I swear there is porridge hiding underneath all the toppings, I just can’t help but get carried away when sprinkling nuts, nut butters, berries and all the other delicious crunchy stuff on top of porridge, smoothies or chia puddings. But the base, aka porridge in this case, is just as delicious as everything else, and will take only like 10 min to make. Feel free to use just oats or any other rolled/flaked grain as a substitute. I really like my porridge spicy and warming, so I like to use some freshly brewed chai tea while cooking it, but you can also substitute that with water and add some extra spices or skip them completely.

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
• 1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp of cinnamon powder (or both)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cups strong freshly brewed chai tea
• 1 cup plant milk of choice (or alternatively just use water)
• 1 tsp coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Topping ideas:

• Almond / Peanut butter
• Maple syrup / Honey
• Chopped dry roasted nuts
• Banana, berries
• Coconut yoghurt
• Cacao nibs
• Coconut flakes
• Sunflower, Pumpkin, Poppy seeds
• Dried fruit

Method:

1. If using the chai tea, bring some water to boil and brew a strong cup of chai. 2-3 tsp of tea per cup will work best.
2. Add all the ingredients except for the milk in a pot, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the milk of choice and cook for another 5 minutes. Depending on your preferred consistency, add some extra milk or water. You can cook it longer if you wish, on low heat, but it should be nice and creamy by this stage. If you wish, you can add a scoop of your favourite protein powder in it as well.
3. Top with anything your heart desires and enjoy. ( It keeps well too, so if you plan to maybe take it with you to work the next day, if you have the option to reheat it, simply pack the porridge in one container and toppings in another, keep it in the fridge and it will be just as nice the next day).