I’ve had chia seeds in my pantry for about a year now. Occasionally i will sprinkle them on oats or into baked goods, but it wasn’t until recently I discovered their amazing gelling properties. Chia pudding is hardly a secret in the raw/vegan community, but for me it’s been an exciting new discovery.

I’ve been eating chia pudding for breakfast the last few weeks with either almond milk or coconut milk and mangoes. This is all part of pretending I’m on a tropical holiday somewhere. While making my breakfast the other day, I was on the phone to my friend/client/massage therapist, Carly, and the conversation landed on Chocolate. Don’t all good conversations at 7.30am? By the time we hung up, my chia had gelled and I had the idea that chocolate was a perfectly normal (and antioxidant rich) breakfast food.

Once I had chocolate and mango all ready to go, I couldn’t leave chilli out. Vivienne might not have forgiven me. She’s promised me that they’re a perfect combination. And they were. The chia gel was smooth and cooling along with the mango, the coconut milk sweet, the cacoa powder earthy and a little bitter. The bitterness going perfectly with the occasional zing of chilli. It all summed up my tropical island fantasy breakfast perfectly.
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
2 Tbs coconut milk
1 ts sweetener (I used natvia)
a sprinkle of chilli flakes (if you’re brave)
1 mango, diced

Mix the everything except the mango in a bowl. Leave to sit for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally while you drink your morning cuppa. Top with the mango and eat.

Preparation and Storage: This whole recipe can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and kept refrigerated in an air tight jar.

Substitutes and Alternatives: For a smoother texture place the chia seeds in a food processor or coffee grinder before mixing. To boost the protein content I sometimes sprinkle hulled hemp seeds on top of mine.

A note on how I make my porridge:
I prepared mine with quinoa flakes but if you normally have oats the recipe will work just the same. Similarly I had my porridge ‘eggy’ but vanilla whey would be just as nice for a protein hit.

Mine is 40g of quinoa flakes and 1 cup of water microwaved for 7 minutes on medium. Cooking it longer and slower adds fluffiness and volume without the hassle of doing it on the stove. I then added in my egg whites and nuke it for a further 90 seconds.

Porridge, prepared as normal
Apple-Cinnamon flavouring:
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 scoop Scivation Apple Xtend
a pinch nutmeg
a pinch salt

Simply stir the flavouring ingredients into your porridge and enjoy the slightly pretend sweetness without the sugar buzz.

Want more breakfast ideas? Check more of my ‘breakfast recipes’.

Maybe you’ve strayed into the wonderful world of sugar and process carbs and need a way back. After my weekend away in Melbourne, I sure did. All the delicious treats of St Kilda and surrounds have recharged my body and inspired me to get back into the kitchen and keep food fun, fresh and fast.

When it came time to get into a clean breakfast I had to get creative, I didn’t want to be lured back to by the sugar-faeries. Pancakes always seem a bit more special to me after a week of porridge, but I didn’t want the same old, same old. Good thing too as I was out of cinnamon and my vanilla essense was still packed from the trip. So, when  I opened my baking draw in my pantry, searching for inspiration, the coconut essence jumped out and grabbed my imagination. Combined with the nutty taste of the quinoa flour and a few oats added for extra chewiness I was excited.

There are many protein-rich pancake recipes out there and depending on the day i make mine with different ratios of liquids to solids, depending on whether i want crepes or cute fluffy pikelettes. When the mixture hit the pan and the tiny little bubble started to form, I new I’d be satisfied. Up the puffed, golden and luxurious a perfect reward after a cold winter’s morning walk.

Fluffy, light and tasty

You really can hide vegies ANYWHERE. Cauliflower is my favourite hidden vegetable because it tastes reasonably neutral and is great in both sweet and savory dishes. It also hasn’t got any sort of colour to it so the kids won’t spot it.

Steph, gave me the idea for this one. While she was preparing for her last comp she was mixing cauliflower in with her oats and eggs. I suggested she made the mix into pancakes and the idea took off.

• 2 cups of cauliflower, cut up stems are fine to include (don’t use FROZEN)
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk (optional)
• 2 scoops/60g pea protein*
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg**
• 3 egg whites**

Place the cauliflower in a saucepan with the coconut milk or equivilant water. Cover the saucepan and place over a medium heat to steam for 15-20 minutes or until very soft.

Place the cauliflower in a food processor and puree until smooth. Add in the egg and egg white and whizz a little longer. Add in the pea protien, salt and baking powder and puree until smooth.

Lightly grease a non-stick frying-pan/skillet and cook the mixture in 1/3 cup batches, flipping once the mixture has set.

*Pea protien can be replaced with plain soy protien or your favourite (gluten free) flour such as wholemeal, amarenth or besan.
**Or 2 whole eggs

I’d actually been considering a more plant based diet, since working on the latest issue of Spezzatino magazine. I found the whole process eye opening as it showed me how much I’ve learned about ingredients and nutrition since my days as a cheese and pasta eating vegetarian in High School and University. However, one of my fondest memories from uni days is mornings spent at Vego’n'lovin’ it on Rundle Street with one of my dearest friends, Carolyn. We both spent a lot of our spare time (when we were procrastinating about assignments) trying to re-create their soup. We never cracked it.

With my return dalliance to plant-based eating I added more beans in my diet. My pantry started to develop a fair collection. I thought I’d give the recipe one more crack and have something pretty special to start my day. I LOVE soup for breakfast.

1tb oil
1 onion, diced
3 stick celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 small cloves of garlic, chopped
1tb malaysian style garam masala
1/4 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts ground coriander
1/4c dry fava/broad beans (soaked overnight)*
1/4c dry red kidney beans (soaked overnight, or 1/2c canned)*
about 3l chicken flavoured stock
1/4c dry mung beans, washed**
1/4c dry brown lentils, washed
1 tomato, diced
1 ear of corn, or 1 small can

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and cook the onion until golden.

Add in the diced carrot and celery and saute for a further 5 minutes or until soft, then stir in the spices and toast until aromatic.

Add the stock, kidney beans and broad beans. Bring the liquid to the boil then cook under pressure for 15 minutes. Add in the lentils and mung beans and cook under pressure for a further 15-20 minutes.

Add in the corn and tomato and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

NOTES: *If you don’t have a pressure cooker pre-cook all these beans for 45 minutes after soaking overnight.
** Carolyn rightly emailed me back saying she didn’t remember mung beans. These are my current favourite bean. The ‘correct’ recipe would be to replace the mung beans with more brown lentils.

I had leftover ‘cauliflower mash’ and woke thinking something warming was in order, but that I didn’t need the carbs of quinoa or oats. The creaminess of the cauliflower and coconut paired perfectly with the slight crunch from the apple, while the egg whites made this a substantial feed.

1/2 cauliflower
1/4 cup light coconut milk
1 ts natural peanut butter
2 tb cashews
1 apple, grated
1 1/2c egg whites
cinamon

1. Cook the cauliflower until soft (3-4mins in microwave).
2. Place in a blender with the coconut milk, nuts and nut butter and blend.
3. Stop at this point and you’ve got creamy rich mash.
4. Place the mixture in a small non-stick frying pan and stir in the egg whites and apple.
5. Continue to stir as if it where scrambled eggs until the egg whites are just cooked.
6. Sprinkle on the cinnamon and drizzle with maple syrup.

Image: Ian Britton