Born in Baja, this is my favorite breakfast in a bowl. Hands down.
Jump to RecipeWe were waking up in Baja about this time last year, in a little desert house perched above the ocean. It had rained all night and cacti were blooming and fragrant. Everything felt alive. I toddled to the open-air kitchen to make coffee and survey the cooler and our Rubbermaid-box-turned pantry for breakfast provisions, and a swirl of blossom-like passionfruit smells overtook me. I had picked up a handful of them from the market in town the day before, the last of the season. The last bits of a jar of coconut butter, a scoop of oats and chia, and a dollop of homemade ghee I’d brought from Boulder in the back of the truck and the start of this little bowl of porridge was born. More than most of the truly incredible things we ate on that 6-week road trip, this simple, luxurious breakfast imprinted my food memories most. Eating porridge in the sun, a perfect scoop of the season in that moment, a pretty picture of all the things my body and soul were craving in that moment – swirls of sweet, tart, salty, creamy, and comforting.
Now, back home and longing for such an adventure, I have all the more appreciation for what a special collision of seasonal eating we were enjoying, how potent the ingredients, and how out-of-this-world the flavor combinations presented by that little box of dry goods was. There are a few great reasons that I hope you run out to find some passionfruits right NOW and make this bowl.
It’s a special occasion to have fresh passion fruits as we did in Mexico, and so when I saw them at the market the other day, I scooped up the remaining supply and have been hoarding them for this porridge purpose.
The reason that passion fruits are so rare where I live is that I’m thousands of miles from the type of climate where these fruits grow well. Passion fruits aren’t local for me in the least. But the mid-winter months are when they’re in season along the coastal parts of the U.S., Mexico, into Hawaii, and around the world. It’s truly a privilege to have them at a market near me, and this RIGHT NOW is the time to make this porridge – no other time of year.
A balanced meal is about SO MUCH MORE THAN MACRONUTRIENTS. And, beautifully flavored foods are more than just fun for us to eat. Flavors actually FUEL us. Each of the six flavors we perceive through our sense of taste tells our bodies about the nutritive values of the foods we’re about to eat. Each of the six flavors has a different nutritive benefit, and all of the flavors have different seasons when they benefit us most.
Winter is a time when nature wants us to turn in, to rest, recover and restore. But most of us athletes are still tuned up and moving at full speed during this season. This means our bodies need to work extra hard to stay warm against the cold and the wind, and to ground ourselves in for a successful, healthy spring. But, we can help them by eating foods that serve these goals of bolstering, restoring, rebuilding and soothing.
Enjoying warm, sweet, seasonal foods and hydrating properly ensures that our bodies are prepared to face the cold, able to stay warm and ground down. It’s important that we consume plenty of carbohydrates, root vegetables, fats and embrace the benefits these have for our bodies during this rebuilding time. These foods are heavier than other foods we eat through the season, and so to keep our digestion high it’s important that we also consume sour and salty foods, which help to hydrate, detoxify and stimulate our systems and prevent us from feeling sluggish. This bowl combines sweet flavors, grounding ingredients, sour passionfruit, a hit of salt and a bit of easy-burning maple, perfect for this moment right now.
In a few weeks, as spring arrives, the foods, and flavors that fuel us best will shift again…so enjoy this porridge now!
There is a LOT to know about how flavors fuel us, and if you’re curious to learn more head on over to my website to check out this article.
Back to sweet flavors – grains are one of the most prolific sweet foods we can enjoy, and porridge is just one of the days to get more of them in our diets.
This porridge uses oats, chia and cooked rice to come together. It’s a great way to use up leftover rice of any variety, but I love jasmine rice, sushi rice or a special variety called Broken Rice here. (You could also add a bit of millet, quinoa, barley or any other leftover grains you have here and cook them into the pot. )
Broken Rice is a variety I discovered through my friends at Dry Storage – it’s an heirloom variety of Carolina Gold Rice, organically grown and milled in Charleston, South Carolina by Anson Mills. Broken Rice is a non-aromatic rice known for exquisite flavor and texture with an absorbent nature allowing whatever flavor it touches to bloom. Rich in fiber, it contains germ and bran and is loaded with B vitamins and iron.
This month, my friends Dry Storage and I are eager to get you on the heirloom grain train, and so they’re offering you a special discount as members of Recipe Club so you can try out their wholesome, whole-heirloom grain flour blends…and this special rice! To get your hands on some of this special rice, head on over to their website and fill your cart with goodies, then use the code LENTINE20 at checkout!
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