Hazelnut granola with raspberry puree

Whipping up a batch of homemade granola is one of the easiest ways to transform breakfast from a functional bowl of cereal to something that you'll actually look forward to. 

Cereal is the go-to breakfast for many of us because it's quick, easy and requires little thought in the bleary-eyed early morning. But shop-bought varieties are often high in sugar and salt. They can contain dodgy hydrogenated oils and not enough protein or good fats to keep energy levels stable until lunch. Considering all this, they're also pretty expensive.

This granola bears no resemblance to those cereals. It has slow energy releasing oats, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds for vitamins and minerals, anti-microbial and satiating coconut oil, and high fibre prunes. Cinnamon, my all time favourite spice, brings warmth, sweetness and blood sugar balancing chromium. And once you've bought the ingredients, it costs less to make it in batches than what you'd spend on cereal boxes. All in all, it's guaranteed to put your shop-bought cereal to shame. 

The granola would be delicious alone with nut milk, or you could make it into something pretty spectacular with some raspberry puree and natural yoghurt. Either way, it will last you for breakfast all week. 

The quantities in this recipe will make enough granola for about 5 servings and you'll have enough raspberry puree to go with that amount. 

Hazelnut granola

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats (I use gluten free)
2tbsp coconut oil
1tsp maple syrup
2 heaped tbsp desiccated coconut
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
1tbsp pumpkin seeds
5 chopped prunes
2tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees (fan assisted). In a large saucepan, melt the coconut oil and stir in the maple syrup. Remove from the heat and stir in the oats, making sure they are coated in the oil. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. 

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and spread the mixture over it. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until golden, checking and turning the granola every 10 minutes or so to make sure it doesn't burn. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool, before transferring to an airtight container. 

Raspberry puree

Ingredients

125g raspberries (and a few extra for topping)
1tbsp lemon juice

Blitz the raspberries and lemon juice in a food processor until you have a smooth liquid. Store in an airtight jar in the fridge. Will keep for a few days.

To serve, mix a tablespoon of the raspberry puree with some natural yoghurt and layer the granola over the top. Add a sprinkle of bee pollen and a couple of raspberries.

Nut milk 2 ways - straight up almond & cash-pistach

Nut milk is one of the most easy but satisfying things to make. The thought of making milk from nuts might seem strange or difficult at first, but with a couple of simple tools it's a breeze.

You can make plain milks to use everyday in porridge or smoothies, or more fancy versions for something a bit more indulgent. Either way, it goes without saying that fresh homemade nut milk tastes miles better than anything you'll buy pre-packaged. And it contains only the whole food ingredients that you choose; no added sugar or weird preservatives.

It's also fun to experiment with different nuts. My current favourites are almond, pistachio and cashew, as featured in these recipes. Next on my list to try are hazelnuts, macadamia and Brazils - the possibilities are endless!

Not only does nut milk taste amazing, but it's also a nutrient-dense alternative to dairy. As well as being a fantastic plant-based source of protein and good fats, almonds, pistachios and cashews are fibre-rich sources of a number of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E, copper, magnesium and zinc. Whether you follow a dairy free diet or not, I urge you to try it. 

In this post I'm going to share the recipe for straight up almond milk and also something a bit more special. My cashew & pistachio milk with cinnamon, cardamom and date is a kind of plant based, wholefoods milkshake. Perfect as a mid afternoon treat or a decadent addition to a weekend breakfast.

The only kitchen tools you'll need for these recipes are a blender and a nut milk bag or muslin cloth to strain your milk. You can buy nut milk bags online or they're stocked in many health food shops. 

Both these recipes call for soaking the nuts overnight before using them. This is to make them more digestible and their nutrients more available for absorption. Soaking nuts also softens them and makes them plumper, improving the texture of the nut milk.

Straight up almond milk

Makes approx 600ml/1 pint

Ingredients

1 cup almonds (soaked)
3 cups cold water
Pinch of salt

Cover the almonds in cold water and soak overnight. Drain, rinse well (removing any skins that have separated from the almonds) and place in the blender with the water and salt. Blend on high speed until the mixture is smooth.

Put your nut milk bag/muslin over a large bowl or jug and pour the liquid through. You'll need to squeeze the bag/cloth really well until only pulp is left behind.

