Sunday, November 6, 2011

Weekend foodie: Warming appley and nut porridge

Porridge may not have the most glamourous reputation. It may not compete in the supermarket aisles among the colourful boxes of breakfast cereals with all their claims to having lots of fibre and enriched vitamins and minerals. But those glitzy breakfast cereals are shockingly bad for you. Why? They are full of a ton of refined sugar. All of them. Even the "healthy" sounding ones. So you end up having a sugar high, followed by a low shortly after, leaving you feeling starving before you've even got to work. This is why I'm a big advocate of porridge. It's one of the best things you can possibly eat, not to mention completely yummy and is ready in 5 minutes. Porridge oats are low on the glycemic index (low GI) which means they release energy into your system slowly, keeping you fuller for longer.  My version has apple puree for some sweetness and fibre, plus chopped up walnuts and almonds which are great sources of zinc and calcium, among other essential nutrients.

To serve 2-3, you will need:

1 cup porridge oats
1 cup water
1 cup soya or oat milk
2 tablespoons apple puree (or instead slice and poach some apples or pears for a few minutes)
a small handful of nuts, such as walnuts and almonds
a squeeze of agave nectar or honey

Heat porridge oats with the water and milk for about 4-5 minutes until the oats have softened. Take off the  heat, stir in the apple puree and serve with the nuts and agave or honey.

Tip: one easy way to remember the proportions for porridge is that it's always twice the amount of liquid to oats. Also by a "cup" I mean a standard measuring cup, not a coffee mug.

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