Tricked up cereal

Tricked up cereal

I recall my dad patiently trying to explain the difference between a gourmet and a gourmand.  I’ve always had the bad feeling that I’m one of the latter.

Take this morning: no leftovers to be microwaved!  My morning usually starts with strong coffee and a fire-cracker hot aloo gobi or channa dish, but this morning’s glance into the fridge revealed no such luck.  Being lazy, I settled for boxed cereal. 

Here’s how I tricked it up:

1 cup mixture of frozen organic cherries, blackberries and blueberries, thawed in the microwave, but still cold  (I want to keep those enzymes alive!)
½ cup 100% whole wheat and bran cereal, read the label to be sure nothing else is added
2 tablespoons plain home made yogurt
small handful of walnuts (I buy these in a huge bag and keep them in the freezer)
1 teaspoon unsweetened shredded coconut
1% milk to fill the bowl
a few drops of rosewater (optional)
1 green cardamom dehusked and finely ground (optional)

In a large cereal bowl, thaw the berries for less than a minute.  A few ice crystals will melt once the other ingredients are added. Add the cereal, top with the next ingredients then fill the bowl with milk.

I think my father would have arched an eyebrow, asking if I didn’t perhaps require some edible silver leaf to adorn this very humble repast.