Blueberry Lemon Muesli

When is breakfast food only a breakfast food? In my mind, never! These false labels deprive us of enjoying perfectly wonderful food any time we want. And that is how I see muesli—breakfast, lunch, supper, snack, lightly sweet and luscious dessert, family food, company food.

Fresh, plump blueberries and lemon are heavenly together when they bond with a little honey. With an abundance of summer blueberries, use fresh fruit when you can. The level of sweetness and tartness is very personal, so feel free to adjust it to taste. This is almost instant gratification and zero guilt—high fiber oats, antioxidant blueberries, calcium- and protein-rich fat-free yogurt, and heart-friendly nuts. All in 10 minutes, one bowl, no stove.

If frozen berries are used, start with 1 cup of yogurt and wait for 15-30 minutes to see how much water the berries release as they thaw. Then add more as desired for the preferred consistency. The muesli here is quite thick but it can always be thinned out with more yogurt or a little milk.

Ingredients

• 1 medium Granny Smith apple (about 1 ½ cups coarsely grated apple)
• grated zest of a medium lemon
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 5 tablespoons honey or to taste (or raw honey to taste, can also use brown sugar), maple syrup for vegans
• 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
• 1 ½ cups plain yogurt plus more to taste (full fat, low fat, fat free, soy, anything you like — if you use lemon yogurt, reduce the honey and lemon juice)
• 1 ½ cups rinsed and picked fresh blueberries (or frozen berries)
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds

Steps

1. In a large bowl, coarsely grate the apple. The whole apple can be grated to the core, or it can be quartered, cored, and then grated. Finely grate the zest of the lemon.
2. Mix all the ingredients into the bowl till well blended. Eat right away or store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days (if it has not been eaten well before that!).

Serves 6-8. Preparation and cooking time: 10 minutes.