Author: Alfalfa House

When it’s cold and rainy (as it is right now), make this wholesome nourishing porridge using steel cut oats, fresh apples and warming cinnamon. Add in a dash of homemade oat mylk (or your milk of choice) for added creaminess. This apple cinnamon steel cut oats porridge is refined sugar-free, dairy-free and good for your gut.

In this recipe, the steel cut oats are soaked overnight in plain water. Soaking grains, nuts and seeds is a good practice that aids in digestion as soaking breaks down the phytic acid in the grains. It also reduces the overall porridge cooking time the next morning.

Steel Cut vs Rolled Oats

If you are wondering the difference between steel cut oats and rolled oats, steel cut oats are made from the whole oat grain. The outer husk is removed, before the oat grain is cut into smaller pieces using a steel blade. Hence the name steel cut oats. Steel cut oats do have higher fiber content and are more nutritionally dense. They are a form of complex carbs that do keep you feeling fuller for longer.

Rolled Oats on the other hand are the oat grains steamed and then rolled in a press. They take less time to cook as compared to steel cut oats.

All Porridge Ingredients Available at Alfalfa House

We are stocking all these wholesome porridge ingredients including fresh apples and Oat Mylk at Alfalfa House. So load up on all these items in your next visit to the shop or you can utilise our personal shopper service if you are unable to come into the shop for a specific reason. (The personal shopper service is especially designed for people at risk of severe illness from COVID-19, people who are unable to wear a mask for medical reasons, and people who are sick and staying isolated.)

If you do make this porridge, please share your photos and tag us on Alfalfa House Instagram. We would love to see your creations 🙂

Steel Cut Oats Porridge with Cinnamon and Apples

This porridge recipe is a quick and easy, healthy and vegetarian breakfast. It is dairy-free and refined-sugar free, filled with dietary fibre and complex carbs. Enjoy this nourishing warm breakfast porridge especially during Winter

• Sauce pan

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 3 cups water
• 1 medium apple (grated)
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 cup Non-dairy mylk of choice (e.g. Almond, Oat)
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp mixed seeds of choice (Sunflower, pumpkin, sesame seeds)
• 1 tsp maple syrup or sweetener of choice (optional)
• 1 tsp Nut butter of choice (optional)

The Night Before

1. Soak the steel cut oats in water for app. 8 hours

The Next Morning

1. Rinse the soaked steel cut oats under running water

2. In a deep sauce pan, combine the soaked steel cut oats, water, cinnamon powder and grated apple. Cook on a medium flame for 20 min and keep stirring occasionally.

3. Keep adding additional water in the sauce pan and keep stirring to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and is thoroughly cooked. The steel cut oats should be chewy and soft once cooked.

4. Once cooked, add chia seeds and oat milk or almond milk (as per choice) in te sauce pan. Wait for a few minutes until the chia seeds start to soak up the additional liquid. Give it a good stir.  

5. Once the chia seeds have soaked in the extra liquid, put toppings of choice i.e. mixed seeds, nut butter, slices of fresh apple and serve

Breakfast

vegan, vegetarian

apples, cinnamon scrolls, dairy-free, Oat Milk, refined sugar-free, steel cut oats

Recipe Contributor : Adity Kaushal, (Volunteer and Member at Alfalfa House Co-op , Newtown)

She writes all about vegetarian, healthy plant-based recipes over at the urbanfoodlover website

Or follow along her Foodie journey for more recipes and Inspo over on Instagram @urbanfoodlover

Make the switch from packaged oat mylk to a more cost effective, plastic reducing natural alternative. This quick and simple recipe is just the thing!

Homemade oat mylk is not only inexpensive, but also requires no soaking and saves lots of time. Remember to always use certified organic rolled oats. Commercial oats contain high levels of glyphosate, a commonly used herbicide in farming. Glyphosate has been shown to disrupt healthy gut bacteria (an underlying factor in many chronic illnesses) is toxic to aquatic life, and may heighten cancer risks. At Alfalfa House, we stock certified organic locally grown rolled oats.

Enjoy this quick and easy homemade mylk recipe below. Use it in your coffee or porridge bowls this winter. During the warmer months, use this mylk as a base to make chia puddings or smoothies.

Homemade Oat Mylk Recipe

Quick and easy homemade oat mylk recipe. This creamy mylk is made with whole ingredients, and is vegan and vegetarian. Use in smoothies, coffee, porridge and bakes

• Strainer or cheesecloth
• Spatula or spoon for straining (if you're using a strainer)
• Blender
• Jug
• Glass bottle

• 80 grams rolled oats
• 2 cups icy water ((room temperature water will produce thick and slimy mylk))
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 pinch salt (optional)

1. Add the oats, icy water, and any additional flavourings into the blender. Blend for 20-30 seconds (blending it for too long can warm up the mylk making it slightly thick(unless that's what you're going for).

