RECIPE: Jamie Oliver's granola dust breakfast smoothie

My thoughts on sugar, and a great breakfast recipe with no added sugar

I find myself joining the sugar debate quite a bit these days. I sat next to a nutritionist at dinner this week, and the first thing I asked her was what her thoughts were on the white stuff. 

I think its power to infiltrate and detriment whole societies and cultures really hit me during the four weeks I spent in Mexico last year (Mexico City, Oaxaca, Merida, and Tulum), where in the poorer parts, I regularly witnessed babies being fed Coca-Cola instead of milk or water. I was surprised at just how uncomfortable this made me; it's an incredibly jarring image.

breakfast smoothie made with
Jamie Oliver's granola dust 

Out of the more populas nations (so, excluding the little Pacific islands that even manage to surpass US and Mexico when it comes to inches around the waist), Mexico is now the fattest country on the planet. 

They've overtaken the Americans, with a whopping seventy percent being overweight, and almost one-third registering as obese. In the poor districts, there are obese parents and malnourished children. And it doesn't help that in Mexico, the fizzy pop is cheaper than a bottle of water or milk.

And then when I returned to the UK from my eight months of travel, I watched Jamie Oliver visit Mexico in Jamie's Sugar Rush, a programme he presented that investigated sugar's contribution to global health problems, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. He discovered that in 2014, Mexico introduced a 10 per cent tax on sugar sweetened beverages, in a bid to reverse the trends which helped it take the accolade of being the most obese country in the world. 

And just in January this year, the British Medical Journal reported that Mexico's sugar tax has resulted in a 12% drop in sales of sugary drinks, and an increase in sales of bottled water. Which can only be a good thing.

So good old Jamie put his balls on the line, and decided to take this same idea to the UK Government, to prevent the UK going the same way as the USA and Mexico. After months of campaigning, he finally succeeded - the UK Government announced that a sugary drinks tax will be introduced in the UK in 2018.

Why am I ranting about all this? I'm not anti-sugar, not in the slightest. The last two recipes I published attest to that - gluten-free hazelnut and coffee cookies and 'The Elvis Sandwich' peanut butter, banana and bacon mini cakes. 

There is always a place for sugar. In sweet treats - cakes, biscuits, chocolate. And who doesn't love a dessert after dinner? We go to these things because we fancy that sweet hit. And they should be treated as just that - treats. The occasional reward we give ourselves because we've earnt it, and there's nothing wrong with that.

me and JO, just hanging

My main problem with sugar, is when it appears in places it just doesn't need to be. Like pasta sauces, daily drinks, and a real gripe of mine, cereals. Especially the ones that try to market themselves as 'healthy' - *rage*.

Turns out my good pal Jamie Oliver (pretty sure this picture 👈 means he's ok with me calling him that) has the same bugbear. 

Jamie mentions in his ace book Everyday Super Food, that he and his wife get particularly frustrated over how most breakfast cereals are full of added sugar, and nutritionally aren't the best start to the day. So with his nutrition team, he developed this epic megamix of great ingredients - oats, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. There are also a couple of pages covering the number of ways you can use this magic granola dust. 

The guys over at personal healthcare providers Benenden asked me if I had opinions on sugar and if I wanted to take part in a blogger challenge they're running, to help spread the word about their Sugar Hub. Clearly, I have opinions on sugar that I'd been meaning to write about anyway, and I wanted to share how great JO's granola dust recipe is as a part of that. So I said, why not.

Unless I'm out of the country or in a restaurant for breakfast, this is the stuff I start every morning with, throughout the year. 

In the winter, I heat it up on the stove with milk and make porridge, and maybe throw on a sliced banana if I'm feeling fancy. It tastes so much better than standard porridge, because the toasting means the natural sugars present have begun to caramelise, adding a whole new flavour dimension. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to un-toasted oats when it comes to porridge. Plus, it's gloriously nutty.

In the summer, I blitz up the powder with milk, fresh fruit and cinnamon, for a gorgeous morning smoothie.

However you decide to use it, make up a big batch, store it in a jar, and use 50-60g per serving.

