Hot Cereal Oats Flex Chia Berries

Here is the healthy and delicious way to start your work day. Easy, in a microwave, cooking, great, good for you ingredients and, finally, pure deliciousness!

Blog's Category: Effortless, Healthy, Kid's Favorite, Perfect Breakfast, Vegan, Vegetarian

Lately, I'm all into super healthy, healing style of eating. I just read the book of Michael Greger "How Not To Die" (would not be my choice of title for this book, but anyway..) It is all about plant based diet, its benefits, backed up by scientific facts. Well, you may say, I'm influenced. Maybe. Aren't we all? After all it is my way of being influenced - by science ;) In addition to not eating any kind of meat for the last 12 years, I'm quitting dairy and sugar now. I'm still going to enjoy good fish and occasionally eggs, but will try to cut its consumption perhaps in a half. In no way I'm talking you into doing the same, as it is very personal decision. I just love sharing recipe which is, in my opinion, is brilliant, in all dimensions :)

This hot cereal recipe fits nicely into my current style of eating. And delicious! It is overnight type of cooking, which is really convenient way to make a breakfast for a person working in an office environment. Couple ingredients, such as flex seeds and cinnamon (I'm not huge fan of) are here just for health benefits, others - for health and taste or texture. There is a several ways to tailor this recipe to suit your taste buds - see below my suggestions.

Weekday Hot Cereal with Oats, Flex, Chia and Berries

For 1 serving:

• 4 tbsp rolled oats 
• 2 tsp ground flex seeds
• 2 tsp chia seeds
• few drops of vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt (I used French Grey salt)
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of milk of your choice (I used my frozen coconut milk leftovers)
• 1/3 cup of fresh blueberries (or other berry)
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (optional)

- Start the night before. Place a kettle to boil one cup of water. Whilst, in a microwavable bowl (preferably with a lid), mix first 6 ingredients, pour one cup of boiling water*, cover with a saucer and leave on a counter overnight.

- In a morning, add milk, berries and maple syrup, cover with a lid and grab it to work. At work, take off lid, pop it in a microwave for 2 minutes. Take out, stir, and return to microwave for 1 more minute. You will retrieve a pure beauty - pudding-like hot cereal with a creeks-and-rivers of blueberry juice from a popped berries. Let it cool down a little bit and then enjoy, either stirred into purple pudding, half-stirred (the way I like it) or just dig into "map" with  red rivers and colorful; islands :)



Notes:

* It's not necessary to use boiling water. You can use just cold tap water. But I personally like my oats completely cooked, soft and fluffy. Next morning, after finishing it up in a microwave, they will be exactly like that, soft and fluffy, pudding-like!

- Blueberries are really good for you! But if you like other berries or, maybe, prefer nuts instead, go for it!

- Do not put too much maple syrup in it. Remember, sugar, in any form, is not your best friend ;) 

- I used coconut milk here. When I open a can of coconut milk, usually, I don't use all of it. I pour it in one or two zip bags and freeze it. It is a very convenient way to deal with coconut milk which does not last long when just left in a fridge. Also always look at ingredients on a can, less - better.



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IN PICTURES

 I make two bowls - for hubby and for myself :)

 Living, covered, on a counter overnight.

 Packing for work. My frozen coconut 'nuggets' and blueberries are in. It is going to be my breakfast today.

Texture is awesome!

One of the variation I cooked the other day - without coconut milk. In addition to blueberries, I added diced strawberries. I caught it in a microwave just in time before it spilled over the edges :) It tastes differently. There is more acidity and it is less mellow because more berries and no coconut milk to counter the acidity. I, guess, I would prefer the original recipe, but if you fan of strong berry taste and its sourness, then it's yours.  Sometimes I completely replace blueberries with strawberries in the recipe above - it is very delicious too! 

Ukha - Ukrainian Fishermen's Soup

It's a very simple nevertheless best recipe for a popular Ukrainian Catch-Of-The-Day Fish soup called Ukha. Don't be discouraged by humbleness of this recipe. I've being through many versions of it - this one is THE best and THE simplest one.

