Reading this blog, you’d be forgiven for thinking my husband and I live on sweet treats alone. The occasional loaf of bread maybe, but mostly cookies, cakes, brownies, pies and pastry. Looking at the recipes I post, people have been known to ask why neither of us is the size of a house with all this available on a daily basis. The answer, I’m afraid, is that it isn’t.
I bake for special occasions, birthdays and celebrations. The food we eat on the weekend, on holiday and when friends come over is indulgent – these are the recipes I post and which, of course, we eat every last bit of – but during the working week it’s mostly about health in the little loaf household. Green smoothies, eggs and oats are on regular breakfast rotation, I make up fresh batches of salads for our packed lunch each day and our evening meal is always made from scratch with a good balance of protein, vegetables and grains.
Given my husband’s love of meat and my more than sweet tooth, we’re never going to eat healthily 100% of the time, but this 80/20 balance means I can happily dip a toe into various different foodie camps. The majority of cookbooks I own are of the butter and sugar variety, my RSS feeder full of cookies and cake, but there are also a few staple ‘healthy’ books and blogs on regular rotation. A little while back I was slightly obsessed with The Sprouted Kitchen cookbook; for the last couple of weeks it’s been all about The Green Kitchen.
A couple of the recipes on the blog and in their book are harder to get to grips with (spirulina truffles anyone? I’m not entirely convinced) but mostly food from The Green Kitchen is straightforward, delicious and imaginative. It’s the kind of vegetarian food that a meat eater will happily enjoy, full of whole grains, healthy fats and exciting flavour, texture and colour combinations.
If you’re on Twitter or Instagram, you may well have seen the Green Kitchen Stories baked carrot cake oatmeal that’s been doing the rounds: one of those recipes that people fall in love with and instantly want to share. It’s predecessor is an altogether fruitier recipe for blackberry baked oatmeal from their book and this is what forms the inspiration for today’s post.
This all-in-one breakfast bowl starts with a thick purple puddle of baked blackberries, moving into creamy coconut oats studded with juicy bursts of blueberry, all finished off with a crunchy pumpkin seed and cocoa nib crust. It’s a kind of hybrid between porridge, granola and a virtuous fruit crumble: delicious, nutritious and super simple to make. The blueberries, coconut and cocoa nibs are my own additions, and you could easily play around using different fruits, seeds and milks.
I ate this oatmeal for breakfast on Saturday after an early morning yoga session. Afterwards I rolled up my sleeves, slipped on an apron and got to work on a batch of choux buns, crème patissiere and chocolate sauce for pudding to follow a lunch of roast beef and yorkshire pudding the next day. As I said above, it’s all about finding a balance.
Baked Blackberry, Blueberry & Coconut Crunch Oatmeal (adapted from The Green Kitchen)
(makes 2 greedy or four small servings)
I overstuffed my ramekins to make two slightly greedy servings of oatmeal, hence the juicy purple overspill. I think it adds to the charm of this breakfast, but if you like things a little neater, use more appropriate sized vessels. For those of you with a slightly sweeter tooth, add an extra drizzle of maple syrup to the milk mixture before pouring over the oats.
Ingredients:
100g blackberries
100g blueberries
75g rolled oats
30g unsweetened dessicated coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch cinnamon
pinch sea salt
1 medium free range egg
225ml coconut milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
30ml maple syrup
2 tsp coconut oil
40g pumpkin seeds
40g sunflower seeds
15g cocoa nibs
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Divide the blackberries between two large or four small ramekins.
In a small bowl, combine the blueberries, oats, dessicated coconut, baking powder, cinnamon and salt then sprinkle over the blueberries, dividing equally between the two ramekins.
In the now empty bowl, mix together the egg, coconut milk and vanilla extract. Pour over the oats.
In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup, coconut oil, seeds and cocoa nibs, rubbing together to melt the coconut oil until evenly coated. Sprinkle this mixture over the oats then bake for 25 – 30 minutes until the oatmeal is set and the topping slightly golden.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly then serve.
