Saturday night, Eric and I were on our nightly walk and we passed by our neighbours sitting outside enjoying a pitcher of Sangria. They invited us over for a drink and we couldn’t think of a reason not to join in on the fun! Drinks led to more drinks, hours flew by, conversation flowed, and we found ourselves home long past midnight with a wonderful evening behind us.
Anxiety tends to make me over-analyze everything…what if this happens, what if I say this, what if…but I realized when I do things spontaneously, I don’t have time for all that crap to go through my mind. I barely had any anxiety which is unusual for me when getting to know new people. There was something magical about doing something on the spur of the moment. It happened so quickly my anxiety didn’t have a chance to say boo!
It was a powerful learning experience and I was quite proud of myself for living in the moment. Overtime, these small decisions can lead to a big change.
Weekend Revelation #1: Stop over-analyzing so much and JUST DO IT!
Weekend Revelation #2: Raw Buckwheat Porridge.
You knew food had to be involved, right? :)
On Saturday morning, I was cruising You Tube vegan recipe tutorials, like any cool gal would do when procrastinating a workout. My Degree from the You Tube School of Culinary Arts should be arriving anytime now.
I came across a video for Raw Buckwheat Porridge and I instantly knew it was an idea I could have fun with!
According to Renegade Health, Raw Buckwheat Porridge is simply soaked buckwheat groats processed with agave, cinnamon, and vanilla to make a raw porridge. There isn’t any cooking involved and it’s incredibly easy and nutritious!
I thought it would be fun to amp up this mixture and turn it into something that was similar to my beloved Vegan Overnight Oats. I added chia seeds to boost the nutrition + volume as well as almond milk for even more volume. In the original recipe, the serving sizes were very calorie dense and tiny so I knew I would have to increase the volume to satisfy myself physically and visually. I’d rather eat 1 cup than a 1/3 cup, any day.
After that, I loaded on the fruit with a sprinkle of chopped nuts to finish it off.
The result was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a long time. It’s also gluten-free, vegan, and packed with nutrients like calcium, protein, fibre, magnesium, and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.
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Raw Buckwheat Porridge
Inspired by Renegade Health.
Yield: Four 1-cup servings.
Porridge:
- 2 cups raw Buckwheat Groats, (note: this is not the same as Kasha) soaked in water for minimum of 1 hour or overnight
- 1.25 cups almond milk
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/4 cup liquid sweetener (use Agave if you want it raw. I used maple syrup), or to taste
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Optional Toppings:
- Chopped fruit or dried fruit (banana, Berries, kiwi, apple, peaches, nectarines, raisins, mango, etc)
- Chopped nuts and or seeds (I used almonds)
- Nut Butter or ABU
- Toasted coconut, chocolate chips, etc
Directions:
1. In a bowl, pour 2 cups of raw buckwheat groats and 4 cups of water. Soak for at least 1 hour or overnight. After soaking, rinse well in a strainer several times.
2. Place buckwheat groats in food processor or blender, along with the almond milk, chia seeds, and vanilla. Process until combined and slightly smooth. Now add in the sweetener and cinnamon to taste (I found 1/4 cup of sweetener was enough, but others might like a bit more or less than that).
3. Scoop into bowls or parfait glasses and add your desired toppings & mix-ins. Serve immediately cold. Place leftovers into fridge and enjoy for the next few days. Makes 4 cups at about 385 calories per cup (using 1/4 c maple syrup, but without toppings).
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Here’s how I made it:
Soak raw buckwheat groats in water for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Strain and rinse the groats well with water. The groats will have a slimy texture, but that is perfectly normal!
Set aside 1 cup of groats (to stir in later). This will give your creamy porridge a nice chewy texture.
In a food processor or blender, add your soaked buckwheat groats (except for the reserved cup), almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon, chia seeds, sweetener, and a pinch of salt. Process until almost smooth or leave it chunky, whatever you like.
Stir in the reserved 1 cup of groats for a nice texture..
Stir in optional chopped banana or simply adjust sweetness to taste.
You can stop here (it tastes amazing already!) or keep going like I did.
Add your desired toppings: Fruit, nuts, seeds, granola, nut butter, coconut, dried fruit, etc. The sky is the limit.
Refrigerate leftovers and enjoy for quick and portable breakfasts for the next few days!
I was really surprised by how much I loved this porridge. I’ve had some bad experiences with buckwheat, but its normally strong flavour wasn’t very pronounced in this and I found it just delicious.
It’s also really filling and no cooking is involved making it a perfect breakfast for hot summer mornings. I’m excited to play around with this first attempt using different amounts of buckwheat, chia seed, and almond milk ratios.
I’ve already made a second batch in all the excitement…
Peanut Butter and Cocoa powder were involved and things got a bit crazy.
To be continued. :)
Given Weekend Revelation #1, I’m going to stop thinking about my workout and just do it!
I have some random buckwheat groats that I had no idea what to do with so this is brilliant! I do not have chia seeds but I do have some rolled oats knocking about, I may toast them and bung them in too, i am not vegan or guten intolerant or anything but I do get eczema and buckwheat is good for it as i believe it contains essential amino acids however I struggle to find decent recipes but this looks awesome and I love porridge! Thank you so much for the inspiration!