Blog's Category: Effortless, Healthy, International, My Own Fast and Easy, My Staple Food, Seafood, Soup, Ukrainian

Traditionally this soup is made of whatever fishermen catches this day. We have spent a beautiful summer day fishing on a local lake LaDue and our catch-of-the-day were several small white and yellow perches and some bluegills. Just enough for a pot of Ukha, Personally, I prefer to cook soup rather than fry my catch, because usually it's a small fish which is fantastically tender cooked in a soup and it is easier to separate bones from a flesh when small fish is boiled, not fried.

It is a special, acquired skills to deal with a bones in small fish. That's why I posted some pictures to share how I do this. Trust me, beautifully tender, delicious flesh of a small fish is  worthy all the work! 

Although if you are not up to fishing and de-boning your fish, but would like to try Ukha, just go to a store and buy a fish of your choice. In this case I would get trout, but any fish will do.

One more advise. If you have being fishing and come home late tired, gut, scale and clean your fish right away anyway. Then place it in a container, fill with cold water just to cover a fish, add about 1 tablespoon of salt (per every liter of water) and place in a fridge. It can be kept like this for up to 3-4 days before your get to cook it.

Warning for a sensitive people - don't read this paragraph. This is a special note for fishermen regarding fish head. If you've being lucky to catch big fish, use a head for this soup too, it gives a lot of flavor to a soup, just don't forget to cut out and discard gills. If fish is small, like mine here, don't bother with heads, just cut them off and discard.

Ukha

• about 3 lbs of fish, gutted, scaled and cleaned
• 2 liter of water
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 potatoes, peeled and diced (I like to dice relatively finely 1/2" x 1/2")
• salt to taste
• 7 whole black peppercorn (or mixed peppercorn)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbs dill (fresh preferably, I used frozen)

- Place pot with water on a stove, add potato, onion, bay leaves and peppercorn. Bring to a boil. Simmer until potato cooked through.

- Carefully add all your fish in a pot. Do not stir! Bring soup to a boil, turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.

- Add salt. Carefully swish a soup to dissolve and distribute a salt, trying not to break a fish. It is critical to add adequate amount of salt, it should be just right - not too much, not too little.

- Add dill. Turn heat off. Your soup is done!

- Enjoy! When it's Ukha with a bone-in fish, I like to serve fish separately from soup itself, like on my photo below. It makes it easier to deal with bones.  The process matters :)



Notes:

- As of leftovers, I like to keep fish and soup in a separate containers as well. It is much easier to enjoy it next day too!

- I insist that you stick to this recipe to the word. It's very few ingredients but each of them matters. Without any single ingredient in this recipe, or with any additional ingredient, you won't get My Best Ukha ;) 

- The pictures below may seem underwhelming, but you have to believe my word that it is The Best Ukha. Try.



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IN PICTURES

 Whenever possible, I try to use red onion as it has more anti-oxidants than white one. But white onion can be used here as well.

 Usually I place pot with water on a heat and as it is brought to a boil I chop and add potato, onion, bay leaves and pepper.

I used a mix of pink, black and green peppercorns.

 Cook potato until it's completely soft, before adding a fish.

 Here is our catch. It was kept in a fridge in salted water, like this, for a two days before I get to cook my ukha. Because my fish was in a salted water for a two days, I will be careful when adding salt to my soup.

 I placed fish carefully on a top of potato. No stirring!. Now just wait until it start to boil, then turn heat down and simmer for 10 min.

 I don't use fresh dill too often. That's why when I buy fresh dill, I like to chop it and keep in a freezer until I need it. There is a few dishes, like this, when it's no-go without fresh(frozen) dill.

 Frozen dill.

 Dill is added, bringing simmering down. Now one more minute to start simmering again and it's done!

 Serving soup separately, in a small bowl. Fish is on a separate plate too.

 Yumm. Start eating fish from a back, using your fingers, with a little help from a fork :) Take your time, dealing with bones requires attention and some fish anatomy knowledge. Happy discoveries!

 After each fish bite don't forget to indulge on a flavorful fish broth with a pieces of melting-in-a-mouth potato and tiny bits of soft onions.

 It's a bit of dirty but delicious work to eat small fish! The most expensive fish would never taste as a piece of small fish, such as this white and yellow perch.

 Step by step, back fins with a row a tiny bones, and vertebrae with tail fins goes on a 'discard' side of a plate. Now 'huge' piece of other half of fish (minus ribs) are all de-boned and available for enjoyment.

It was fun and it was delish. I hope you will do a favor to yourself and cook Ukha some time soon.