Breakfast
Greek Yoghurt and
Toasted Nut Granola.
The breakfast I eat most mornings in Italy. Thick Greek yoghurt with live cultures, and a handful of hazelnuts and almonds toasted with cinnamon and a little oats until the kitchen smells like a bakery. No added sugar, no packet granola. This recipe serves two.
- Energy
- 1,850 kJ (440 kcal)
- Protein
- 23 g
- Fat
- 29 g
- Carbohydrate
- 27 g
- Fibre
- 9 g
- Net carbs
- 18 g
How to make it.
- 01
Roughly chop half the hazelnuts and almonds and leave the rest whole, so you get both crunch and texture.
- 02
Put the nuts and oats in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Toast for five to six minutes, shaking the pan often, until the oats are golden and the nuts smell toasty. Watch it closely at the end, nuts go from golden to burnt quickly.
- 03
Take the pan off the heat and stir through the cinnamon and salt while it is still warm, so the spice blooms in the heat. Tip onto a plate to cool for a few minutes.
- 04
Once cool, stir through the chia seeds.
- 05
Spoon 150 g of yoghurt into each bowl and scatter the granola over the top just before eating so it stays crunchy.
Why this meal works.
Most breakfasts are built on carbohydrate, toast, cereal or a packet granola that is often more sugar than grain. This bowl flips that around. Strained Greek yoghurt gives you around 13 grams of protein before you even add the nuts, and the whole bowl comes in at 23 grams per serve. Protein at breakfast is one of the simplest ways to stay full through the morning and protect your muscle, which matters more every year after 40.
The nuts are not a garnish. In the PREDIMED trial, one of the largest studies ever run on the Mediterranean diet, one group added a daily handful of mixed nuts, including hazelnuts and almonds, and had fewer heart attacks and strokes than the group told to cut fat. Their fat, fibre and protein also slow how quickly the meal reaches your bloodstream, so you avoid the mid morning crash.
Chia seeds bring most of the fibre here. They swell and form a gel as they meet the yoghurt, which slows digestion further and feeds the bacteria in your gut. Choose a yoghurt that says live cultures or probiotics on the label, like the one in the photo, so you get the benefit of the fermentation as well.
The cinnamon is there so you do not need honey or sugar. It makes the granola taste sweet and warm on its own. If you have coeliac disease, oats are not suitable for everyone even when uncontaminated, so check with your doctor, or simply leave them out and add extra nuts.
Micronutrients on the plate.
- Calcium, iodine and vitamin B12 from the Greek yoghurt for bones, thyroid and energy.
- Vitamin E from the almonds and hazelnuts, an antioxidant that protects cell membranes.
- Magnesium from the nuts, oats and chia, involved in blood sugar control and sleep.
- Plant omega 3 from the chia seeds.
- Manganese and copper from the hazelnuts and oats.
Make it yours.
- Make a bigger batch of the granola. Multiply the nuts, oats, cinnamon and chia by four and keep it in a glass jar for up to a week.
- Add fresh fruit on top, a few berries, sliced fig or half a pear, for extra fibre and colour.
- Dairy free? Use a thick unsweetened coconut or soy yoghurt. Soy keeps the protein closest to Greek yoghurt.
- Want more protein? Increase the yoghurt to 200 g each.
- Swap the hazelnuts for walnuts or pistachios. Keep the total nuts the same.
Good yoghurt, a handful of nuts and five minutes at the stove. This is how breakfast is done in Italy. Buon appetito.
Enjoy.
With love, Serena ×