Soaked ground wheat berries and gooseberries

Lately there has been much talk about overnight oats in the blog world. It’s convenient, probably saves a tiny bit of energy and you don’t have to heat up anything. No stove involved. In Germany oats are not very popular besides müesli and that’s probably why the German version of overnight oats is overnight wheat berries aka Frischkornbrei (“fresh grain mush/porridge”). I first learned about this when I bought my grain mill and read a recipe on a website. Some people may think of this as hippie or, heaven forbid, health food. I like it and think it is a quick and nutritious breakfast. Soaking the grains helps reduce the phytic acid content, which means your body can absorb minerals like iron or calcium much better.

To make overnight wheat berries, all you have got to do is mill some grains into a very coarse meal and soak them in water or soymilk. You can also use store-bought groats or cracked grains.

The “regular” version is made with cream or cow milk, but of course any nondairy milk or even water works perfectly. You don’t need much liquid, only to cover the ground wheat berries.

You soak the berries over night and on the other day, you can add fresh fruit ore dried fruit, some nuts, seeds, or nut butters. I chose fresh gooseberries and donut nectarines.

prepared Frischkornbrei

If you don’t have access to coarsely ground wheat berries, any grain will do, you could probably even use cornmeal. I think buckwheat is nice too.

This was the first time I had donut nectarines. Although they were very firm, they were perfectly ripe and very sweet. Not watery, not too sour, just perfectly delicious!

donut nectarine

And did I already tell you how much I love gooseberries? The firm skin and the soft flesh is just such a great combination. I remember these as very popular berries in our neighbourhood and we used to eat them fresh from the bush. Lots of gooseberry cakes were eaten in my childhood. These days I mostly eat them raw, but a slice of vegan gooseberry streusel cake wouldn’t be ignored if it walked my way.

fresh gooseberries

But now enough of the raw talk already. I did cook something! A couple of days ago Jenna’s burgers catched my eye. I made these with kidney beans instead of pinto beans and added a splash of liquid smoke to them. They are very tasty and versatile. I made a double batch and stored them in the fridge. Something to look forward to every day!

Jenna's BBQ Pinto Bean Burgers served with tahini lemon dressing and salad.

I don’t know why I want to eat burgers all the time lately. It’s probably because Joni’s burger book will be out next year. Celine posted some really tasty pictures on her flickr account and on her website and now I dream about burgers day and night. And I have to try some burger recipes Joni posted on her blog ( like these Sundried Tomato Pesto Burgers).