Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

This recipe is like a blueberry oatmeal but in a fun pancake form!

If you love to eat oatmeal for breakfast, you will most likely find these pancakes a great breakfast choice as well. They are full of ingredients that will keep you full, while also satisfying that craving for a sweet breakfast. In this recipe, I used fresh blueberries in the batter, but if you don't have access to them you can also use frozen ones.

To make sure that this recipe is gluten free, make sure to buy an oat flour (and oats if you want to make oatmeal) that has a certification of being gluten free. If the oats don't have the certificate it is probable that there was some cross-contamination since oats and wheat are often cultivated in the same fields, and processed in the same plants. Some people that are sensitive to gluten will, unfortunately, not react well to gluten free oats. This is something to pay attention to and it's important to listen to your body. You can try swapping the oat flour in this recipe with almond or coconut flour, or you can check out this pancake recipe that doesn't use oats but still has blueberries!

Ingredients:

1 egg

1 vanilla sugar (about 1 tbsp)

50 ml yogurt

30 gr oat flour

10 gr flax seed flour

30 gr potato starch

1/2 tsp baking powder

a handfull of blueberries

maple syrup

Instructions:

1 In a bowl, whisk one egg with the vanilla sugar. Add the yogurt and mix well.

2. Add the dry ingredients: oat and flax seed flour, and potato starch. Add the baking powder and mix well until a uniform batter forms.

3. Add a handfull of blueberries into the batter and incorporate them gently to avoid any damage to the berries.

4. Heat up a pancake pan with a little bit of coconut oil. Cook the pancakes on medium heat until they are golden on both sides.

5. Serve immediately. Stack the pancakes, add some more fresh berries and drizzle with maple syrup. Bon appetit!

Polenta, yogurt and orange mini cakes

One of the easiest cakes to make, a classic yogurt and palenta cake is naturally gluten free and comes together very quickly. They come together in one bowl, and will be done from start to finish in 30 minutes. A great way to use some basic pantry staples and common ingredients you might have laying around to house and have a little dessert in no time.

While preparing these, I used my mini bundt cake silicone molds, but you can use any mini muffin or cake mold you have. If you are using a metal muffin tin, make sure to grease it properly before pouring the batter in. You can eat these cakes warm and at this point they will be the softest and very moist, but don't worry if you have some leftover ones. I've kept mine in the fridge for a couple of days, and even though they get drier as they cool down, you can eat them for breakfast with some yogurt - thus taking the classic polenta and yogurt dish and reinterpreting it in cake form!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

10 gr vanilla sugar

1 tbsp brown sugar (*add a few more tbsp if you like sweeter cakes)

200 mL yogurt

200 gr instant polenta

1 tsp baking powder

1 orange

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with sugar. Add the yogurt and mix well.

2. Peel the orange and cut it into small pieces. Grate some of the orange peel and add to the yogurt and egg mixture.

3. Stir in the polenta to the yogurt and egg mixture, and add the baking powder. Lastly, add the orange pieces and incorporate them into the batter gently.

4. Pour the batter into muffin or mini cake molds. Bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees Farenheit).

Amaranth and Smoked Salmon Bowl

This recipe came to life one morning. On this particular morning, I was woken up with a hunger of a big black hole, or so it seemed. This prompted me to make a breakfast worthy of a lunch, and this is exactly when you can make this bowl: on a morning that allows you a little more preparation time (since the amaranth requires 20 minutes to cook), or for a light but filling lunch full of nutrients.

The ingredients in this bowl are designed to A) get rid of really bad hunger, B) leave you felling full for some time and C) be the envy of all those around you. Just kidding! ;) The recipe yields one really filling bowl, so scale it up accordingly!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup amaranth

1/2 avocado

2 handfuls of salad greens

3 slices of smoked salmon

1 egg

fresh parsley

salt, sweet paprika

EVOO, vinegar or fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Wash the amaranth and cook it in a pot with salted water in the ratio 1:2.5. While it is cooking, stir occasionally. If you notice that the amaranth has soaked in all the water and is threatening to become as dry as the Sahara, add a little bit more hot water and stir. Cook for around 20 minutes, but start checking it a few minutes before that mark so it doesn't overcook.

2. In the meantime, wash the salad greens and finely chop the parsley. Slice the avocado.

3. When the amaranth has cooked through, you can add more salt if necessary. Add the parsley and mix.

4. Season the salads with salt, olive oil and I recommend adding a bit of acidity with a vinegar of your choice or some fresh lemon or lime juice.

5. The last step is to poach an egg. Crack an egg into a small cup. In a pot heat up the water. Use a spoon to create a little whirlpool and gently slide the egg from the cup into the slowly spinning water.

6. While the egg is poaching, prepare the bowl for serving. Add the salad, avocado and amaranth. Add the smoked salmon slices. Once the egg is done poaching, serve it on top of the salad and season with salt. If you want, you can sprinkle some sweet paprika on top as well.

7. Serve immediately. Bon Appetit!