Pour your strained nut milk into an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Cash-pistach nut milk

Makes approx 600ml/1 pint

Ingredients

1/2 cup cashews (soaked)
1/2 cup pistachios (soaked)
1tsp cinnamon
1/4tsp ground cardamom
1 medjool date
2 cups cold water
Pinch of salt

Cover the cashews and pistachios in cold water and soak overnight. Drain, rinse well (removing any skins that have separated from the pistachios) and place in the blender with the water and salt. Blend on high speed until the mixture looks smooth.

Put your nut milk bag/muslin over a large bowl or jug and pour the liquid through. You'll need to squeeze the bag/cloth really well until only pulp is left behind. Now rinse out your blender to remove any bits of ground nuts and pour the strained milk back in with the spices and date. Blend until smooth.

Serve immediately or pour into an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Note: It's normal for nut milk to separate a little, just give it a shake or stir if it does. You can use the pulp from straining the milk in energy balls or truffles

Drink the rainbow

Juicing is a brilliant way of getting lots of vitamins, minerals and plant nutrients into your body. You'll see from the recipes below that you can pack a lot of fruit and veg into a glass with each juice. Because the nutrients in fruit and veg juices are easily absorbed, they're kind on the digestive system. This makes juices ideal to have at the start of the day or to pep you up when you're feeling sluggish, tired or like you've over-indulged.

There's a big difference between buying a carton of OJ and the kinds of juices I'm talking about here. Not only are homemade juices fresh and without any dodgy additives, but when you make your own, you can choose ingredients that won't cause the same sugar spike that pure fruit juices do.  

The key to making a balanced juice is always combining fruit and veg when you juice - with the focus on including as much or more veg than fruit. Carrots, beets and sweet potatoes that I use in these recipes all work well to add sweetness, and cucumber, watercress and mint are refreshing.

Buying a juicer is an investment, but one that's definitely worthwhile. Juicing is such an easy way to introduce more fruit and veg into your diet, and experimenting with different flavours and combinations can be really creative! You could start with a book like the brilliant Super Juice by Michael van Straten for inspiration.

Just to be clear, I think juicing is a great addition to your diet, but not a replacement for solid food. Juicing removes fibre from fruit and veg, so you need to make sure you're still getting this along with all the other nutrients your body needs from a varied, wholefoods diet.

The three juice recipes here are some of my favourites. Each recipe serves 2.

Green 

Cucumber and mint soothe and cool, while watercress is anti-bacterial and rich in vitamins C and E. Lime adds freshness an extra vitamin C boost.

• 1 handful watercress
• 1 handful mint leaves
• 1 apple
• 1 pear
• 1 lime (peeled_
• 3 baby cucumbers / 3/4 big cucumber (peeled if not organic)

Wash all ingredients. Put the watercress and mint through the juicer, then the lime and cucumber(s) and lastly the apple and pear.

Pink

Beets support the liver and help to cleanse the blood. They also contain iron and folic acid, especially important in pregnancy. Ginger is anti-bacterial and stimulates circulation.

• 2 beetroots (peeled)
• 1 apple (washed and cored)
• 1 thumb of ginger (peeled)

Put all ingredients through the juicer.

Orange

This juice is a beta-carotene party in a glass. Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant and boosts the immune system as well as supporting eye health and the skin.

• 1 small sweet potato (peeled)
• 2 satsumas (peeled)
• 3 carrots (peeled if not organic)
• Thumb of ginger (peeled)

 Put the satsumas through the juicer first, followed by the other ingredients.

Spiced autumn porridge

Autumn's here and the leaves are turning golden. Porridge is the perfect autumnal breakfast and this spiced version mirrors the colours outside. It's also warming and energising to prepare you for cooler days ahead.

Turmeric and ginger are great additions to your diet at this time of year. They support the immune system with their anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Both are also warming spices that support circulation. Cinnamon adds spicy sweetness as well as supporting blood sugar balance.

While this porridge is made of oats, other grains like buckwheat, amaranth or quinoa would work well too. I've stuck with oats, as I really like their steady release of energy and soluble fibre, which soothes the gut. They also contain B vitamins and a number of minerals including iron, magnesium, zinc and manganese. For this recipe, I used gluten free pinhead oats which are coarser than the jumbo or rolled kind, but any oats will do. If you're using other varieties, you may need to adjust the cooking time. 