2. Pour the blended mixture through a strainer or cheesecloth over a jug.  If you're using a strainer, use your spatula or spoon to stir and flatten the mixture into the strainer to really juice it out. An optional step is double straining the mixture to ensure all the oat sediment is removed.

3. Transfer your delicious oat mylk into a glass bottle and store in the fridge.

4. Enjoy!

Drinks

Australian

Oat Milk, recipes

Winter has arrived. Despite the cold weather and short days, there is a lot to look forward to in terms of cooking and winter recipes. It is the time for soups and stews, fragrant curries and pies, rich chutneys and cheeses. We could go on, but for now we will leave you with this easy spinach dal recipe. This dal is vegan-friendly, high on flavour and packed with fibre + proteins leaving you feeling full for longer. Serve it with some Basmati (or any long grain) rice and a dollop of yogurt for a complete meal.

Lentils To Choose From

There are a variety of lentils available to choose from. This spinach dal recipe uses “split” red or yellow lentils. Yellow Mung dal lentils are the best as they cook the fastest and are the easiest to digest. Because of their split nature these yellow/red lentils cook quickly and turn soft. These lentils are best for curries, stews and dal recipes like this one.

Further we found a cool infographic with quick tips on cooking lentils, nutrition facts and ways you can incorporate more lentils in your diet. Enjoy!

Source: Fix.com Blog

Sourcing Lentils & other Ingredients at Alfalfa House

Alfalfa House stocks all the ingredients for making this wholesome flavourful dal i.e. lentils, cumin seeds, turmeric powder and fresh spinach( Order our weekly veg box here).

Using dried lentils vs the canned variety makes a huge difference. We have access to a wide variety of dried lentils in our very own Alfalfa House. Buying a bag of red lentils won’t break the bank, will be good for your body and the planet. So whatever your reason for including lentils in your diet, we hope you enjoy cooking these as much as we do!

If you do make this spinach dal, please share your photos and tag us on Alfalfa House Instagram. We would love to see your creations 🙂

Spinach Dal (Lentil) Recipe

A  recipe for a quick and easy vegetarian gluten-free spinach and lentil dal. This is great as a light meal or can be served as a side. Use coconut oil instead of ghee to make it vegan. The soup uses yellow mung/moong bean , but you can substitute any other lentils on hand like red lentils, green mung, split peas

• 1 cup yellow mung bean lentils
• 120 g baby spinach leaves
• 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
• 1 small tomato (finely diced)
• 2-3 cloves garlic (finely minced)
• 1 knob ginger (grated, thumb sized piece)
• 1 medium green chilli  (chopped)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp ghee (or virgin unrefined coconut oil for vegan version)
• 1/2 small small lemon (juiced)

1. In a deep sauce pan, boil the mung bean lentils with water. Keep cooking for about 20 minutes until the lentils turn soft and mushy. Alternatively use a pressure cooker to quickly cook them in about 10 min.

2. Once lentils are cooked, begin the tempering process. In another sauce pan heat ghee and cumin seeds. Allow them to sizzle.

3. Next add in the chopped green chilli, garlic and onion in that order. Sauté until the onions turn translucent.

4. Add a pinch of salt and turmeric powder. Then add in the chopped tomatoes and chopped ginger. Sauté for a few minutes until the tomatoes are cooked through and turn mushy.

5. Next add the boiled lentils and baby spinach. Mix well.

6. Add boiling water to bring to the thickness of soup / stew you desire.

7. Bring to a boil for a few minutes. Then pour the soup in bowls and squeeze over the lemon juice.

Making it Vegan: Use coconut oil instead of ghee to make it vegan

Main Course, Soup

Indian

dal, lentils, spinach, turmeric

Recipe Contributor : Adity Kaushal, (Volunteer and Member at Alfalfa House Co-op , Newtown)

She also writes all about vegetarian, healthy plant-based recipes over at the urbanfoodlover website

Or follow along her Foodie journey for more recipes and Inspo over on Instagram @urbanfoodlover

Below is a recipe for a vegetarian minestrone style soup that uses pantry staples. We like making a big batch of this soup. It reheats well and is excellent for leftovers. The soup uses whole unprocessed ingredients that is great for our tummies (and body). It serves a crowd. With a few changes , this soup is good for fall, winter, spring or summer (although drinking soup during the hot summers in Sydney may not be a great idea). During fall, you should find all the vegetables in the market. In winter, use a can of good quality canned tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. Be sure they are good quality and not over-seasoned with vinegar or salt.

