Bircher Muesli

Yes.  I know.  It's been a while.

I have been busy with people/lazy with updating.

My mother came to visit, my sister came to visit, Charles got home, and there was much rejoicing *cue Monty Python clip*.

We've had a wonderful insurgence of fresh local produce at markets, so I've been going eggplant crazy and zucchini crazy and managed to get some strawberry jam made (now I need to do raspberry).  It looks like we'll be another year without blackberry jam...I don't know why, but no one seems to grow them here.  Sad face.

On with the recipe!

This is a very simple breakfast recipe with many, many variations and options.  It's very filling and nutritious, loaded with protein, and it can be made at the beginning of the week and had for breakfast all week long.  I discovered it at the (AMAZING) breakfast buffet we had at the Novotel in Sydney, Australia, and have been wanting to make it since.  My sister brought me some gluten-free oats (something else that seems impossible to find here), and I now can do just that!

Mine is super-simplified because I choose to add the toppings daily, rather than mixing them in.

Bircher Muesli

Ingredients:

3 cups prepared oatmeal*
1 cup unsweetened applesauce OR a combination of grated/chopped tart apples and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup of honey

Garnishes/Mix-In:

Chopped walnuts
Sliced almonds
Other nuts!
Sultana raisins
Dried cranberries
Other dried fruit!
Fresh fruit!
More yogurt!
Flax seeds

The possibilities are endless!

*NOTE:  Recipes I have read call for rolled oats soaked in apple juice overnight (not cooked), but I cannot find ANY gluten-free rolled oats here, so I used steel-cut, which you really, really need to cook, haha.  Left them a little under-done so that they would soak up more liquid and have a bit of texture to them.  If you want to make the "real thing", a good recipe is here: http://editor.nourishedmagazine.com.au/articles/bircher-muesli.

The original recipe from the early 1900s is here!: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muesli#Original_Bircher-Benner_muesli_recipe

Instructions:

Take your prepared oats, mix them in a large bowl (with a lid) with the yogurt, honey, and apples/sauce, and refrigerate.

Huzzah!  You are done.  Mix in or top with whatever you desire!

So far, the batch I made is a little soupy, so next time I will try soaking the oats in everything overnight to see how they do.  Also, it's been enough for about 6 or 7 Amy-breakfasts.  YMMV.

Snack-sized (maybe 1/4 cup) with walnuts and concord grapes (nope, not blueberries).

Breakfast!  Sliced almonds, banana, concord grapes, dried cranberries, and wild blueberries.