Adding grated apple gives some crunch and sweetness. Apples also contain pectin, another kind of soluble fibre that supports digestion and the production of good bacteria in the gut.

Spiced Autumn Porridge

Serves 2

Ingredients

1/2 cup oats (I used gluten free pinhead oats)- soaked overnight
1 cup water
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2cm fresh ginger - finely grated
1/2 cup unsweetened full fat coconut milk (I use Biona) or almond milk
1 apple - coarsley grated
Handful of coconut flakes
1 tbsp bee pollen

Soak the oats overnight in 1 cup of water. Drain, rinse and add to a saucepan with 1 cup of fresh cold water. Cook on a low heat for around 15 minutes stirring regularly, until most of the water has absorbed and the mixture has formed a thick consistency. Add the turmeric, cinnamon, ginger and apple and mix in the coconut milk. Remove from the heat and serve sprinkled with the coconut flakes and bee pollen.

Fig & avocado green smoothie

I'm a bit obsessed with smoothies. In the warmer months they are my ideal breakfast. They're light and cool, and with the right ingredients they're substantial enough to give me the energy I need for the morning ahead. Smoothies are a great option if you're someone who doesn't always feel like eating breakfast. They're a really quick and easy way of packing lots of nutrients into your diet. But a smoothie's not just for breakfast! They can also replace lost nutrients after a workout, or fill you up any other time of the day.

It's all in the balance

The trick with smoothies is to balance the sweetness of any fruit you add with other ingredients that make it more filling and give a sustained release of energy. This is where smoothies have the edge on juices. Because the whole fruit and vegetable is blended, smoothies include fibre, and fibre slows down digestion keeping you fuller for longer. With juicing the fibre is removed, so although fruit and vegetable juices can give a big hit of vitamins and minerals, their sugar content is un-buffered.

So, with that in mind and to mark the end of summer, I proudly present to you the fig and avocado green smoothie.

The addition of avocado in a smoothie may seem a little unusual, but it adds protein and essential fatty acids as well as a creamy, silky texture which I love. Along with the spinach, it also counteracts the sweetness of the banana and figs.

Achey or stressed? Eat a fig

Fresh figs contain fibre, good levels of vitamin B6 and the minerals Magnesium, Calcium and Potassium, which are important for maintaining bone strength and muscle function. Magnesium in particular is a nutrient that the average western diet lacks, but that we all need more of to counteract the effects of our busy lives. Its role in muscle function also relates to the nervous system and the body's ability to relax and de-stress.

Drink your greens

I've previously raved about how avocado helps us absorb nutrients from other foods here. Because it's a low-sugar, high fibre food it also helps to regulate blood sugar and has anti-inflammatory properties.

Spinach deserves a mention for it's antioxidant and immune-boosting Vitamin C content. Spinach is a good source of folate (especially important for pre-conception and pregnancy), Vitamin K for bone health, and carotenoids, which our body converts to Vitamin A. Chlorophyll in spinach gives this smoothie its bright green colour, and also helps to cleanse the blood.

See what I mean about packing in the nutrients?

Pollen power

Bee pollen is flower pollen that is collected from the legs of worker bees. I sprinkle it on smoothies to add an intense flowery flavour alongside energy-boosting vitamins, minerals and amino acids. If you're new to bee pollen, build up your intake slowly to get used to its taste and effects. Try starting with half a teaspoon and work upwards towards a teaspoon or two over time.

If you're interested in finding out more, Sarah Britton at My New Roots wrote a great post on the wonders of bee pollen that first got me hooked. 

Note: if you have a severe pollen allergy, bee pollen may cause a reaction. I'd recommend researching the risks more fully before trying it.   

Fig & avocado green smoothie

Makes 2 large smoothies

Ingredients

2 ripe figs
1 banana 
1/2 a ripe avocado
1 cup washed spinach leaves 
1 cup almond milk
1 cup water
1-2 teaspoons of bee pollen for sprinkling

Add all ingredients (except bee pollen) to a blender and blend until completely smooth. Pour into glasses and sprinkle over the bee pollen.