Diet: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Pescatarian, Soy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 1 minute
Cooking Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 4 minutes

Description

There’s something really special about creating a colourful plate of food.

I particularly like using colour in my breakfast bowls; it’s something appetising for the eye as you start the day…

This raspberry porridge adds natural sweetness, flavour and great nutrition into your morning. Raspberries are:

• High in vitamin C and vitamin K
• High in fibre
• Antioxidant-rich
• A great source of copper, manganese, magnesium and folate

Raspberries are also packed with flavonoids, particularly anthocyanins that provide berries with their red colour. In addition to acting as antioxidants and fighting free radicals, studies have looked at how anthocyanins may have anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-cancer properties (Bowen-Forbes et al. 2010).

I’ve combined the nutritious raspberry with the humble oat. Their ability to hold other flavours makes oats a perfect base for any breakfast and teams so well with this delicious berry. What’s so great about oats is their high fibre content and ability to slow the release of sugar into the blood.

Whilst oats are a naturally gluten-free grain, they can be cross-contaminated with gluten grains during processing. Oats that are labelled gluten-free are produced following strict procedures to ensure that cross-contamination does not occur, so if you have coeliac disease or non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, then make sure to purchase gluten-free oats for making this recipe.

Oats contain a protein prolamin called avenin, which is similar to gluten and can sometimes cause concern for those who follow a gluten-free diet (Haboubi et al. 2006). According to Coeliac UK, a very small number of people with coeliac disease may still be sensitive to gluten-free, uncontaminated oat products, and so it is a personal choice as to whether you wish to incorporate oats into your gluten-free diet. If you decide not to eat oats for this reason, I recommend you use buckwheat flakes (a pseudograin) as part of this recipe instead.

I’ve used almond milk which is relatively low in calories and high in vitamin E and calcium. Almond milk is great if you are sensitive to dairy and wanting to avoid cow’s milk.

I’ve finished this bowl off with some raisins and raspberries, for a hint of sweetness, as well as coconut flakes and sunflower seeds, for healthy fat intake.

Please let me know how you find this recipe!

Ingredients

• 100g raspberries, plus a few extra to serve
• 100g gluten-free oats
• 1 cup almond milk or any other plant-based milk
• 1 tbsp raisins (avoid if you are on a Low FODMAP diet)
• 1 tbsp coconut flakes
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds

Method

1. Blitz the raspberries in a blender with 2 tbsp water.
2. In a saucepan, add the oats and almond milk. Heat on a medium heat until it begins to thicken. Keep stirring.
3. Mix in the raspberry sauce and stir through.
4. Remove from heat and serve into two breakfast bowls.
5. Add on the raisins, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, plus extra raspberries as you like.

 

References:

Bowen-Forbes, C.S. Zhang, Y and Nair, M.G. (2010). ‘Anthocyanin Content, Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory and Anticancer Properties of Blackberry and Raspberry Fruits’, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 23 (6), pp. 554-560, Research Gate [Online]. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229102503_Anthocyanin_content_antioxidant_anti-inflammatory_and_anticancer_properties_of_blackberry_and_raspberry_fruits (Accessed: 21 March 2018).

Coeliac UK. (2018). Oats. Available at: https://www.coeliac.org.uk/gluten-free-diet-and-lifestyle/gf-diet/oats/ (Accessed: 21 March 2018).

Haboubi, N.Y. Taylor, S and Jones, S. (2006). ‘Coeliac Disease and Oats: A Systematic Review’, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 82 (972), pp. 672-678, NCBI [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2653911/ (Accessed: 21 March 2018).