Barley for breakfast

I mentioned how I am a real fan of breakfast. To start my day, I am not all that keen on processed cereal that comes in a box as I have always looked at them as some kind of healthy junk-food. A paradox, I know. A friend of mine insists on eating a bowl of raw muesli with skim milk every morning and will willingly swear on his pet's life that it is the best way to start the day. I will not challenge him. Each to his own.

I came across a book the other day while unpacking some moving boxes and found one titled "Cooking with Soy", an Australian Family Circle publication. It features recipes using various soy-based products that can be incorporated into a myriad of everyday meals. Leafing through the book I found a breakfast recipe for pearl barley served with a caramel apple-raisin compote. I thought it sounded nice.

So here is my take on barley for breakfast. Almost like an oatmeal porridge except you are more likely to eat it on a warm summer's morning and texturally more interesting that Bircher muesli.

barley with yogurt and berries

1 cup pearl barley

750 ml soy milk (I used Lite soy milk, you can use dairy milk if you wish)

1 cup fresh/frozen raspberries

1 tablespoon raw sugar

1 cup good natural yogurt (I used a Greek-style yogurt)

3-4 tablespoon honey (or to taste)

fresh fruit

toasted almonds or pepitas (optional)

(serves 4)

place soy milk, pearl barley and a pinch of salt into a saucepan

simmer over low heat stirring occasionally for 20 minutes or until barley is soft but not mushy.

refrigerate to cool (you can store refrigerate the barley for up to 3 days and continue with the next step when you are ready to serve)

sprinkle raw sugar over berries, crush slightly and stir occasionally

fold crushed berries into 1/3 cup of yogurt

stir remaining yogurt and honey into the cold cooked barley adding a bit of milk if it appears dry

to serve spoon some barley into a bowl, top with berry yogurt, sliced fruit and toasted nuts and seeds.

Breakfast biscuit? Yes, please.

It's true, breakfast is good for you. For some, the idea of having anything more than a cup of coffee or tea is just too much to stomach in the morning. I say bring it on - croissants with butter and jam, eggs, tomato and mushroom on toast, bagels filled with cream cheese and smoked salmon, a good bircher muesli, freshly brewed stove-top coffee... the works! The thing is, I enjoy a good sit-down breakfast more than anything but it is one of life's little luxuries only reserved for those days when work and boring domestic errands are not on the agenda.

Being an "all-or-nothing" person can have some rather detrimental consequences to oneself and those in the company of. Allow me to elaborate.

I don't have trouble getting up and going in the morning but having said that, I can't deny the desire to remain in bed if the opportunity presents itself in the manner of a 10-minute-snooze-interval. Often this means running late and having no time for a leisurely breakfast, so a coffee on the go will (have to) suffice. An hour into work, my blood sugar level takes a dive, I would subsequently become a creature so cranky that truth be told, even I wouldn't want to have anything to do with me! Thankfully, my co-workers are a caring and tolerant bunch (thanks guys!), often offering me a coffee or little titbits to help me along. Mornings when I nibble on a bagel I somehow managed to toast and smother with cream cheese and jam before scuttling out my front door, a difference in my workplace demeanour is noted. Apparently, I am all smiles and full of pleasantries... like the cat that got the cream. Hmm.


So here is my solution to never having to go without breakfast (and no, I am not suggesting anyone dart to the shops and get boxes of muesli bars or cartons of breakfast smoothie which are incidentally loaded with lots of processed sugar thus causing an insulin spike which is an absolute no-no!): Breakfast biscuits!


My version of breakfast biscuits is an adaptation of the recipe found in Alain Ducasse's Desserts and Pastries: Grand livre de Cuisine for peanut butter cookies. The peanut butter in his recipe is replaced with freshly ground salted peanuts and I added a cup of chopped dark chocolate and my favourite muesli to the final mixture. Although I don't often justify the use of ingredients in my recipes, I feel I must here because I do take the matter of nutrition very seriously. So here goes: peanuts are a great source of protein, vitamin B3 which is necessary for healthy brain function (and a common supplement found in expensive energy drinks) and anti-oxidants. Dark chocolate as everyone ought to know is now widely regarded as a health food, again, packed with anti-oxidants and a compound known as phenethylamine (PEA) which is linked to the feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin. The addition of natural muesli is to enhance the texture and to incorporate some natural fibre in the biscuit... also, call it sweet redemption but a little more fibre make these biscuits a little less snacky and a little more breakfast-y in my books.


The biscuit dough is utterly delicious and tastes just like peanut butter. Of course, if there wasn't such a naughty notion attached to the consumption of raw biscuit dough, you coud eat the mix for breakfast but the baked product with its crisp exterior and chewy-mealy interior, is far more portable and practical to consume on the run. Eaten in moderation, these biscuit could keep you going until lunch with random outbursts of temper in the workplace evaded!