Jamie Oliver's awesome granola dust - nuts, seeds, oats and fruit galore

Makes about 15 servings

500g porridge oats
125g unsalted mixed nuts, such as walnuts, Brazils, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, cashews
50g mixed seeds such as chia, poppy, sunflower, sesame, linseed, pumpkin
125g mixed dried fruit with no added sugar, such as blueberries, cranberries, goji berries, mango, apricots, figs
1.5 tbsp quality cocoa powder or raw cocoa nibs
1/2 tbsp freshly ground coffee
1 large orange 

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4. Places the oats, nuts and seeds in a couple of large roasting trays, toss them together, and roast for around 15-20 minutes, until they start to golden and caramelise.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then add the dried fruit, cocoa and coffee to the mix. Finely grate over the orange zest, then in batches, blitz the whole lot to a rough powder in a food processor. Tip it into a large airtight jar for storage.

For my smoothies, I take 60g of the dust and blend it with one fresh banana, a handful of frozen berries, around 200ml of milk, and a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Related posts
RECIPE: Blueberry and almond smoothie

blueberry and almond smoothie

Here's a pretty good start to the day and completely divine. Great for using up berries sitting in the fridge now past their best, that you just haven't got round to using. Alternatively, put them in straight from frozen. This will be ready before you've rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. And here are some of the health benefits of blueberries, which you of course already knew: highest antioxidant capacity of all fresh fruit - they contain 20 different antioxidants while other berries contain just three or four; neutralises free radicals; softens dry skin; reverses age related memory loss; the list goes on.

I think they're deserving of the little flared crowns they have.

Blueberry and almond smoothie

Makes just over 3 x 250ml glasses

225g blueberries (fresh or frozen)

350ml milk

2 x heaped tbsp fat free Greek yoghurt

2 x heaped tbsp ground almonds

1.5 tbsp honey

5 ice cubes

Place all the ingredients in a blender and wazz until silky smooth. Decant into glasses and drink immediately. If you let the glass sit for a while before consuming, some settling will occur so give it a quick stir before drinking.

Alfiyet olsun.

food for thought - review

Whenever I see out-of-town families and couples alike seated in the window booths of a depressing Garfunkel’s, a desperate Angus Aberdeen Steakhouse or a dejected Frankie and Benny’s, all strategically situated in the tourist hotspots of London town to coax over-stimulated and disorientated visitors into their dull and uninspiring interiors by means of familiarity in both brand and menu, my being gives way to a full body shudder.

These faces often read despair – mine would too if I had just paid £10 for southern fried chicken strips slightly more moist than cardboard but with the same flavour. Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Charing Cross Road, Oxford Street are just a few of the areas littered with these and other equally vapid excuses for eateries – the footfall fodder of the culinary world. 

It is only the threat of police intervention that stops me from marching into these establishments, throwing Dad’s tough-as-old-boots steak to the ground, grabbing Mum by the shoulders in front of wide-eyed children frozen mid face-stuff with limp and greasy chips in their hands, screaming ‘But why? WHY are you here?! There are so many, SO many better places to eat than here. You’re in London - one of the culinary capitals of the world! Take a side street, venture into the realms of a new cuisine, an unfamiliar name above the door. You never know, you might ENJOY it’.

that most incredible aubergine dish

But I do understand that it must be hard to resist the calls from such establishments when you’ve been on your feet all day, the kids are hungry and whining, and you only have one hour before the show starts. 

There isn’t really time to wander round, working out where might be good or different that won’t blow the bank. This is central London after all - everything here must be expensive unless it’s a McDonald’s or Subway, right? Wrong. 

I introduce to you somewhere slap bang in the middle of Covent Garden, where you don’t need to book a table, where the food is both healthy and off the scale delicious, where they welcome BYO with no corkage charge (one for you Mums and Dads), and where you can fill your boots for under £8 per head. I present to you, Food for Thought.

inside Food for Thought

My regular London Cheap Eats companion (Aarti) suggested we try this place to see if it would make the grade in the form of a blog entry. It’s a place I’ve failed to notice or hear about before, yet after some research it turns out it’s been reviewed highly and has been established in the same location for around 40 years. I’m already excited.  

