While I don’t quite subscribe to the “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” mentality, it is certainly important to start your day with something that will give you good energy and sustain you through to lunch without tucking into the snack bowl.

Breakfast food varies around the world. For many it is just like any other meal and doesn’t involve any particular foods, but for a lot of cultures there are particular foods associated with this morning routine. In the Western Diet breakfast has often come to be associated with piles of buttery squares of toast, platefuls of processed meats, pancakes, waffles, and sugary cereals. A lot of processed carbohydrates, sugar and saturated fats that cause energy spikes and crashes after a short period. In healthier diets across the world breakfast is often a more balanced affair of complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats and this is something I’ve tried to incorporate into our own eating patterns.

Obviously the types of food favoured vary from region to region and climate to climate. Around much of the Mediterranean, traditional breakfast involves a little bread, cheese, yogurt, olive oil, fruit, vegetables and legumes. In Japan a small bowl of rice will typically be paired with some grilled fish, egg, fresh vegetables, pickles and miso soup. Traditional Nordic diets tend to favour whole grain breads and porridges with fresh fruits and vegetables and a little meat and cheese.

For those raised on traditional western foods some of these may seem a bit strange to be consuming first thing in the morning, especially as we seem to have strong association between certain foods and breakfast. Regardless, there are some simple changes that can be made to dramatically improve our first meal of the day.

Typically we’ll vary our breakfast choices a bit based on the season, but one that makes an appearance on our breakfast table most weeks is some form of oats.

Types of Oats

First of all if you’re one of these people who regularly buys “flavoured instant oats” that come in powdered form, often with added sugars and flavourings, and cooks up like a bowl of wallpaper paste…do yourself a favour and stop. Making porridge from full oats really doesn’t take much more time and effort and the rewards are much higher. So with that said, lets talk about the different types of oats generally available.

Steel Cut Oats

Sometimes called “pinhead” or Irish oats, these are oats that have been chopped into rough pieces. They typically take longer to cook (around 30 mins from dried) though can be soaked overnight to speed up cooking time. They tend to give a slightly firmer, chewy texture and nutty flavour when cooked and can be delicious slow cooked with fruits and nuts.

Rolled Oats

These are probably the most common form of oat you’ll come across, often referred to as “old fashioned” or Scottish oats. These are oats that have been pressed by a roller into the familiar flat flake to make them easier to cook and digest. When cooked they have a creamy, mild texture and flavour. They often come in a variety of sizes, from the larger “jumbo” oats that provide a bit more texture and chew (though not as much as steel cut) through the standard rolled oats and even the finer “quick cook” oats. Typically the bigger the oat flake, the longer it’ll take to cook, but the difference is pretty small.

Which is healthier?

The good news is they’re all pretty healthy. They’re a great source of fibre, vitamins and minerals and slow digesting carbohydrates that’ll keep you going all morning. While the less processed steel cut oats are marginally more nutritious, with a higher fibre content and a lower GI, the difference is negligible so go with whatever you like the taste and texture of the most.I

Typically we would use rolled oats, though the steel cut are a nice change on occasion.

Porridge

There’s a phrase where I’m from that’s often said at the end of a holiday, “we’re back to porridge in the morning”, which is essentially saying it’s time to get back to reality, back to work and all the mundane every day things that you’d put out of your mind while living it up over a break. However, that doesn’t mean porridge has to be mundane and boring and indeed it is one of our all time favourite breakfasts, especially in the depths of winter.

Recipe

Serves 2. Time 5-10 mins.

If you find you really miss the sweetness the ripe banana is a good option as it brings a lot of natural sugar into the mix. If you really need a little more sweetness then a small drizzle of honey could be added, but I reckon if you try it without the extra sugar a few times you’ll not miss it.

Other good additions are a tablespoon or two of peanut butter (the ones made from just peanuts, not laden with sugar and additives) or a couple of teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder for the chocoholics out there.

Overnight Oats

While porridge is good all year round, when the warmer mornings roll round, this makes a nice alternative. By preparing the oats the night before and leaving to soak overnight you’ve a quick and easy breakfast that’s ready to eat straight out of the fridge.

Recipe

Serves 1. Active time: 2 minutes. Soak time: overnight.

You may add whichever toppings and mixes you like, similar to the porridge. You may find you prefer a little less milk or a little more yogurt, or prefer it with grated apple and cinnamon, there’s no real rules here, just experiment with what you like and see what tickles your fancy!

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In future posts I’ll cover other breakfast choices such as cooked meals and those for special occasions.

Thanks for reading,

Matthew

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