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.

Midnight blueberry muffins

Mick used to go to bed rather late so whenever I had an urge to bake at midnight, he would always be there for me to bounce ideas off him. Sometimes he would ask for a progress report ("what is the consistency of the dough/batter?", "does it smell/taste/look good?", "when is it going to be ready?"), but he would always know of the outcome (by picture and word) before anyone else does.

Blueberry muffins have been on my "to-bake" list for a while now and after swimming with my nephew yesterday and seeing his cute little tummy spill over his board shorts like a generous muffin top, I decided I had to make some blueberry muffins when I got home.

The reason behind the lapse in decision making and executing, is that I have been doing a little bit of research on gluten-free (GF) baking and on how to replace sugar with agave nectar. Although there seem to be an inexhaustible resource on the internet on how to combine the both to produce delicious vegan and gluten-free muffins, I gave up my quest for tonight and decided to use a basic muffin recipe instead with some alterations made to accomodate the agave nectar, kamut and GF flour I intended to use.

Blueberry muffins

1/2 cup gluten free flour

1/2 cup kamut flour

1/2 cup plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/3 cup soy milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

(makes 6 medium sized muffins)

preheat oven to 180C

grease 6 holes on a 12-hole muffin tin

combine dry ingredients together in a bowl

beat together wet ingredients in a measuring jug

add wet ingredients to dry ingredients

**stir until just combined! **

fold in the frozen berries

divide mixture equally into the prepared muffin tin

bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.