By Melanie Leyshon
You’re either a morning person or you’re not. I’m a late riser. For me, 7.30am is early – if I’m up before 6am it’s because I’m off to the airport.This leaves me no time for breakfast prep in the morning, which is why I’m so enthusiastic about my simple oats discovery: Bircher muesli. It’s not new, of course – Swiss physician Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner invented it as a nutritional pick-me-up for his sanatorium patients in the 1900s. You can buy a ready-made pot of Bircher muesli from Pret A Manger or Eat, but a quick calculation of cost + time + effort shows making your own batch at home is a no-brainer.
Oats are wholegrains so make up an important part of a healthy diet; they’re a great source of soluble fibre and are effective in lowering cholesterol. But instead of stirring oats and milk together in a pan in the morning to make porridge, simply leave them to soak overnight. Then when you get up in the morning, it’s a quick assembly job that can be done with your eyes shut – and that suits me perfectly.
I'm using a basic recipe from cereal company Rude Health. You soak 100g oats in 150–200ml brown rice milk overnight, which serves 2 hungry people. The next day, stir 150ml natural yogurt into the oaty base, then add your choice of toppings. When I first started making this recipe, I added a sprinkling of cinnamon and 1tbsp grated apple per serving. Now I'm experimenting with berries, bananas, rhubarb purée – you can see where I’m going with this – working my way around the fruit bowl and allotment and using up whatever’s in season. But you don’t have to stop at fruit – a sprinkling of chopped nuts or seeds, or a spoonful of Manuka honey go down a treat, too.
HFG nutrition consultant Juliette Kellow worked out the nutrition count per portion of my apple and cinnamon version: 320kcal, 10g protein, 5.1g fibre, 330mg calcium and 2.2mg iron. It's 5 min prep and 20 min longer in bed, which adds up to a nice and easy, wholesome start to the day.
Rude Health’s new range of dairy-free organic drinks are available in oat, brown rice and almond flavours, which are nicely sweet but with no added sugar. Buy them at Waitrose from 24 June.