Food for Thought is an eatery where the focus is on fresh food and a friendly service – ‘simple decor of pine tables, stools and whitewashed walls, enlivened by original artwork’. It’s also located in an 18^th century listed building where the low seating alcoves were once used for ripening bananas, apparently. 

The menu is vegetarian (don’t wince – this is at absolutely no detriment to any flavour let me assure you), changes daily (while the prices stay the same) and is as fresh as it gets. The format is a two floored establishment – the ground floor has a few window stools and a take-away service counter while down the stairs you’ll find the main seating area, still cosy in its proportions. 

Once the stairs have been descended, you take a look at the menu and order what you fancy, pay with cash, then take a seat. You may well end up sharing a table as you cosy on up with your neighbour, but who cares. We felt it all added to the charm and atmosphere of the place.

Both myself and Aarti ordered the same hot dish out of three options (all options £5) – it was soft baked aubergine with chunky slices of fennel, courgettes, and puy lentils, coated in a wonderful yoghurt and dill sauce, topped with large croutons intense with the flavour of olives, with melted and then hardened savoury bites of cheese. 

I can’t tell you how completely gorgeous this was – all I was reading from it was the love, effort and consideration that had been put into both the design of this dish, and its execution. I am determined to replicate it at home. And I was almost certain I didn’t even like fennel – I'm not so certain now. I would take a tube ride from Clapham Common to Covent Garden after a long day at work just to eat this aubergine dish, it was that good. 

On the day of writing this up, some of the ‘hot dishes’ options include Jamaican black bean pot in a medium spicy coconut and tomato sauce, and butter bean and asparagus primavera in a yoghurt and sour cream sauce. These both read as things I would happily devour. And don’t forget this menu changes every day – what joy.

With my aubergine dish I intended to order a couple of slices of the freshly baked bread which was mushroom and sage on the day we visited, but they had alas run out. I can only imagine it was equally superb – must get there earlier next time. Instead I ordered a bowl of brown rice (£1.20) and a portion of Greek yoghurt (30p) to accompany my main. 

Interestingly enough, the yoghurt was not charged for and the rice was only charged at £1, different to what the menu stated. I of course was not complaining. Also available on the menu is the soup of the day, quiches of the day, an array of homemade salads, a daily evening special, brownies, flapjacks, desserts and scones. And the scones are certainly something to write home about. 

My companion opted for that day’s savoury scone (£1.80) to accompany her aubergine, one with rosemary and cheese. I chose to have their other scone offering as a dessert, a fresh strawberry scone (£1.80). Both were almost the size of a side plate on their own and in particular, the latter was completely sublime. Buttery but light, not too sweet, a wonderful melt-in-the-mouth texture, and punctuated with fresh strawberries.

a quite wonderful fresh strawberry scone

Glass tumblers are continuously washed and placed on a drainer by a member of staff behind a large sink and are used for both the table water already present and any BYO that may have accompanied you. 

The food is served in and on quite lovely and weighty earthenware crockery.  We arrived at about 18.15 and had to hover around the ordering counter for just a handful of minutes before a couple of stools made themselves available - tables cannot be reserved. As time moved on, the seats started to empty out further, with a little flurry of clientèle just before last orders at 20.00. 

After devouring our hearty and life-affirming meals, swiftly emptying a bottle of very drinkable Beaujolais purchased from the M&S round the corner, and enjoying great conversation, my companion and I were quite far beyond the realms of mere satiety and were positively basking in the after-glow of a fantastic meal that barely brushed past our purses. The guilt of our consciences foreseeing the imminent descent into cocktails was at least slightly abated by the goodness that lined our stomachs and with bellies full, our night was yet young.

Next time you are in town for shopping, a show, seeing the sights or simply with an agenda to meander, I strongly urge you to try out Food for Thought. I have no doubts you will thoroughly enjoy it and return for more, as will I.

