Oatmeal w/celery & MARMITE!

I like to have a bowl of oatmeal before going to sleep. By bedtime, it's been long enough since dinner that I'm usually hungry again; if I'm not hungry and don't eat something before I retire, it's pretty likely that I'll wake around 3am in hypoglycemic starvation mode and hoover up a box of cereal or a kilogram of cheese or something (the metabolism, it is a blessing and a curse). Oatmeal is a nice option because it's a low glycemic index food and not too heavy. Unfortunately, most of the stuff you flavor oatmeal with is sweet, which defeats the purpose of eating something that's low GI, and in any case I prefer savory foods when peckish.

So of course I was intrigued by Mark Bittman's Serious Savory Breakfast post on the NYT Diner's Journal blog, and immediately tried it out. Very satisfying. In later trials I upped the savory ante by adding a dollop of Marmite. Umamilicious!

Ingredients

1/2 cup quick oats

3 stalks celery, chopped

soy sauce

sesame oil

marmite

To make

1. Put oats, celery, and 1 cup of water in a small pot. Cook on high heat, stirring occasionally, until oatmeal thickens to desired consistency.

2. Add a few splashes of soy sauce, a teaspoonful of sesame oil, and a teaspoon of marmite. Stir until blended.

Nice with a glass of tomato juice on the side.

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

These muffins turn out very moist and not too sweet. They're also a cinch to make - mixing up the batter takes about 2 minutes. And they contain so many things that are good for you! Just go make some right now.

(the following is adapted from this recipe.)

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

To make
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2, In large bowl, stir together the rolled oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
3. In a med bowl, beat the egg with a fork, then stir in yogurt and olive oil.
4. Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients and gradually pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined, being careful not to overstir. Gently fold in blueberries.
5. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full with batter.
6. Bake for 20 minutes, until tops are starting to brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cranberry & chocolate quinoa muffins

I typically eschew muffins at breakfast, because let's face it, most muffins are basically cake, and cake is not a great way to start your day (well, nutritionally speaking). These hearty fiber- and protein-rich muffins, however, will take you through till lunch. The quinoa makes them chewy and dense, like bran muffins but tastier.
The recipe below is very slightly adapted from the one here from Martha Stewart Everyday Food (check out the site for a video of Martha and one of her minions making the muffins); I used dried cranberries instead of raisins, and also added chunks of dark chocolate.

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 small bar (40g) of dark chocolate
3/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To Make
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa and 1 cup water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cover and cook until water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender, 11 to 13 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, brush a standard 12-cup muffin pan with oil; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cranberries and 2 cups cooked quinoa.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, milk, egg, and vanilla. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir just until combined.
6. Crumble chocolate bar into small chunks, stir into batter.
7. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups.
8. Bake until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool muffins in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Bulgar Wheat Porridge

If you love oatmeal then you have to try bulgar wheat porridge. It is similar to oatmeal, but less filling (in a good way) and maybe more nutritious (look it up if you are interested; I was told it had more vitamins or something---I don't care because it is delicious).

Here is how I made it this morning (serves 2):

1 cup milk (we use whole)
1 cup water
3/4 cup bulgar wheat
pinch salt
1 tbs coconut oil
splash vanilla extract
three shakes cinnamon
4 strawberries, sliced
Extra milk and a few tbs brown sugar for serving

Put the bulgar and milk and water and salt in a small/medium pot and bring it to a boil then take it down to a simmer for about 15 minutes. I kept and eye on it and stirred frequently because I was worried about it bubbling over. When it was getting close to done I added the coconut oil, vanilla and cinnamon and started tasting it. The bulgar soaked up all the liquid before it was fully cooked so I added a little more water and let it cook until I was happy with the texture. When we had bulgar for the first time at my husband's cousin's farm she soaked the bulgar for a few hours in the milk/water, which probably cut down on cooking time.

Serve with milk and brown sugar and top with sliced strawberries.

It is a lot like oatmeal, but better in taste and texture. The coconut oil gives it a divine silky texture that screams delicious, which it should since it is basically saturated fat. You can probably leave this out if you are scared of saturated fats, but my jar of coconut oil says that "doctors know, athletes know, the beautiful people know... [that saturated fats are awesome]" (emphasis added).

We found bulgar at a natural foods store on the Italian market in Philly. I have never seen it in the regular grocery store, but I haven't really looked for it.

Breakfast: Part Deux

fried egg & spinach on whole wheat sourdough toast, with ketchup and pepper
a glass of OJ

First Breakfast of the Blog

a bowl of GO LEAN Crunch! Honey Almond Flax cereal with cut-up mango and 1% milk
black tea (Barry's)


I don't usually eat cereal for breakfast. I prefer to start my day with whole food (eggs, fruit) rather than corn that's been industrially separated into 20 different components and then reassembled and sold for $5/box. But the GO LEAN Crunch!s are pretty good - made with whole grains and filling (lots of protein and fiber), and yes, very crunchy. The Honey Almond Flax one tastes like an adult version of Honey Smacks.