Kale and Miso Porridge
Savoury porridge is such a nice way to start a busy day. While many people are turning their backs on grains these days, when properly prepared and cooked in bone broth, they are not only a great source of energy but also an important source of absorbable protein, vitamins and nutrients. (If you are able to tolerate them, that is). Soaking your grains overnight vastly improves their digestibility: it unlocks the nutrients that are bound up within the grain and neutralises anti-nutrients. As a matter of fact, while cooking grains and legumes without soaking might now be considered the norm, it is actually a relatively modern phenomenon. Our ancestors always soaked, sprouted or fermented grains and legumes (e.g. sourdough is fermented wheat). I suppose they intuitively knew what was optimal for health. Nowadays, with the sudden wave of interest in gut health, it's great to see scientific studies verifying ancient wisdom. We recommend boiling the kale before coating it in butter. Kale is heralded for its many health-giving properties, and lamentably, many people recommend consuming it raw, along with other cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. However, cruciferous vegetables contain goitrogens, which are damaging to thyroid health. Cooking and discarding the cooking water removes most of these thyroid-suppressing chemicals. While eating the odd bit of raw kale here and there certainly won't cause any harm, we shouldn't really make a regular habit of it. Consuming your cooked veg with liberal amounts of butter increases mineral absorption. And it tastes good. Adding the miso after cooking the kale makes sure that you've got a nice probiotic flourish to your breakfast to keep your microbiome happy. All in all a gut start to the day (sorry).
Written by
Bea Kabiri
Serves: 1
Cooking time: overnight soak + 10 minutes
Ingredients:
The night before:
1/2 cup or 50g buckwheat/oat/quinoa flakes
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, sourdough starter or lemon juice
warm water to cover
In the morning:
1 cup Borough Broth Co Free-Range Organic Chicken or Grass-Fed Organic Beef Bone Broth
just shy of 1 cup water
handful of kale
1-2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp miso paste (ideally unpasteurised. I used brown rice miso, but any will do)
Extras:
*splash of rice wine vinegar
*soy sauce / tamari for gluten free
*boiled egg
*spring onion
*sesame seeds
*peanuts
*sesame oil (no more than a couple drops – it’s potent stuff!)
*chilli oil / sriracha / tabasco
* indicates optional ingredients
Method:
- Place your porridge grain of choice in a bowl, cover with warm water, stir through your acid of choice and loosely cover. Leave in a warm place overnight to soak.
- In the morning, pour off any excess soaking liquid.
- Bring the broth and water to a boil in a small pot.
- Pour in the soaked grains and cook, stirring constantly with the end of a wooden spoon (or a traditional spurtle if you have one!) for an extra smooth and creamy porridge. Adjust the liquid until the consistency is to your liking.
- Once the porridge is cooked, reduce the heat to low and put the lid on to steam while you prepare the kale.
- Bring a pan of water to the boil and plunge in the kale. Boil for a couple minutes, until soft, then drain the cooking water through a colander. Melt the butter in the same pan, add the kale back into the pot, and stir briefly to coat.
- Remove kale from the heat and stir in the miso paste. Taste and add more if needed.
- Add toppings of choice and enjoy a delicious and nutritious breakfast.
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