After 20 minutes add the nuts, raisins, spices and honey to the rice and cook for another 15 minutes until thick and creamy, somewhere between rice pudding and porridge. You want to reach the sweet spot where the rice is soft, with very little bite, and the kheer is creamy but not too thick. If it looks like it is thickening too fast, turn the heat down and top up with a little boiling water from the kettle. Serve spooned into bowls with the lime zest and coconut flakes on top; if you have a sweet tooth you could add a little extra honey on top.
Baked apple porridge with maple butter
The snap of cold that comes at the start of the year is perfect porridge weather. I’ve never understood those who eat it like clockwork, regardless of the temperature. I love the warmth of it on a cold day, a bowl in my hands like a morning hot-water bottle, the quick but nourishing time spent stirring at the stove a welcome interruption to the busy rush of the morning and a few minutes to let my mind wander at the start of the day.
This porridge is a bit different in that it is baked so the edges crisp and the starry apple slices on top soften and burnish. I top it with a maple cream so good it’s hard not to spoon it all straight from the dish before the porridge is ready. It takes a little longer to make than a regular porridge – it’s a weekend one.
I make it to feed a crowd, or on a Sunday with intentional leftovers so that I know we have a good breakfast in the fridge to start the week. This keeps well in the fridge for a few days and any extra can be reheated with a little extra milk in a small pan. I make a big batch of spice mix, which I keep in a jar and add to my stovetop porridge through the week too, hence this making more than you’ll need for the baked porridge, but if you prefer you could add a pinch of each spice to the recipe rather than making a large batch. I make this without dairy, using almond milk and coconut oil, as that’s how I like to eat it, but regular milk and butter work just as well.
SERVES 6
FOR THE SPICE MIX
2 tablespoons ground cardamom
2 tablespoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
coconut oil or butter
3 large apples
1 unwaxed lemon
200g rolled oats
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
100g nuts, toasted and chopped (I use pecans and hazelnuts)
750ml almond milk
125ml pure maple syrup, plus extra for drizzling
FOR THE MAPLE CREAM
2 tablespoons nut butter (I use cashew)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
4 tablespoons almond milk
a tiny pinch of fine sea salt
a drop of vanilla extract or paste
Make the spice mix first by stirring the spices together in a small jar, then set aside.
Preheat the oven to 210ºC/190ºC fan/gas 6. Grease a deep ovenproof dish, about 20 x 20cm, with coconut oil.
Grate two of the apples. Turn the last apple on to its side and slice it very thinly, so that you get a lovely star pattern. Grate the zest from half the lemon to use later, then cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice from one half over the sliced apple to stop it browning.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, baking powder, salt, 1 teaspoon of the spice mix, the grated apple and most of the chopped nuts (saving a small handful for the topping). Stir to combine. In a jug or separate bowl, mix the milk with the maple syrup, the juice of the remaining half lemon and the reserved zest.
Tip the oat and apple mixture into the greased dish, pour over the milk and maple syrup mixture, arrange the sliced apples on top and drizzle over a little maple syrup. Dot the top of the oats with little pieces of coconut oil or butter. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until the top of the porridge is golden brown and all the liquid has been absorbed.
While the porridge bakes, make the maple cream. In a medium bowl, whisk together the nut butter, maple syrup, milk, salt and vanilla. You are looking for something totally smooth and pourable. If the mixture seems too thick, add a little more milk.
Serve the baked porridge hot, spooned into bowls with the maple cream for pouring over.
Lentils on toast
We all, even chefs and cooks, sometimes sit down to a dinner of beans on toast. I am sure the childhood comfort of it is as nourishing as the actual food on the plate. These yoghurt-spiked lentils are something I have taken to making as an alternative to beans when we want something quick without a trip to the shops, but that feels a bit more put together. The lentils are warming and filling and have a depth of flavour which would make you think they’d taken much longer than five minutes.
This recipe is intended to be made from fridge and store-cupboard staples, so the herbs are optional – if you have some in the fridge or on the window sill all the better. The same goes for the cheese; I always have a piece of Parmesan in the top of my fridge, but pretty much any hard cheese would work here.
SERVES 2
50g nuts (I like walnuts or almonds)
olive oil
1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced
1 x 400g tin of green lentils (or 250g home-cooked, see here)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
a squeeze of runny honey
4 tablespoons thick Greek yoghurt
TO SERVE
a few slices of good toast
a small bunch of soft herbs (basil, parsley, dill, tarragon), leaves picked and roughly chopped
a little grated cheese (I use a vegetarian one)
First, toast your nuts in in a dry pan over a medium heat until they smell toasty and are beginning to brown. Once toasted, tumble them into a bowl and when they are cool enough to handle, chop or crumble them.
Meanwhile, put the pan back on a medium heat and add a good glug of oil and the garlic. Sizzle until the edges of the garlic are beginning to brown, then add the lentils and their liquid (if you are using home-cooked lentils you’ll need about 150ml of their cooking liquid) along with the vinegar and honey. Cook for about 5 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed.
Now add a pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper to the lentils along with a good drizzle of olive oil. Taste and add more salt, honey, pepper or vinegar if needed. Once they taste great, take them off the heat and stir in the yoghurt.
Drizzle olive oil over hot toast and serve the lentils piled on top with the herbs, nuts and a good grating of cheese. Any leftover lentils can be eaten hot or cold and will keep for 3–4 days in the fridge.
Cooking with grace
I have spent time in ashrams and been to more yoga classes than I can remember. When I was pregnant I became really interested in the power of the mind and hypnotherapy. All of these things – meditation, yoga and positive thinking – are tools I use in my life to make it happier and better. And the more I have delved into how to keep my life as happy, free of stress and joyful as possible the more I know that my kitchen is where I find my calm space. Not every night. Some nights I clatter around, throwing