food to glow

Before the brambles completely go, I thought I would slip this under the seasonal food wire. No sweet breakfast in autumn can be truly complete without something darkly juicy mixed in. And freshly foraged brambles (small wild blackberries) fit the bill nicely.

Right now I am in the Lake District of England, reviewing a cottage for cottages.com, and mostly we are driving and walking to places with great food and even better views.

On many of our walks, vines filled with tiny jewel-like brambles reach out with thorny paws begging to be picked. So I know they are still around. But if not, frozen berries of any hue will do. I have also added frozen sour cherries to amp the flavour and nutrition credentials, so feel free to do similarly.Classic Bircher muesli is the creation of Swiss doctor Maximillian Bircher-Benner, consisting of just a little soaked rolled oats, quite a lot of finely chopped homegrown apples, some lemon juice, and unctuous, thick, unpasteurised yellow cream. This late-19th century healing concoction fell out of favour when mass-produced cereals came along. But as anyone on Instagram knows, Bircher muesli is now the early morning choice of millions of healthy types – when they are not eating avocado toast.

Although this simple mix is absolutely fine as is, with homemade granola replacing at least some of the oats, this comforting and filling breakfast bowl may, to some, be even better. No need to add that sneaky blob of honey (you know you do it) as the sweetness is built right in. And it might be an easier way to convince children to try a healthier breakfast.

Although it tastes almost of dessert (Scottish cranachan to be precise), the ingredients are emphatically breakfast. The quickly made compote adds a sucker-punch of sour, while the yogurt adds a little of the creaminess perhaps missing from using granola. It is pretty balanced in taste and texture, I think. 

After five days of eating for Britain around the Lake District, I really should clean up my act by mixing up a bowl of this Bircher Granola. However, tofu, soba noodles and the freshest sushi in the world beckon. Follow my food adventures in Tokyo and Kyoto on Instagram. As I am there for work I possibly won’t be posting about my trip. But you can bet I will be eating. Oh yes. And not an oat in sight.

Do you eat Bircher muesli? Are you a traditionalist with it, or do you- like me – play with your food?

Like this? Please Pin Me!

Keep In Touch!

You can also find me on:

Instagram – behind the scenes with my recipe development (triumphs and tragedies!) and mini, Instagram-only recipes;

Twitter – tweeting on health, nutrition and global news, as well as sharing other bloggers’ content;

Facebook – posting on the latest nutrition and food stories, as well as sharing recipe links; 

Pinterest – loads of boards on food, travel, food writing, blogging, health and novel ingredients;

Huffington Post – writing bespoke recipes and opinion pieces on my own Huff Post blog