muesli

The evening before breakfast, pour some oatmeal into a bowl, and add more than enough milk to cover. You may wish to add walnuts (or anything else that's a bit crunchy), but like most of the addons, it's strictly optional. Also you can sprinkle some cinnamon.

Cover and leave in the refrigerator all night. The oatmeal will absorb the milk and become muesli!

On the morning, add any or all of the following to the muesli, to taste:

• Orange juice.
• Cubed fresh fruit (summer fruits are best: apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums).
• Honey or brown sugar.
• Some more milk.

I have to admit, up front, that this is not the sort of breakfast that I would normally make for myself. I am usually a sucker for cholesterol laden abominations such as poached eggs and cheesy gruyere omelettes. That is if I have breakfast at all. Every now and then however, I make a feeble attempt at some sort of healthy living pretence and it usually involves this muesli.

I used to make up batches of this muesli when I was cooking breakfasts (never again!) at a cafe several years back. It was hugely popular and I actually started to eat it regularly there for a while. If you are into this sort of thing, then this recipe will most likely come in fairly handy. It differs from the above recipe in that this muesli is roasted, rather than soaked. In that sense, it is not so traditional. And I may as well come clean, it is not all that healthy as it contains a bit of oil. At least you can control what type and how much oil is included. You can also add all sorts of seeds, nuts and fruits to suit your palate, coming up with your very own version.

To make it really special, serve with some good quality yoghurt, possibly sheep milk yoghurt and wonderfully fresh seasonal fruit. You can't go past mangoes and papaya in late summer.

Ingredients

1 kg (2 lb) rolled oats

50 gm (2 oz) sunflower seeds

50 gm (2 oz) pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

50 gm (2 oz) sesame seeds

125 ml (1/2 cup) honey

60 ml (1/4 cup) light vegetable oil (soybean, safflower or canola)

250 gm (1/2 lb) dried fruit (try raisins, muscatels, figs, pears, apples, dates or a mixture)

Method

Mix together the oats and seeds and place in a roasting tray. Dice any large pieces of dried fruit. In a saucepan, gently heat together the honey and oil, until it has dissolved and is runny. Pour over the oats and stir well to combine. Place in a preheated 180 °C (360 °F) oven and roast for 20 minutes. Remove and add the fruit, stir well and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes. Stir and check that it is fairly dry and is beginning to turn golden, it may need a few more minutes in the oven.

Allow to cool and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Serve with milk, fruit juice or yoghurt and lots of fresh fruit, then go for a run. You know you need it.