A sort of Bircher muesli
I grew up with this version of bircher muesli, not then knowing it's name. It's been an old time favorite since then and comes back every so often when I am reminded of it. To me this is a sort of porridge substitute. Perfect summer breakfast. The grains, oats, raisins, seeds and nuts all plump up do to the soaking but rain more of their texture than a regular porridge.
Normally bircher muesli is made buy soaking oat, rainsins, seeds and nuts (dry muesli mix) in yoghurt, lemon juice sometimes in apple juice. I have also seen versions using soy or rice or almond milk in place of yoghurt. I grew up with water being the soaking liquid, and that's what I still use now with the addition of a little lemon juice.
Now for the health aspect to this dish. Apparently the body can better absorb and digest both nuts, seeds and grains if they have been soaked or cooked. Even more so soaked as they then retain all their nutrients which are otherwise lost in the heating process. You might have heard of sprouting seed, grains and nuts, this is a nutritional approach to getting the very best out of these products. It's called eating living food, which in itself means higher nutritional benefits. Soaking the muesli is a step towards sprouting, so again higher nutritional value. In addition eating oats and other whole grains helps reduce bad cholesterol levels and also helps maintain a steady blood sugar level which in turn means you stay full longer.
A sort of Bircher muesli
The great part is you can make endless variations to the muesli mix. You can even make it gluten free by using rice flakes, quinoa flakes, amaranth flakes, buckwheat, and oats (just make sure they have not been processed in combination with other gluten containing grains).
You can replace the raisins for cranberries, goji berries, dried blueberries, dried apricots and or figs, or any other type of dried fruit.
You can replace the flax seeds for chai or use both.
You can mix various grain flakes such as rye, buckwheat, spelt, kamut etc..
I usually keep the mix for 2-3 days, I think you can keep it for 4-5 days but I wouldn't try longer than that. It's easy enough to make the night before so large batches are not really necessary.
Ingredients for 2 portions - the portions will almost double in size once soaked:
200g mixed grains (oats, buckwheat, rye)
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
2 tbsp flaxseeds
2 tbsp dried fruit (if you use larger fruits then I would recommend dicing them into raisin size)
squeeze lemon juice (approx. 1-2 tsp)
400g water or yoghurt or milk (almond, soy, rice, oat)*
you could also decide to use half & half the amount of liquids with water
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl large enough to allow for the liquid to be added without over flowing, or use a tupperware.
Add the lemon juice and mix.
Add the water or other liquid, mix and place in the fridge over night.
Enjoy with yoghurt or other milk of your choice. I love to add some fresh summer fruit to give it some additional sweetness and color.
A sort of Bircher muesli