Liked lots - food, atmosphere, location, clientèle, staff, price, BYO, almost everything
Liked less - they had run out of incredible sounding bread - sad face :(
Good for - couples - wait for a private corner to free up, take in a bottle of wine and get cosy; spontaneity - no need to book a table; small groups; students; catching up; vegetarians and meat-eaters alike; hippies; the gut; the wallet

The bill

Me 

aubergine & yoghurt bake £5.00

brown rice £1.20 (but was charged £1.00)

fresh strawberry scone £1.80

Total £8.00*

*NB Also ordered Greek yoghurt £0.30 (but was not charged)

Aarti
aubergine & yoghurt bake £5.00

rosemary and cheese scone £1.80

Total £6.80

Afiyet olsun.

fat-free creamy beetroot and thyme dip

There are few ingredients that have as intense a colour as the deep flesh of beetroot. Combine purple with the white of quark and you'll end up with a bowl full of colour and goodness that will brighten up any spread.

This dip combines the earthiness of beetroot with the sweetness from soft roast garlic but the clinching flavour here has got to be the thyme. When wazzed up with the cream cheese, you'll be left with a sin-free thick and creamy dip that goes with almost anything. I keep a bowl of this in the fridge as often as possible and have it as a side with a range of dishes from fish pie, to left over pizza, to spreading it on toast and topping it with sardines. An all round winner - I am yet to introduce it to someone who hasn't fallen for it.

Quark
If you haven't heard of quark before, it's time to get acquainted. Meaning “curd” in Slavic, quark is a soft, white and un-aged cheese made from whey. It has a much lower fat content than other cream cheeses (99.8% fat-free) and is popular in Scandanavia and Eastern Europe. Where a dish requires a voluptuous creaminess, I often use quark in place of higher fat alternatives. It both cooks well and is also excellent used in desserts. Best of all, you'll find it in all the standard supermarkets.

Fat free creamy beetroot and thyme dip

250g quark
3 x medium beetroots
4 x garlic cloves
small bunch of thyme
salt and pepper
olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 180C (fan). Place the beetroot (whole) and garlic cloves in an oven dish and drizzle a little olive oil to coat. Seal the dish with tin foil and place in the oven until the beetroot is soft and can be pierced to the centre with a knife.

Tip Be sure to put the beetroot in whole. If you chop them up their juices will bleed during cooking.

Tip Take the garlic cloves out as soon as they're soft - they'll be done some time before the beetroot. If you leave them in too long, they'll go hard and brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. When they're cool enough to habdle, peel off the skins - there's no need for a peeler as they'll come away in your fingers. Quarter the beetroots and squeeze out the garlic from their skins. Put them in a food processor along with the quark and the leaves from a good few sprigs of thyme. Season with salt and pepper and wazz. Be sure to taste the dip and season further as you wish - you may want more thyme or more seasoning. Spoon into a serving bowl and top with a few more thyme leaves.

Alfiyet olsun.

watercress soup

I’m a big advocate of seasonal ingredients. If the cyclical forces of nature inhibit produce growth, then it probably shouldn’t be growing at that time of year. And by proxy, you will experience far less pleasure consuming it than if you did at its peak. Have you ever tried to buy a fresh tomato in January? They’ll be insipid to the point of translucent unless they’ve been freighted in from the tropics or somewhere equally absurd. If you want tomatoes in January, do what the Italians do and use quality canned tomatoes or passata where the flavours of the summer bounty have been bottled and preserved.

When you do manage to get your hands on produce fresh and slap bang in the middle of its seasonal best, there is often little if anything you need to do to it or add to it to fully appreciate what it has to offer. A great example is this soup that Matt makes where the star ingredient is watercress, currently in its prime. It takes almost no time to knock up and contains the most minimal of ingredients – not even any stock. Yet the flavour from it is so fresh and vibrant and lively with the natural peppery hit from the leaves that it’s down as one of my favourite soups.

Good for both the body and the soul, I present to you spring in a bowl.

