Quarantine Cuisine: How Drake Devonshire chef Alexandra Feswick makes her bountiful breakfast bowl
We’re asking Toronto chefs to show us what they cook up using basic pantry supplies while they self-isolate at home
Like many of us, chef Alexandra Feswick is confined to her home. We asked the social-distancing chef to whip something up with ingredients she already had on hand. Her recipe: a bountiful breakfast bowl.
More Quarantine Cuisine
For Alexandra Feswick, nothing says good morning better than a breakfast bowl brimming with all the colours of the rainbow. “Brekky bowls are always interesting and have so much going for them, thanks to the different textures and flavours,” says Feswick. “They’re also packed with nutritious foods to help you get a great start to your day.” She was inspired to make a fun and easy at-home version of one on the Drake’s menu. “The recipe is versatile, so you don’t have to be too fussy when you’re recreating it.”
Best of all, this bowl is kid-approved. “Sweet potatoes, dates, blueberries and poached eggs—they’re all of my son Reed’s favourite things,” says Feswick. “He doesn’t love the quinoa, but we’re working on that.” Pro-tip: Make your quinoa and sweet potato the night before, so all you have to do in the morning is assemble it and dig in.
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp honey 1 tsp grainy mustard 1 cup cooked quinoa 1 sweet potato, roasted and cooled 2 tbsp fresh blueberries 1-2 dried dates, chopped 1 tbsp sliced almonds, toasted 1 large egg Fat pinch of ground cinnamon Salt and pepper Extra olive oil (for roasting the sweet potato)
The recipe
Cook the quinoa first. Bring two cups of water to a boil in a medium-sized pot and add in one cup of quinoa. Cover with a lid and reduce heat to a low simmer until all of the water is absorbed. This should take about 15 minutes.
Now for the sweet potato. Oil up that tater and season it with salt. Roast it in the oven at 375°F for approximately 30 minutes, or until the potato can be easily poked with a knife.
It’s time to poach that egg. Fill a medium-sized pot with water and put it on medium-low heat.
Poaching an egg isn’t the easiest thing to do, so here are some tips. Crack your egg into a small bowl. When the water is starting to show some movement, add a splash of vinegar. Carefully lower the cracked egg into the pot and poach for approximately three to four minutes. Season your poached egg with salt and pepper, if desired.
In a mason jar, add the olive oil, vinegar, mustard and honey (reserve some of the honey for dressing your sweet potato). Close the lid to your mason jar and shake well until it’s all combined. Dress your cooked quinoa with your mason-jar mixture and some salt and pepper, to taste.
Chop the cooked sweet potato into chunks. Drizzle them with the remaining honey and pinch of cinnamon.
Fill the bottom of your breakfast bowl with the dressed quinoa and top it with some sweet potato chunks. Then add some fresh blueberries, dates and almonds. Feswick says to feel free to play around with this step. This was what was in her pantry and crisper, but you could easily throw in strawberries, apricots, apples or raisins.
Top the bowl with your egg...
... and eat it right away.
Have a great day!
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Tiffany Leigh is an award-winning freelance journalist with degrees in business communications and education. She has a culinary background, is a recipient of the Clay Triplette James Beard Foundation scholarship award and has worked in restaurants such as Langdon Hall. In addition to Toronto Life, her pieces have been read in publications such as Forbes, Vogue, Eater, Dwell, Elle, Business Insider, Playboy, Food & Wine and Bon Appétit.