On Vegetable Broth

A well made broth is the essence of making a good soup. Here is a recipe for a basic vegetable broth to make at home. Making your own vegetable broth at home is an excellent way to use up excess veg or using all those odd ends and bits that end up being thrown.

However sometimes you don’t have a homemade broth when you want it. So don’t worry – We all buy store bought at times. But choose carefully. Few points to note here :

• Check the labels. Avoid anything with too much sodium, gums and ingredients you may never have heard of .
• Some of the canned vegetable broths that might be alright ingredient wise, maybe too concentrated to use. In such a case dilute it for the recipe.
• Some bulk food stores (like Alfalfa House 🙂 ) , stock dry veg stock powders. These are mostly made of dehydrated veggies that are ground into a powder. This dry good quality veg stock powder without any additives is perhaps one of the better options than using the canned varieties of broth.

A Note on Sourcing the Ingredients for Minestrone Soup

As mentioned above, this vegetarian minestrone soup uses pantry staple ingredients. And good news – we have all the ingredients stocked in store at the Alfalfa Shop (read veggies, dried beans, olive oil, dried herbs, hard cheeses). Further this soup is a power house of vegetables, giving you more than 5 serves of veg in a single meal. Check out the below pic of our Alfalfa House shelves stocked with all the fresh produce that you will ever need for this soup. And if you are looking for a quick pick-me-up vegetable option, then order our weekly veggie box online here . Our weekly veggie box has you covered. Thereafter make a big batch of this soup with all the healthy package-free produce from Alfalfa House.That’s dinner sorted for a few nights a week 🙂

If you do make this soup, please share your photos and tag us on Alfalfa House Instagram. We would love to see your creations 🙂

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

This is a great pot of soup. Perfect to feed a crowd. It is vegetarian made using whole foods and seasonal vegetables. It can be made vegan if you skip the cheese toppings

• 100 g dried beans (cannellini, lima, butter beans are all excellent)
• 4-5 medium garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)
• 1 large yellow onion (chopped)
• 1 large carrot (chopped)
• 2 medium celery stalks (thinly sliced)
• 450 g tomatoes (canned or fresh)
• 200 g zucchini
• 100 g greens (baby kale, baby spinach or thinly sliced savoy cabbage works)
• 1 litre basic vegetable broth (See notes in the post)
• 2 tbsp olive oil (App. 30 ml)
• 1/2 cup small pasta of choice (like fusilli, penne, macaroni )
• 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
• 15 g fresh flat leaf parsley
• 15 g oregano (fresh or dried )
• 30 g hard cheese like a sharp cheddar or parmesan (optional)

Preparing the Beans

1. Soak the dried beans overnight. Atleast for 8-10 hours. Soaking dried beans and legumes not only reduces their cooking time but is also great for digestion

2. The next day, rinse the soaked beans thoroughly under cold running water. Then put the dried beans in a large pot with 3 cups of water and 2 peeled garlic cloves . Bring the water to a boil , then lower the heat, and simmer covered for atleast an hour OR until the beans feel soft and tender but not completely mushy

3. You can use the beans immediately if preparing the soup OR let them sit in the refrigerator for upto 2 days and use them when you need to make the soup

Preparing the Soup

1. Heat the olive oil in a deep soup pot. Add in the finely chopped onions and remaining 2 cloves of garlic. Saute for 8-10 minutes until the onions turn translucent and begin to brown

2. Next add in the chopped celery and carrots . Add a pinch of salt and continue to stir for around 7-8 min more.

3. While the onion-celery-carrot mix is in the stock pot, chop the tomatoes and zucchini into small chunks. Also finely chop the greens that you are using – If using Kale remove the tough stems in the kale

4. Next Add in the dried herbs, chopped tomatoes, zucchini, finely chopped greens and vegetable broth in the soup pot. Give it a good stir, season with salt and let it simmer until the tomatoes start to turn mushy

5. Once the veggies are semi-soft, add in the cooked beans and pasta of choice in the soup mix. Continue cooking until the pasta is al dente in the soup

6. Ladle the soup in bowls. Check for seasoning and season with salt and black pepper as per taste. Garnish with finely chopped parsely , oregano and grated cheese. For a vegan version, skip the cheese and add in a glug of olive oil

Main Course, Soup

Australian

minestrone, vegetarian

Recipe Contributor : Adity Kaushal, (Volunteer and Member at Alfalfa House Co-op , Newtown)

She also writes all her vegetarian, healthy plant-based recipes over at the urbanfoodlover website

Or follow along her Foodie journey on Instagram @urbanfoodlover