Watercress Soup

Serves 2

1/4 onion, diced
200g watercress
50g spinach
180ml boiling water
180g ice
Salt and pepper
Small knob of unsalted butter

Soften the onion in the butter until translucent. Add the watercress and spinach and toss them in the pan for one minute. Add the boiling water, bring up to the boil and boil for 2 minutes - push the leaves under the surface of the water during this time. Remove the pan from the heat and add the ice.

Tip The use of ice prevents the leaves from overcooking (thus retaining their nutrients) and preserves the vibrant colour of the leaves.

Stir until the ice has melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste – don’t use too much pepper as watercress is naturally peppery. Use a stick blender or transfer the contents to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Reheat to piping hot when ready to serve and decant into warm bowls.

Serve with a topping of your choice – a quenelle (neat looking spoonful - ask Masterchef) of crème fraîche, quark, Greek yoghurt, or a grating of parmesan. Don’t forget a couple of slices of good quality sourdough. A perfect Spring lunch in no time.

Alfiyet olsun.

January Packed Lunches

New years resolutions are a great tradition, aren't they? You make a handful, by the end of the year you've keep around a quarter. Or at least in my case. I'm not sure if there's anyone out there who doesn't have at least one health or diet related resolution on their list. Mine is to get back into running. I have previously run a half marathon a couple of years back, but no big races since. I've registered for one 10k run and one 15k run this year, with the intention to complete a marathon before I'm 30. I have a good amount of time and I think these are realistic goals, but we shall see.

For those of you who do have health or diet related resolutions, I'll bet that lunch time is the one meal of the day that is easily the most challenging. If you have a dreary lunch of leaves and plain chicken breast waiting for you in the fridge, it takes the most minimal of arm twisting to get you to ditch it and join colleagues for a pizza, burger or pub lunch instead. And who can blame you. Even if you do manage to resist all post-festive cravings towards fat and sugar, these sorts of lunches leave you unfulfilled and reaching for something sweet or carby by 4pm.

If only there was a lunch that was:

• healthy
• filling
• tasty
• easy
• inexpensive

This would help with health, diet and finance resolutions. Surely a winner.

Well, here's one.

Wholegrain brown rice with greens and a delicious dressing

Wholegrain rice is high in protein, high in fibre, retains all the nutrients in the whole of the grain, and contains complex carbohydrates meaning a gradual release of energy, unlike sugary foods which give you the initial high followed by the crash. And when cooked al dente has a wonderful bite to it. It should keep you full for a very decent amount of time.

Makes about 3 portions

200-250g wholegrain rice (I used Uncle Ben's)
4 heads of pak choi, sliced (or other similar greens i.e. spinach)
5 cloves of garlic, sliced (have less or more depending on your preference)
Thumb of ginger, grated or thinly sliced
1 red chilli, finely sliced
Chilli bean paste (available from oriental grocers - worth sourcing - see previous post for more info)
Soy sauce 
Rice wine vinegar
Toasted sesame oil
Lime
Groundnut oil
Boil your rice in plenty of salted cold water. Once al dente, drain well and set aside.

In the meantime, gently fry your garlic, ginger and chilli in a little groundnut oil in a wok. If you're using pak choi, separate the white parts from the leafy green parts as they take a bit longer to cook. Add the whites and stir fry until slightly softened but still with crunch. When they're done, add the leafy parts and stir fry for a minute or so until just wilted. Stir in as much of the chilli bean paste as takes your fancy - say one to two tablespoons. Season to taste with the soy, toasted sesame oil and rice wine vinegar.

Tip your cooked rice into the wok and thoroughly mix. In a separate little bowl combine some more soy, sesame oil and rice vinegar and pour over the rice mix. Check the seasoning and amend to taste. Squeeze lime juice over it, and you are done. You could of course add some lean meat such as chicken strips to the dish, if you fancy it.

What's great about this lunch is you could heat it up if you wish and if your work premises has the tools to do so. Or you could take it out of the fridge an hour or so before lunch and have it at room temperature as more of a salad. The dressing makes it something you'll actually look forward to eating - wonderfully delicious and will fill you up a treat.

Alfiyet olsun.