I said it here first - my favourite meal of the day is brunch, and my favourite pastime (one of) is to go out for brunch, a real treat. Now, with half of us self-isolating and public spaces closing their doors, going out for brunch isn't an option. This blog was originally going to outline some of the best brunch spots around London, but instead, I am going to share some of my favourite (easy and healthy) recipes to make at home.
All of these recipes are healthy(ish), adaptable, simple, and slightly more adventurous than your usual cereal, beans on toast, or fry-up. Please bare in mind I'm not big on precise measurements... I'm sorry if this disturbs you but I prefer to cook by eye and taste! Sorry! Most of these recipes are also vegan or vegetarian too for all you non-meat-eaters out there. Unfortunately, if you don't like banana, egg, or avocado you may want to look away now as they feature rather a lot. Sorrynotsorry.
Over this period, whilst spending more time (or, all my time) at home, I would love to learn more complex recipes (like hollandaise sauce for eggs benni), and am very much looking forward to doing more cooking over the coming weeks. If you have any go-to recipes of your own, please share them with me. So, without any further ado, the recipes!
Healthy 2 (or 3) Ingredient Banana Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 Banana (overripe)
1 Egg
Butter for cooking
Optional:
Small handful of oats
Cinnamon
Frozen berries
Mixed nuts (e.g. pecans, hazelnuts)
Honey/Maple syrup
Yoghurt
Method:
Mash up your banana with a fork. It's okay if it is slightly lumpy as this is what gives the pancakes a more airy and fluffy texture! Do not blend your banana as this gets rid of all the air.
Mix your egg into the mashed banana.
At this point, you can either mix in the handful of oats and a sprinkling of cinnamon, or you can cook the pancakes as they are.
To cook the pancakes, heat up a small knob of butter in a frying pan. When sizzling, you can add the pancake mix. The mix will be quite liquid-y, depending on whether you have added oats or not, so I would recommend keeping these pancakes manageably small. After about a minute, flip over the pancake carefully with a spatula, and cook for another minute or so.
Whilst cooking your banana pancakes, you can start preparing your toppings! I like to have mine with some frozen berries, stewed up in the microwave with a bit of sugar or honey. If you prefer, you can top with some nuts and honey/syrup, or even add some runny nutella - whatever takes your fancy really!
Plate up your pancakes, top with whatever you like, make it look fancy, take a nice grammable photo, and enjoy!
Avocado Toast (Ve)
Ingredients:
2 slices of bread
1 avocado
Lime or lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
Optional:
Tomatoes or Cucumber
Chilli flakes/Chilli sauce
Egg
Smoked Salmon
Method:
Pop your bread in the toaster. (I told you these were easy recipes!)
Slice open your avocado, dispose of the stone and scoop it into a bowl.
Add some lime juice and salt and pepper to the avocado, and give it a good mash. I like mine nice and lumpy but you can mash it as smoothly as you prefer. You can also add some chilli flakes at this point if you like your spice.
Once the toast pops, top it with the smashed avocado, and then add any toppings you like, as photographed.
Take some more insta-worthy photographs, boomerangs (cracking open that egg yolk #eggporn) etc, and dig in!
Blueberry and banana porridge (Ve)
Ingredients:
Banana
Oats
Milk (can be replaced with a dairy alternative to make this vegan!)
Blueberries
Any additional toppings
Method:
Mash up your banana in a bowl.
Add the oats to the banana and mix it up.
Add milk to the mixture, enough to completely cover the oats. Add some blueberries now if you like too.
Now you need to cook the oats. You can either cook them in a pan on the hob, making sure to stir frequently (this will achieve the best texture), or you can pop them in the microwave for a few minutes, again ensuring the stir the oats every so often.
Once cooked, top your oats with whatever you like - peanut butter, nuts, or extra fruit are great and healthy options!
It is great to get a mixture of complex carbs (e.g. oats), healthy fats/protein (e.g. peanut butter, egg or avocado) and a portion of fruit/veg (e.g. banana, tomatoes) into your breakfast. This combination will keep you fuller for longer, give you energy, as well as kick starting your day as healthily as possible!
French toast
Ingredients:
Bread (You can also use croissants or brioche)
Egg
Milk
Cinnamon
Butter for frying
Syrup
Method:
First, crack an egg into a bowl, and whisk it up.
Add a splash (or two) to the egg, and mix that up too.
Add in a sprinkling (or two) of cinnamon to the mixture - and voila! You are ready for some dippin'.
Slice your bread into thick chunks - if it isn't thick enough it will just fall apart when wet. Also start heating up a knob of butter in a frying pan at this point.
Dip your bread in the eggy mixture, make sure it is coated on both sides.
When the butter is hot, pop the (soggy) bread into the pan and fry on both sides until it's a nice toasty golden colour. Good french toast will be slightly crispy on the outside and lovely and moist on the outside.
Pop on a plate, and dress it! Mine in the photograph is topped with strawberries, maple syrup and a dusting of icing sugar, but french toast goes great with bacon too if you were feeling adventurous.
Banana nice cream smoothie bowl (Ve)
We have my good friend Danna (banana) to thank for this recipe, which is delicious as well as vegan! Thanks Danna!
Ingredients:
Banana (sliced, and frozen)
Peanut butter
Chocolate, berries
Method:
This recipe is so nice and simple, but if you don't have a blender at home I am very sorry. All you need to do, is place a good ol' few handfuls of your frozen banana into a blender, along with a helping of peanut butter and, you guessed it, blend it up!
You want it to all be blended, but a nice thick texture (just like ice cream). Once it's blended, pour it into a bowl (or eat it straight out of the blender, you savage), and top with some chocolate pieces and berries and anything else that takes your fancy. You never have to feel guilty for eating ice cream for breakfast again.
And there you have it. Those were some of my go-to simple brunch recipes for when I'm fancying something a bit more than the usual coco pops or marmite on toast. I do wonder if any of you will actually try any of these recipes or a variation of them? If you do, I would love to see your creations so please tag me online or send them to me via email on in the comments or on facebook or wherever! And if you have any go-to brunch recipes of your own I would love to hear them and maybe give them a try.
I hope you are all surviving in lockdown and finding new ways of keeping yourself busy, and if you are working on the frontline - thankyouthankyouthankyou. We are all in an unimaginable situation so please just look after yourselves.
Thanks for reading,
love, M x
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p.s. This year I am going to be taking on lots of random challenges, on top of running/swimming/cycling 500k over the year! This is all in support of Sarcoma UK, the national sarcoma charity that funds vital research and support for patients and their families affected by the rare cancer. If you want to support me, then you can donate whatever you can through this link. Even £1 would be greatly appreciated, and you can donate completely anonymously!! Thank you!