Muesli
A very good friend of mine growing up, who ended up being the best man at my wedding, was (and is) lactose intolerant. For the most part these are the kind of things that go unrecognizable in people, but when you’re sitting at the breakfast table every day and your buddy pours apple juice into his Cheerios, it takes a while before that seems natural. Maybe this wouldn’t be so strange to us now if muesli hadn’t evolved from its traditional roots of being consumed with juice instead of milk. Maybe, but I think I’ll stick with the dairy option.
The first time I ate muesli was as a kid, and it was completely unsweetened bulk bin stuff. Coming off a high from Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes, it did not taste good. I remember constantly begging my mom to buy the Fruit and Fibre cereals available at the time, so evidently I was trying to bridge the gap. Flash forward to more recent years, I discovered Alpen, the delicious Swiss cereal not loosely inspired by muesli. I was hooked, and therefore had to start making it for myself. It’s a good thing I never got into amphetamines or I would have blown up the kitchen by now. Ahem.
Muesli is an interesting phenomenon to me, in that it gained its popularity in North America nearly half a century ago during an increased demand for natural food. This surprised me in that we’ve actually stepped backward since then. Just goes to show how powerful marketing and the food industry can be I suppose. Nowadays “back to nature” type slogans are often used to sell anything but actual health food and muddying the waters for those looking for it, but muesli is the real deal. It’s nothing but whole grains, nuts and fruit — and a great way to kickstart your morning.
Muesli is essentially fat-free granola, which means you don’t get those crunchy clusters and oily sheen, which is sad. This also means that it is faster to prepare since it doesn’t have to be cooked, which is good. The recipe below can be easily scaled depending on how much you want to make ahead of time, and will keep well if it is in a tightly sealed container. Simply chop up some fresh fruit, grab a dollop of yogurt or some milk and you’ve got breakfast ready in a minute, even if you started from scratch.
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup nuts
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons dried fruit
- 1 tablespoon flax seed
- (optional) 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- Combine all ingredients together in a bowl or tupperware container. That’s it!
Any sort of nuts will do, but you may want to omit the cinnamon if you’re using dried fruit like mangoes, pineapple or papaya instead of banana, raisins, currants or cranberries.