Breakfast week day 3: Baked apple and walnut porridge

Breakfast: Baked apple and walnut porridge

Lunch: Moroccan cauliflower and green pepper curry over quinoa and brown rice

Dinner: Barley and vegetable soup

Porridge, or oatmeal if you're of the North American persuasion, is a very traditional Scottish breakfast and, it's widely agreed, is one of the best possible breakfasts that a person can have. People who eat porridge regularly get tons of good fibre, stay "regular" and are a lot less likely to suffer from heart disease. It's also great for diabetics, as it avoids sharp rises in blood sugar level, and it gives you heaps and heaps of delicious energy to get you through the day!

The only bad thing about porridge is that if you have it just with milk or even water, it tends to get very boring very quickly. Thankfully it is also ridiculously versatile, and with a smattering of spice and fruits takes on a life of its own!

Baking this porridge after pre-cooking for a couple of minutes gives it a whole new texture and helps to bring out the flavour of the apple juice it was soaked in. It's a revelation!

You'll need:
(Feeds 2)

2 cups oats
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups almond milk / milk of your choice
2 tsp brown sugar (optional)

Method:

Soak the oats in the apple juice for at least one hour - overnight is preferable if you're that organised!
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius
Mix together the soaked oats, cinnamon and milk and heat on medium for 2-3 minutes
Remove from the heat and stir in the walnuts
Transfer to an oven-proof dish, and if using, sprinkle the brown sugar on top
Bake for 20 minutes, and if you sugared the top, transfer to the grill for 2 minutes at the end to harden up the topping
Serve!

The walnuts in this dish bring a decent amount of protein as well as a very unusual type of vitamin E and  an absolute truckload of those elusive omega-3 fatty acids. It also acts as a nice pick me up on these freezing cold mornings!