bircher muesli, trifle-style

which is to say that I like my bircher stacked, not shaken or stirred (couldn’t resist, sorry).

after months of eating oatmeal, this is the first time I’ve bought a box of quaker (and only because my usual waitrose-brand one was sold out) and I don’t like it. I didn’t change my cooking method (submerge in half-milk-half-water and zap for 4 minutes), but my quaker oats always came out gummy and rubbery for the same amount of liquid. if I added more, they would be runny – when I always thought the point of oatmeal was thick chunky but not gloppy heartiness.

so my quaker-brand oatmeal made me feel both uncomfortable and put-off food for the entire day. solution: bircher muesli.

this usually refers to a mixture of muesli soaked in a mixture of grated apple and milk, topped with yogurt but I think there is a wealth of things you can put in there.

I like mine stacked so I can see the distinct layers, and here is how and why I do mine this way:

1. nuts and dried fruit I liked mine soaked, and who doesn’t know the joy of juicy soaked raisins?
2. grated apple: I sometimes just use the food processor – same result, less work.
3. oats and wheatgerm: I add my wheat bran and flaxseeds here
4. pour in milk till it’s almost – but not yet – submerged
5. greek-style yogurt: I like this because if you didn’t add too much liquid, you get this semi-dried out layer of yogurt on top, almost like a ‘crust’, when the oats soak up the liquid from the yogurt.

you can see that i added a dollop of almond butter here because I need the protein, but I wouldn’t usually put anything on the top of the yogurt layer as it isn’t going to get any hydrating action.

healthy and so good. a bit of work the night before, for a lot of happiness the next
morning.