For me, an easy, mid-week supper is light and simple to pull together, but without comprising on taste. I like to whip up a batch of porridge bread on an evening when I’ve had a hefty lunch, or have grazed on a few too many snacks during the day to warrant eating another big meal.
This dish is so quick and easy to prepare, but is so warming and wholesome to tuck into, with a cup of tea or coffee, or if you’re feeling decadent, a hot chocolate. Especially now as the nights have drawn in and the temperatures have dropped.
As well as being light and quick, this recipe uses gluten-free oats (I use Kavanagh’s organic gluten free porridge oats from Aldi), soya yoghurt (Soyummy natural soya yoghurt from Aldi) and dairy-free dark chocolate (85 per cent Moser Roth Dark Chocolate, also from Aldi) to make it gluten-free and dairy-free. Perfect for coeliacs, those who are lactose intolerant or vegans.
What you’ll need and how to make it:
Servings: 10
500ml tub of plain soya yoghurt (or you can use Greek style yoghurt if you want to eat dairy)
Gluten-free oats (approximately 600g)
75g of dark dairy-free chocolate, broken into small pieces (can be subbed with regular dark or milk chocolate)
A handful of walnuts, finely chopped
A handful of raisins
A pinch of sea salt
Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Empty the tub of yoghurt into a bowl and refill the empty tub with the oats. Add this to the bowl and refill the tub once again to one-third full. Mix the two ingredients until they come together to make a thick paste. Add the chopped chocolate to the mix and stir to distribute evenly. Do the same with the raisins and walnuts until all the ingredients are mixed well together.
Grease a small loaf tin with dairy-free spread or butter and spread the mixture into the tin.
Place the tin in the oven and cook for 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. After 30 minutes, take the tin from the oven and remove the loaf from it carefully on a wire tray. Place the loaf back on the oven shelf directly and cook for another 15 minutes so it is cooked all the way through.
Remove from the oven and serve as is, or with jam, or butter melted over the warm loaf. For a savoury option, omit the chocolate and include some chopped rosemary. The rosemary, raisin and walnut loaf would pair perfectly with some warm soup for a more filling meal, or top with a drizzle of olive oil, a slice of Parma ham, fresh basil and some cherry tomatoes.
– Alexandra Meyers is an Irish Times publishing executive
