The Everyday Breakfast Which Could Change Your Life

This came to me as a breakfast suggestion from one of my good friends, Jemima. She’s over 60, though by some real trickery, looks no older than 42. So when Jemima offers up nutritional life hacks, I listen.

She framed this one to me via the idea of a morning smoothie in reverse, aka all the components chopped and tumbled into a bowl instead of blitzed in the bullet. It’s a real festival of textures, believe me. Imagine eating your smoothie as opposed to drinking it? It’s hardly profound, I know, but somehow a part of my brain finds it quite genius. 

The only non-negotiable in this concoction is to keep it grain-free, and don’t even try to add yogurt as it will ruin everything. The key ingredients are coconut milk, slightly underripe avocado, frozen berries, nut butter, actual nuts and various other bits of your choice, chopped fine to resemble granola.

I’ll go as far as to say that you can’t go back after trying this, so be warned. It’s now in the ‘essentials category’ of my monthly budget and one of the reasons I can’t afford to go out anymore. Composing it is a joy, and the whole thing keeps you sustained for a major portion of the day.

So shout out to Jemimah Stehli for the grain-free breakfast wisdom. 

Ingredients for the reverse smoothie:

Half a Braeburn (or another crunchy) apple, chopped into cubes 
1 quarter avocado, chopped into cubes
Handful goji berries, finely chopped
Handful coconut flakes, roughly chopped 
Handful of almonds (or you can use whichever nuts you love most)
Handful of Brazil nuts, roughly chopped
2 tbsp hemp seeds
4 frozen blackberries, chopped
1 large tbsp of almond butter
1 tsp acai berry powder 
Coconut milk – I use Rude Health

Composing it and eating it:

Chop goji berries, nuts, coconut flakes into a fine-ish mass, so the whole thing seems granola-ish. You can get ahead with this and keep it in a Kilner jar to free up some time in the morning. Keep it grain free though. Feel free to add whatever extras you like – I’ve been contemplating black sesame lately.

Take the apple and chop into cubes and do the same with the avocado.

Chop four frozen blackberries, which will break down into a mound of baby blackberry jewels.

Tumble all of the components, including the hemp seeds, into your usual cereal bowl and, if you’re feeling extra, top with a spoonful of açai berry powder which tints the whole thing violet. Then add your heaped spoonful of almond butter. 

Fill the bowl with desired amount of coconut milk, swirl everything round with your spoon, proceed to be spiritually awakened, go about your day as the best version of yourself – and go get your money.

All photography by Hannah Hammond, whose dispatches for the next couple of months will be coming not from London, but New York City.