wine and mozzarella.
I always say breakfast will set the tone for the rest of the day’s eating, so you want to start off right, eat a good breakfast. I had a good sized bowl of this muesli with some blueberries in the morning at 7:30 after a quick workout and then a little green tea at about 10:00 and I was completely fine until lunch at 1:00. That just about never happens. I am usually looking for a snack of some kind around 10:00 or 10:30. If you have issues with sugar and sweets, try making this without any added sweetener or add a couple drops of stevia. Of course, feel free to sub your favorite nut or seed for the hazelnuts and any good unsulphured fruit for the golden raisins (remember: sulphur dioxide is a preservative for dried fruit and it is not healthy for you, especially for people who have sensitive lungs.)
I actually think this muesli tastes more like the ones I have had a hotels both in the states and in Europe. Although it is not technically the original bircher muesli which uses condensed milk (eeek!), it is very similar in taste and texture. In my previous muesli, I used yogurt, water and orange juice to soak the oats with a little lemon zest. Decidedly citrusy, which I love, but not necessarily uber authentic. This one I used half almond milk and half kefir, although a nice think yogurt like Straus Family Creamery would be just as ideal. (Did you know Trader Joe’s European style yogurt IS Straus?!?) I still add shredded green apple which is a must, but for this batch I also included golden raisins and chopped hazelnuts and I was in heaven. Yum, yum, and YUM! Creamy, crunchy, lightly sweet. Perfect. I am dreaming of being in a European hotel for breakfast. And then I had to take Mr. Picky and his buddy to baseball camp. Wake up!
Have you made my vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies? If you’re new here, do not hesitate. They are fantastic! They’re a staple around here and definitely one of the more healthful (less bad for you?) cookies I’ve tried. I love that recipe so much I decided to tinker with it and make a fall version with pumpkin puree and delicious spices like cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Amazing! It’s like pumpkin pie meets an oatmeal cookie. And as much I love these cookies fresh out of the oven, they are just as delicious raw. That’s right, as in cookie dough. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. After I posted my secret pumpkin oatmeal cookie dough addiction on Instagram, my students started stealing the bowl out from under my nose during class and having a taste themselves! The benefits of a vegan dough.
I thought I would sneak this recipe in today before you start baking treats for Halloween. Of course, these are perfect during the entire season of fall and beyond. They’re a snap to make and like many cookie recipes, you can prepare the dough in advance and bake as many or as few cookies as you need. I like these best the day they’re made and even the next day. Because there’s pumpkin in them, they get a little soft after a day.
This recipe ended up being more flexible than I imagined. I had to try it with a nut other than walnuts one day for a student with a walnut allergy and pecans worked great. I haven’t tried this recipe with sunflower seeds, but I think it would work if you need to go nut-free. The sunflower seeds just might react with the baking soda, however, and cause the cookies to have a green-ish color to the them. Might be kind of cool for Halloween! I know many of you will want to sub chocolate chips for the raisins and I say go for it! Pumpkin + chocolate + spices isn’t my thing, but that doesn’t mean you won’t love it. I was serving these in my classes plain and simple, but I found a recipe for a fun sweet potato-cream cheese frosting that was delicious as a filling if you wanted to make a sort of oatmeal cookie whoopie pie. Just for kicks.
However, like I always say, just because these cookies are higher quality and not made with junk and chemicals doesn’t mean you can eat them all day long. Concentrated sweeteners can still raise your blood sugar and will still feed yeast and fungus in your system and will keep you addicted to sugar. So with the beginning of the season of sweets, which I say starts on Halloween and ends on New Years Day, I try to be conscientious about not going crazy when I am offered candy and treats galore. But before we start thinking about 2014, we’ve got lots of fun in store. Thanksgiving is indeed four weeks from Halloween which means you and I are going into planning mode pronto. See you all back here on Thursday!
I was racking my brains thinking of something to post today for July 4th that would be red, white, and blue. But really I’m not nearly as creative as all the people I pin on Pinterest or fave on Foodily and I’ll be honest, I couldn’t come up with something you haven’t already seen. Although for 5 minutes I thought was a genius — potato salad with red, white and blue potatoes! Until I googled it and saw that this was not an original idea.
But then I was thinking that I don’t ever make anything red, white and blue for the 4th, so why the pressure? Our friends Melissa and Adam usually invite us to their beach house for a party where they serve the most delicious Tex-Mex food. Not ribs or barbecue or anything cut into the shape of stars. But it’s all crazy delicious and everyone is so happy. I often bring a dessert or appetizer. Last year Melissa asked me for Peach and Blueberry Crisp. It was so yummy, but not red, white, and blue and I didn’t hear anyone complain that I didn’t have spirit.
A few weeks ago, I taught a 4th of July menu for Jenni Kayne and her friends. Jenni asked me for a fruit crisp and I knew she would love this one with apricots and cherries. When I was prepping for the class that morning, I asked her if I should throw in blueberries to add some blue to the red, and she responded, “Only if they would make it better.” She’s so right. Of course. Who cares if it’s red, white and blue? You want to know what I said? I said, “They won’t. This crisp is so insanely delicious already. Why mess with it?” That’s really what I said. This crisp is so darn good, I have dreams about it. I made this same crisp for some friends a few weeks ago and I could swear I heard moaning. In a good way, naturally.
I have a theory that fruits and vegetables that grow in the same season taste good together. I saw cherries and apricots sitting next to each other at the farmers market and voilà! A new crisp. I also read somewhere that the Prunus family of stone fruits also includes almonds. An almond looks like an apricot pit, don’t you think? I find all of that to be so interesting….and delicious! Now the addition of almonds did make this crisp better. Of course, leave them out if you have an allergy or substitute something crunchy like sunflower seeds. Crisps are so easy to adjust for allergies, in fact. You can make the topping completely vegan by using coconut oil (more natural) or Earth Balance. For a gluten-free crisp, I used half GF oat flour and half King Arthur Multi-purpose GF Flour (which is free from cornstarch unlike some other very popular GF flours, like Cup4Cup — sorry Thomas Keller. Love your food, though!) Rice flour works well, too.
I think you should make a fruit crisp for the holiday. Absolutely everyone loves them. There are no blue food dyes involved. It’s mostly seasonal fruit. They are sooooooo easy. You can make your topping right now. Yep. In fact, you could have made it a month ago and frozen it. You can make 10 times the recipe for crisp topping, freeze it and make a crisp every week for the rest of the summer and into Labor Day. Or if you’re making a crisp for Thursday, make your topping today and keep it refrigerated. Just sprinkle it on top of your prepared fruit and bake away. No coming to room temp or any of that nonsense. But if you just can’t make a dessert for the 4th that is missing one of the colors of our fair flag, then by all means add some blueberries or blackberries. Or, dig deep and find your spirit of independence and make what you think you’ll love the most. Hope you all have the best weekend!
