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Breakfast

Breakfast

Blackberry and Lemon Chia Pots

Amelia Freer is a well-known nutritionist and a respected food writer, with three excellent cookbooks based on a healthy, balanced diet. She eschews refined sugars and processed foods, instead looking for healthy alternatives that genuinely feed your body and well-being. During lockdown she has sent her subscribers regular updates, and this recipe was in her newsletter.

It definitely piqued my interest, because it used ground chia seeds (I do struggle with most frog’s spawn recipes), but also it used oat cream, which I’d not used before.

Oatily oat cream contains substantially less fat than cream (9.7g /100g versus 19.1g/100g), and more protein than natural yoghurt (5g/100g versus 1g/100g). Both mean that it’s a lot more friendly for those following a carb or fat restricted diet. It is also lactose and soya free, though it does contain some organic palm oil. A vegan friendly dairy alternative then, with less calories than the yoghurt or cream. When added to a healthy dose of chia seeds (approximately 37g per portion), we can add a further 11.5g of fibre into the mix, as well as potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and Omega 3.

Even the inclusion of blackberries is an inspired choice – blackberries and raspberries have twice the fibre of blueberries and strawberries, which helps slow down the release of sugar. Better still, if you’re having this for breakfast, you can prepare this the night before, and have it ready to hand in the morning. I’m a big fan of the insulated Swell bowls, which would let you take this with you for a pick-me-up after a workout too.

Ingredients:

250ml carton oat cream – I used organic Oatily
1 lemon – zested and juiced
100g blackberries
5 tbsp chia seeds
2-3 level tbsp. sweetener of your choice – I used date syrup

Method:

Keeping a couple of berries back to garnish, blend all the remaining ingredients together using a smoothie maker or hand blender until well mixed.

Pour the mixture into two serving bowls or glasses and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.

Once chilled, top with the reserved blackberries and serve.

Blood Oranges

Drop scones with blood-orange compote, and scented crème fraîche…

Now that spring is finally around the corner, it’s time to abandon our winter warmers for breakfast, and start awakening our tastebuds.  Citrus fruits are always a delight first thing in the morning, and have the effect of stimulating our palate and our metabolism.  I’m not suggesting you suffer though – this breakfast combination makes a very luxurious treat…  I made it last week for the 11yo during half term, and as today is her 12th birthday, I made it for everyone…

Blood-Orange Compote, and scented Crème Fraîche


Ingredients:
4 blood oranges
20g caster sugar
100g creme fraiche
1/2 vanilla pod
Method:
  • Put the crème fraîche into a small serving bowl, and zest at least two of the blood oranges into it, to taste – you’re looking for a zingy, tart contrast to the sweet compote.  You may want to sweeten it to taste with icing sugar – it will be very tart…  Alternatively, you could a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract, to round out the flavour
  • Peel and segment the oranges – make sure you do this over a bowl to capture all of the juices
  • Warm the orange segments and their juice in a pan over a low heat
  • Cut open the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds – add them to the pot with the sugar
  • Remove from the heat and allow the ingredients to infuse together while you make the drop scones – if possible leave it somewhere which will retain the heat in the pan (like warming drawer, or warming plate on an Aga)

Drop Scones

Ingredients:

2 eggs, lightly beaten
100ml milk
25g caster sugar

25g butter, melted
125g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

Sunflower oil or butter, for greasing

Method:
  • Whisk the eggs, butter, and around 90ml of the milk, until thoroughly combined
  • Put the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl, an pour in the wet ingredients, gradually incorporating the dry ingredients.  Keep whisking until you achieve a smooth, but thick dropping-consistency batter.  If the batter is too thick, incorporate a little more milk, until the correct consistency is achieved.  
  • Heat a flat griddle pan, and drop the batter in blobs from a spoon.  The mixture will spread out a little, so leave enough space between the scones.
  • When the top surface of the drop scone begins to dry a little, and little bubbles begin to form and burst, flip the pancake over, and cook for a further thirty seconds.
Serve the pancakes with the compote, and Crème fraîche on the side.  Delicious. The acidity in the blood-oranges will keep your taste-buds zinging for hours.