Sounds delicious, loving the use of blackberries and blueberries gives a lovely flavour and colour x
yum!! this looks like such a yummy breaky!! 🙂
i find i tend to go into a routine of boring breakfasts – and yay! finally something to break out of the routine with! this i gotta try 🙂
It’s all about finding a balance, you’re right – unfortunately, easier said than done…
This looks delicious, though – so good that it could almost go under the treat category… Must have a look at the Green Kitchen…
Hope that you had a lovely weekend – and enjoyed the well deserved roast and choux pastry 🙂
The roast and choux buns were divine – I posted a couple of pics on Instagram although forgot to snap the (enormous) yorkshire puds! Very happy Sunday tummies 🙂
You sound like me with trying to balance some healthy eating with some meat and posting sweet stuff! Oatmeal is one of my favorite things ever, though I can eat it all day, not just breakfast. Berries and seeds make it amazing Kate, and I bet addictive!
YUM!! We went berry picking on the weekend….guess what I’m having for breakfast in the morning!
I like to try and find a reasonable balance with food, it’s not always easy when you write a sweet blog but I do try to only eat sweets on the weekend. Luckily breakfast for me is easy I love oats and fruit and eat it most days, I like your version, sounds delicious.
It’s not easy eating healthy 100% of the time. I think I can say I eat healthy but we do eat pizza – topped with lots of veg- once a week when life just is too busy and you don’t feel like cooking after a crap day at the office and coming home after 7 and after a traffic jam. Weekends are bliss with more time to cook. Such a bummer vegetables and fruit are so darn expensive here in Belgium.
I think time is the hardest thing – remembering to soak pulses, pack lunches for the week, spend hours in the kitchen – when we have such busy lives to be getting on with. Once-a-week pizza topped with lots of veg sounds pretty good to me though!
We might sometimes have Belgian fries though, but that’s tradition so that doesn’t count… or does it 😉 😉
This looks fab – a proper treat to have for breakfast and why not! As you say, it is all about balance (and you’ve got to enjoy life!).
Reblogged this on Freedom of free discount coupons shopping.
I definitely go through phases with cookbooks too – and at the moment I am going through a strong Sprouted Kitchen cookbook phase! Love the greenkitchenstories blog as well, so many great recipes. Like your life, life here in Rome is one that flicks back and forth between indulgence and a healthier lifestyle – we just had a typical weekend of far too much pizza, pasta, wine, mozzarella etc and as delicious as that was I am actually quite looking forward to my bowl of bircher muesli for breakfast. Haven’t made baked oatmeal in ages but must admit the pink rim from the bubbling juices in your top picture has me rethinking this week’s breakfast plans!
The bubbling pink rim wasn’t entirely intentional (I greedily stuffed my little bowls too full!) but I actually love the effect it had – rustic and inviting and SUCH a gorgeous colour. Yay for the Sprouted Kitchen cookbook – so many gorgeous, simple recipes.
What an amazing sounding recipe, with all my favourite things! definitely one to try 🙂
I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again – you have the best breakfasts.
Best meal of the day 🙂
Ah look at that delicious pud!! I am loving the blackberry season and this looks like a great way to enjoy more blackberries.
Wow, what colours! I’d eat that at any time of the date,,can’t deny a bit of sweet crunchiness. X
What a cheery, vibrant and pretty dish to start the day with- especially on these dark, damp November mornings when waking for work feels like waking in the middle of the night!
That doesn’t look good—it looks downright indulgent. I love the berry juices bubbling and spilling over the sides. It would be a great accompaniment to the holiday season.
And to be honest, I think many (not all) of the more thoughtful baking bloggers are some of the best eaters around. My theory is that when people look at baking and pastry-making as a craft and not just a means to eating sweets, then they are more likely to exercise and live a more wholesome life of moderation. You’re certainly one of them!
bookmarking this, it looks delicious and so colourful.
What a delicious looking recipe! You have a great blog and food philosophy. This sounds like a sustainable approach to healthy living that more of us should aspire to.
Thank you so much 🙂
PInned this baby. Looks soooo good!
Not only does this look appealing to the eye, but it seems fairly nutritious and healthy too. Being a fitness blogger, I highly appreciate it when I see culinary geniuses whip up something both delicious and easy on the figure. This recipe is also very easy to follow, quick to prepare, and it consists of things people have in their homes already. I will definitely try this recipe sometime, thank you for sharing! -Minh Thu Le
This is so lovely to hear, thank you! So often food looks gorgeous but tastes awful, or is good for you but lacking in flavour. It’s so nice to find recipes which look and taste as good as they are for you 🙂
Pingback: 101 Warming Winter Recipes - LuxPad