Black breakfast
I am still on breakfast kick, folks, so please bare with me. A couple of recipes more and I’ll get back to regular foods, maybe I’ll even post something with chocolate (or something fried) as recipes here have become seriously too healthy.
But as we’re on a health topic, I have another breakfast recipe for a healthy start to the day, and yes it’s porridge (still on those too), but rather unusual one too.
This baby contains black sesame, barley oats cooked in almond milk and finally sweetened with honey, roasted apples and cherries, almost like a dessert all over again, not to mention it’s kind of funky to start a day with bowl of black stuff in it.
You can of course make this porridge with your regular oats, but for variety sake I suggest trying barley at least once.
Barley is so frequently overlooked nowadays, though highly undeserving. It is one of the grains with most health benefits, from helping control blood sugar levels (less cravings) to lowering cholesterol. It’s packed with amino acids and has plenty of Vitamin B, which helps to increase metabolism and energy production, and also has the highest levels of fiber among all grains.
As I’ve been into all sorts of oats recently, I can say that barley oats definitely keep me filled up longer comparing to regular oats or spelt oats (and I can assure you, I’m not getting sponsored here by some barley supplier).
The next super healthy addition to this breakfast treat, and responsible for the incredible colour is black sesame.
Did you know that black sesame seeds are incredibly nutritious?
They’re loaded with magnesium, calcium and zinc, which are essential to overall well-being: keeping immune system healthy, sleeping better and etc.
Basically it’s all health in a bowl: simple to make and tastes great (though you have to like black sesame). I’ve added some roasted apples and some cherries, of which both work really well, but caramelized banana (see recipe here) minus cinnamon would do wonders’ here too. Concerning almond milk, I cook with homemade milk only, recipe can be found here., though when making almond milk for porridges I prefer to make it thinner, which would be 1 cup of almonds for 4 cups of water and 1 or 1/2 vanilla pod, but no sugar or honey.
- 60 grams barley oats (or regular oats)
- 2 cups vanilla almond milk (or 1 cup almond milk and 1 cup water, you can also use any other milk: soy, dairy, coconut)
- pinch of salt
- 1 Apple
- 1 tablespoon honey and extra for drizzling
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- a handful of cherries
- 3 tablespoons black sesame seeds
- Instructions
- Steep barley oats for 5 minutes in almond milk.
- Add a pinch of salt, bring to boil and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Meanwhile, heat the oven grill.
- Peel the apple, cut in half, core, slice and place on aluminium foil.
- Sprinkle with lemon and drizzle a little honey and place under the grill for 5-10 minutes.
- Toast black sesame seeds for a few minutes, if they start jumping, don’t worry it’s supposed to.
- Once toasted grind black sesame seeds either in food processor or using mortar and pestle.
- Add ground sesame during the last 5 minutes of cooking barley oats
- Once done, let it rest for 2-3 minutes, only then stir in honey. Taste, to check if more honey is needed.
- Serve with grilled apples and cherries.
What an interesting color. A wonderful recipe.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thanks Rosa!
Wow, what an interesting recipe! I love the color – unusual (particularly for breakfast fare) but really enticing. Good stuff – thanks.
Thanks John! It’s unusual indeed, and so funny to see faces of people who get this served without previous warning
What a creative recipe, I love the roasted fruit topping!
Thanks Laura
I don’t hate it as much as I did as a child, but I still am not fond of porridge. Yours however looks so extraordinary, so elegant in it’s blackitude I would love to taste a spoonfool.
I like sesame a lot and I have had very surprisingly desserts with black sesame seeds.
Thanks Sissi, I couldn’t even look at porridge as a child. This one however, tastes nothing like porridge at all, mostly because the taste of black sesame is so overwhelming.
I’m not much of a breakfast person but this does sound like a good way to start the day.
Thanks Karen
That is interesting:) I like the add of black sesame seeds and cherries. I wonder if I could convince my daughters to eat this
Are your daughters adventurous eaters? Maybe if they were told black is for chocolate it could work…
I thought my black sesame ice cream recipe was one of strange thing, but you beat me! LOL.
It’s true, black sesame is very nutritious and I love this combination for breakfast!!
Thanks Nami
Well, it is a bit freaky to serve someone black looking breakfast (I am yet to try this on my test subjects), but quite funny at the same time 
p.s. black sesame ice cream… is just incredible!
What an incredible breakfast to enjoy my friend
Cheers
CCU
Thank you very much
Very nice! The ingredients sound delicious, unique morning’s are the best.
Thank you
I love barley, but I really don’t make it nearly enough. I’d never think to have it for breakfast, but that’s a great idea!
I think it’s so underused indeed, I’ve been using it for breakfast so far only, but it’s a good idea to use it main dishes!
This sounds so yummy…full of fruit and seeds. Much better than my childhood oatmeal
And the black color is very chic~
Thanks Liz
I do wonder how kids would react to black food…
I’ve been on a crazy breakfast kick lately as well, but I eat it for dinner when I get home from work late.
Me too! It’s such a filling meal and quick to do
how cool is this? I love the idea of it and the color is so intriguing
Thanks
Oh that is so gorgeous. I love black sesame seeds. This is more like a healthy dessert to me and breakfast at the same time.
Love this black color with the pop of red on top.
Cool smart breakfast. What a very chic colour. I can imagine this being served up in a fancy hotel. I love barley in soup but never tried it as a porridge. Definitely on the cards !