Easy going breakfast for hard-charging days.
Jump to RecipeYet ANOTHER moment I feel I’ve been waiting for all year: the moment when peaches, apricots, corn and all the summer things are filling up the tables at the farmer’s market RIGHT NEXT TO THE springy strawberries and rhubarb. It’s the best, and that was originally where the thought for this recipe came from – a place of wanting to get as much strawberry + rhubarb action into my little body as possible.
But then, there was another reason that revealed itself.
As summer has flooded our little canyon with light, birds, bunnies, sparkling sunrises and dazzling sunsets, I’ve been spending my days playing every chance I get. After a very full winter and spring where I struggled to find a balance between healthy movement and work, I’ve been getting after it in all the ways. Hiking! Biking! Meeting with friends! Swimming! Dunking! Gardening! Every drop of it. And I found that my light little chia breakfast just wasn’t cutting it. I needed more – more carbohydrates specifically, more staying power.
As I’ve mentioned quite a few times before, the macronutrients that we eat are important – yes. Making sure that my body has enough carbohydrates to play all day is critical. But the energetic benefits of the foods we consume are just as important. Not all carbohydrates are created equally; each ingredient has its own unique features, just like the wildflowers that we find on the trail, just like each of our bodies needs something different. In the summer, eating foods that are energetically cooling and easy to digest is really important for keeping our balance. During this pitta season, our digestive fire is at its lowest point (it’s actually highest in the winter, when our inner fire pulls away from extremities to keep our core warm!) And so, eating easy foods that nourish deeply is critical.
Summer’s in the past, I’ve struggled when I over-tax my digestive system. This can result in pitta – the fire element in the body getting overwhelmed, and I notice that my digestion gets loose, I don’t absorb my nutrition, my body temperature runs hot….and that means that I don’t recover from all that playing. So this summer, I was on a mission; to care for my digestion AND fuel my body whole.
As I looked through the pantry to pick something to have for breakfast before a ride one morning, I realized that most of the foods I gravitate towards for a quick breakfast were heavier than I wanted for this time of year; toast with almond butter is sticky, heavy and very hard to digest. Granola and milk was ok, but didn’t feel like enough. Overnight oats – that could work. But then I came across a little jar of buckwheat. What a serendipitous find! Buckwheat has some magic superpowers as far as grains go.
And thus, a recipe was born! (Scroll down to read more!)
If you’re new to the scene here, welcome! And thanks for being here!!
You’ll soon learn that the most important part about eating Ayurvedically, is recognizing that EVERY SINGLE FOOD HAS BENEFICIAL QUALITIES. EVERY ONE.
And, that – maybe even more so than the macronutrients our foods possess – is the key to choosing what is “healthy.” Determining what qualities are beneficial for what situations is how we make the healthiest choices. So, why use buckwheat when I could use oats for overnight oatmeal? That’s a great question, answered by QUALITIES. Oats are a marvelous grain; they’re gooey, heavy and sweet from an Ayurvedic perspective; qualities that deliver much needed carbohydrates and fiber to the body nutritionally, and helps to plump and fortify our bodies energetically and biologically. Wonderful!
In contrast, buckwheat has far different properties. Buckwheat is also sweet. But, it’s also pungent and astringent (rather than gooey.) Medicinally, buckwheat is used in Ayurveda to help manage diabetes, boost capillary health, in weight loss and management, and is a cure for boosting weak digestive systems. Unlike oats, which are exceptional for deeply fortifying, soothing and loading the body in gooey carbohydrates (which, again is a good thing!) the qualities of buckwheat help the body to do the opposite. Buckwheat unburdens the digestive system, delivers complex carbohydrates, all while toning, detoxifying the cells, and keeping digestion high and functional.
In the winter, when our focus is making sure that the body is storing up nutrition, rebuilding, rejuvenating and resting oats are a good choice. But in the summer months, when we want to move light and free through the world, and to honor our lower digestive fire, buckwheat is the jam. And so, this overnight porridge is all that I’ve been eating for breakfast lately. It’s the bomb!
A few things. The ease. The exceptional ingredients. The way it will superpower you through your day. Do you need more reasons?
The lift to make this overnight porridge is E A S Y. You’re going to do just what you’d do to make overnight oats, only with buckwheat: all the good things in a jar, seal and place in the fridge, then enjoy in the morning.
Because the body has to warm all of our foods to a balmy 98.6°F before digesting, my advice is to warm the jar of porridge just slightly when you crack it open again in the morning. Room temperature would be great. This way, all that energy used to warm your porridge will get dumped into being excellent during your day, instead of into managing your digestive fire!
Oh! And as for the Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote here, swoon! This stuff is the JAM. Truly. It’s just like jam, only without refined sugar and with a little boost of minerals and nutrients from dates, and a little flavor pop from fresh ginger. I add a nice little dollop to this porridge before eating (but I’m also spreading it on toast instead of jam, when that’s the vibe.)
That's ok, just sign up or log in to see this recipe.