I’m trying this tomorrow and can’t wait:)
PS- I find myself “recipe surfing” when I procrastinating working out as well:) However, knowing I get to refuel with yummy food afterwards inspires me to get up and do it anyway:) Thanks for the recipe!:)
Just made one with homemade coconut butter, mango, homemade cherry chia jam and slivered almonds- absolutely delicious!
Ohhhh made the raw buckwheat porridge.
Taste great, chalky, starchy texture not so great.
I added fresh coconut, chopped dates, hazelnuts
& raisins oh and banana.
Here’s my favorite raw breakfast.
1/3 c mixed raw pecans & cashews.
10 majool dates soaked until soft, pits removed & chopped.
1-2 tbsp. coconut butter.
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut.
Process in food processor till nuts are fine in texture not paste..!
Use as a cereal.
It’s awesome with Fresh pineapple, peaches and raspberries.
Add your favorite nut milk.
Am a newbie into the raw foods arena and this brekkie absolutely blew me over . easy , healthy and tasty what else can i ask for? thanks for the lovely pics too.
warning: if you go ahead and make this up, then put it in the microwave to warm it up (i just couldnt leave raw well enough alone), it hardens! oops. i just added more milk and gradually broke up the chunks, so now its sort of a chunky porridge. still good! great recipe idea to have ready for the work week :)
I had been eyeing up this recipie for the last few days hoping I would like it. I knocked it all together this morning simply using the buckwheat, cinammon, sugar, soya milk, organic milled flaxseed and sesame seeds. I love it! On this occasion I decided to halve the quantities but now I wish I hadn’t and that I had a fridge full of the stuff!! Will be repeating this for sure, so Thank You ! X
I made this for breakfast this morning (having never tried either buckwheat groats or even porridge, really), and it was absolutely lovely. Blew my mind. And so easy! I will definitely be adding this to my normal pancake-oatmeal rotation. I had to add a bit more almond milk in order to get it to smooth out, but everything else was spot on. I wasn’t sure how it would be cold, but it was delightful–I could almost eat it for dessert, I think! The best part is that there is enough left to last almost the entire week. Thanks for the recipe!
Amazing recipe – just tried it !!
Love your Site – it is soooo inspirational.
I was so excited when I saw this recipe, since I’ve never tried overnight oats and this seemed like the ultimate healthy version of it. However, I found the consistency to be quite slimy – not at all what I expected. Perhaps it’s because of the 1/8 cup of honey I used (along with agave) as a sweetener? Either way, I’ll probably try using regular oats for more of an oatmeal texture.
Hey Grace, Yes soaked buckwheat is slimy (I think I mentioned this in my post) and it’s definitely something that isn’t for everyone. Oats would be a good sub to help with the texture probably.
So good! I made mine with raw hemp hearts, raw chia seeds, raw chocolate, dark cherries, and topped with lots of fruit. Loved waking up to this! Thanks!
Scrumptious, the way you put it altogether makes it look mouth-watering…and yay for spontaneity that inspired this next day breakfast home run.
Came for the buckwheat recipe, enjoyed the spur of moment story. Thanks for sharing. Cheers~
I would LOVE to try this,
you mentioned that the buckwheat groats are not the same as kasha…Well what I bought was Organic Buckwheat Groats but I read in the small print that it is also known as “kasha”… :( :S
Would I still be able to use this in the recipe???
the flavour will be really strong and earthy with kasha. I dont like it, but some might. I also don’t know how they soak. Sorry about that, let me know how it goes.
Angela, did you find that the results were gritty at all? I noticed that someone else commented that the results were gritty. I definitely used raw buckwheat, and soaked it for about two hours. I could blend it more, and will try that tonight, but it’s really too gritty to eat and not soft at all…
Yes there was some texture from the buckwheat. I didn’t mind it though. Hope you can fix it to your liking!
Amazing recipe, I will be making it …now!:)
I tried this at 10:30 pm because I couldn’t wait till morning to see how it turns out! You know what it is heaven….loved it….awesome blog and recipes…
I made this for breakfast this morning for my husband, son, sister, and a best friend visiting from out-of-state. It was soooo good, and 3 for 5 loved it! (Two are picky eaters!) I used light coconut milk (mmm!) and topped it off with toasted pecans, strawberries and apples. And I chilled it before serving, which was nice. It was so tasty and comfortably filling. Thank you for such a wonderful new breakfast recipe!!
I actually took the porridge and made pancakes with it on the second day! Delicious with some real maple syrup and earth balance buttery spread :)
Wow that’s creative – so you didn’t have any problems cooking it or did you mix in other flours? Sounds fun!
My porridge turned out pretty thick so it was hard to get a nice circular shape, but other than that I didn’t have to do anything with it!
Wow, love this! There are almost no buckwheat breakfast recipes out there that sounded good to me. I have yet to try buckwheat (I’m a little nervous of the supposedly strong taste!), but I think I may try this as my first buckwheat recipe!
I’m wondering, how does the texture compare when only soaking the buckwheat vs. the normal buckwheat cooking process?
I think they texture is fairly similar although the buckwheat become more soft when soaked (personally I like them better raw/soaked and never cook them)