Buckwheat and Sweet Potato Breakfast Porridge

Admittedly, I am not a big breakfast person. I'm often guilty for eating a breakfast of coffee and a piece of fruit. I'm somewhat justified in my intuitive tendency to steer away from a heavy breakfast. According to Ayurveda, our digestive fire, or agni is lowest and slowest in the morning. Waking up and fulfilling the "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" mantra with cold cereal, artificially sweetened pastries, or big greasy plates is hardly the best way to start your day. Running on empty isn't great either, and neither is starting your day off with a blender full of frozen fruit. (We'll burst your smoothie bubble next month). An ideal morning should consist of warming up our minds and bodies, properly hydrating, and lightly stretching. Even if you don't have the luxury of taking it a little easy in the morning, you can still apply principles of kindness to your body. The winter months are the most important time to focus on keeping your energy up, your spirit grounded, immunity boosted, and your body warm. A cozy breakfast porridge made with soaked whole grains, healthy fat, lightly cooked fruits, and warming spices is one of the best recipes to do that. Adding naturally fermented light miso is a great way to increase the minerals, probiotics, and amino acid content, and it also rounds out the flavor. I love to use buckwheat. The flavor holds up to all the spices and it's hard to overcook. Buckwheat is easier to digest than some other grains, but you can use any grain you would like. Millet or gluten-free oats make a great variation.  Soaking or culturing grains is an ancient process that helps break down anti-nutrients and release all of the beneficial nutrients from the grain. Grains and legumes contain phytic acid that binds to important minerals and prevents your body from absorbing them; basically, it is a nutrition blocker. Soaking and souring breaks down the phytic acid and increases the nutrient availability. Soaking grains is also a great technique to use if you are gluten intolerant (even if you are using gluten-free grains). It also decreases the cooking time. Buckwheat and Sweet Potato Breakfast Porridge| INGREDIENTS |

• 1 cup raw whole buckwheat groats, soaked overnight
• Rinse and drain after soaking.
• 1 cup cubed sweet potato, apple, persimmon or any lightly sweet fruit/veggie you like
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (we used Inca Berries)
• 2 1/2 cups filtered water, almond milk or grass fed whole milk
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee
• 2 teaspoons chickpea miso (soy free)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of Nutmeg

Garnish (optional)

• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
• 1-2 tablespoons raw honey
• Coconut flakes

Cook soaked buckwheat, sweet potato, and dried fruit with liquid on low heat until all ingredients are soft. Approximately 15 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and keep warm. Serves 4