Porridge has become extremely popular in recent years. However, not long ago, porridge was not the favorite dish for many people. Due to its great health benefits, however, it has gained a large fan base.
Oatmeal or porridge has long since ceased to be a "boring" breakfast – largely due to the fact that the rebranding of oatmeal has brought with it a number of toppings and spices. Why is porridge so healthy, and how can you best refine your breakfast porridge with spices? We will clarify these questions in today's blog post.
Why is it so healthy?
Porridge is not only extremely tasty but is also very healthy. This was already known several decades ago when oats still landed on the tables of households in their original form every day. Oatmeal has a very high protein content and is full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
The fiber contained in oatmeal ensures that our blood sugar levels remain constant and leads to a long-lasting feeling of fullness. In addition, the oatmeal is enjoyed warm and is therefore easy to digest. And as we've mentioned in other posts, a hot breakfast is probably the best way to start the day healthy.
This is because the body does not have to warm up the "cold" breakfast, and thus doesn't need extra energy. By ingesting warm foods, you save energy, so to speak, and this helps digestion as well as your energy balance for the day.
If you also like to have a gluten-free breakfast but don't want to give up porridge, you could try this recipe. Gluten-free porridge with apple and cinnamon – so you can easily refine your porridge with spices – delicious and an absolute vitamin bomb.
Gluten-free porridge without added sugar with apple and cinnamon
Ingredients
- 60 g Verival gluten-free Bircher Porridge
- 200 ml hot water, milk, or gluten-free plant drink
- 1/2 apple
- 1 pinch of cinnamon
Preparation
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You can prepare the Verival porridges either in a pot, with a kettle, or in a microwave.
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Preparation with the pot: Take 60 g of gluten-free Bircher porridge and add the mixture to the pot.
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Add 200 ml of the liquid of your choice and boil the porridge for 3 minutes.
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Remove the pot from the stove and let the porridge steep for another minute.
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Refine your gluten-free oatmeal with toppings of your choice, such as apple and cinnamon.
Oats as a Superfood?
The real star of the porridge that makes it so healthy is the oatmeal it contains. Oatmeal is easy to digest and has a positive effect on our intestinal flora. In addition, oats contain important nutrients such as vitamins B1 and B6, as well as zinc, iron, and magnesium.
So when it comes to nutrients, it’s a real superfood. Oatmeal also provides you with a lot of good fiber, which keeps you full for a long time and is easy to digest. Find out more in our blog post about the superfood oats and their effect on the body.
Which spices go well with it?
In the meantime, many spices are no longer difficult to find – and there are an infinite number of them anyway. Now, if you’re wondering how to navigate the spice jungle, we’ll give you the right answers.
There are a few things that fit into any porridge. There are two camps: sugar and salt. If you would like to sweeten your porridge a little, you can help with a little sugar. (However, we recommend using a sugar alternative, such as agave syrup, instead of sugar!) A pinch of salt, on the other hand, gives your morning breakfast porridge extra flavor – not "salty", but rather "fresh". How about the following recipe?
Low-calorie porridge with zucchini and oatmeal
Ingredients
- 40 g oatmeal
- 1/2-1 zucchini
- 30 g protein powder (optional, also with flavor)
- 1 tsp coconut flour
- 300 ml water
- 1 pinch of salt
Preparation
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Grate the zucchini first. It's best to grate them right into the pot.
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Then add the oatmeal and the protein powder.
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Next, add the water to the pot and another teaspoon of coconut flour. The coconut flour ensures that the porridge is nice and creamy and helps with binding.
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Now put your porridge on the stove and cook it for about 7 minutes on medium heat. Stir well again and again.
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If your porridge is already creamy, remove it from the heat and let it steep for another 2-3 minutes. After that, your delicious porridge is ready without many calories.
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Of course, you can now refine your porridge with toppings of your choice, such as fresh fruit, nuts, or seeds.
Nutritional values
Now that we have discussed the classics of spices, there are, of course, also the more unusual spices. If you're looking for something more exotic, you might try cocoa, for example. This gives your porridge a chocolatey note and the little sweetness you might want in the morning. Cinnamon, for example, is a little more classic but no less delicious. Cinnamon is an all-around talent and tastes good to almost everyone.
Toppings add momentum to your oatmeal
But it's not just spices that make your porridge a real hit. Although spices could also be considered toppings, we do not include them here.
A classic among all toppings is probably the apple. The apple fits perfectly into our porridge in all its preparation forms, whether shredded or sliced. The great thing about apples is that they are available regionally almost all year round. In the skin, most of the fiber and vitamins are. Therefore, it is always better to leave the peel on and not peel it off.
Berries – The oatmeal can be elevated from raspberries to blueberries or strawberries with any berry. The little fruits are perfect in our delicious porridge. We recommend buying the berries fresh only in the berry season, i.e., in the summer months. For the rest of the year, it is advisable to either freeze them as whole pieces or puree them – depending on your preference.
Nuts are also a very healthy and delicious topping – whether cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds. You can't go wrong with nuts as a topping. They provide many important and healthy fats and contribute to a healthy and balanced diet. Nuts are also good for the heart and circulation. Carbohydrates and fiber can also be found in abundance in a wide variety of nuts. So they are a real superfood.
The Ribisel is a regional fruit, so we would like to highlight the small berry. It comes in either red, white, or black. What is special here is that 35 individual berries already cover the daily requirement of a person for vitamin C. The pomegranate behaves similarly – not only in appearance. The small berries of the pomegranate are very rich in vitamins and nutrients. A real superfood. But you should also be careful here because the pomegranate, like other exotic fruits, often travels long distances.
With these toppings, in addition to the spices, you can refine your porridge very well.
A healthy start to the day with the right spices
With the right spices and toppings, you can start the day in a lively and, above all, healthy manner. This is especially important as a healthy breakfast fills the reserves for your day. A good breakfast lays the foundation for a good day.
If you're in the mood for porridge, but would like to try something different, you might enjoy our porridge smoothie bowl. So we tried to mix the best and healthiest exotic fruits with our delicious porridge.
The basis for this recipe is the Verival Porridge Smoothie Bowl in mango and passion fruit flavor. The smoothie bowl is based on gluten-free whole-grain oatmeal and also contains chia seeds and flaxseed, which is why it saturates very well. In addition, the smoothie bowl contains many important vitamins.
Porridge smoothie bowl mango passion fruit without added sugar
Ingredients
- 50 g Verival Porridge Smoothie Bowl Mango passion fruit
- 120 ml water, milk, or plant drink
- 1 passion fruit (optional)
- 1 tbsp shredded coconut
- 50 g mango
Preparation
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Put 50 g of the porridge smoothie bowl in a bowl.
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Next, add 120 ml of water, cold milk, or plant drink and mix the liquid well with the base.
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Let the mixture steep for 1 minute, and then add toppings of your choice to your porridge smoothie bowl.
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Fresh fruit goes perfectly with this smoothie bowl. That's why we topped them with mango, passion fruit, and shredded coconut.
