Apple Pear Strawberry Oat Breakfast Tart And A Long Walk In Montreal

These days we are starting to go for long walks to get the wheels inside us turning again. I have a job interview on Monday and I am scared. Not because I'm not qualified to work as a line cook but because of my age. Hopefully I will be able to convince them of my extreme endurance and ability to work fast.

In the meantime we are substituting the usual pasta or main course type breakfasts and having fruit and oats. At least yesterday we did. I wanted to make oatmeal and fruit in a different style than just in a bowl so I decided to turn the same ingredients into a tart for something different. There was no sugar in this tart except for a sauce made from melted dark chocolate, bananas, dates and cinnamon.

Starting with the crust, I mixed a bowl full of oats, ground flax, salt and just enough water to form a thick paste. It was put into a spring form then put under the top broiler in the oven. The bottom element is broken so I would have just used the oven to bake the entire thing but this worked out fine.

It wasn't in there very long, before it was nice and golden and obviously cooked.

After it was spread with date puree just for enough sweetness.

Than it was lined with the sliced Royal Gala apples and Bartlett pears and put back under the grill for about five to seven minutes.

When it came out it was centered with fresh strawberries and a few sprinkles of sunflower seeds. After a drizzle of the sauce made from, melted chocolate, banana, date puree, vanilla, almond milk, and cinnamon, breakfast was served.

My mother in law who we live with, never wants anything that we eat, but this time she actually had a piece and said she liked it. She usually never eats fruits unless there is plenty of sugar on it.

This looked like desert but didn't feel like it. It was satisfying enough that we were able to set about on our journey across town to get the blood flowing to prepare for some up coming hard work. Hopefully If I get hired.

There has been so much controversy about breakfast and whether you should eat a big breakfast to kick start yourself for the day, or whether you should eat light and let your body empty itself of the last day's food.

My honest opinion based on my personal experience is that, I always feel better on a lighter start to the day. In fact we walked around twenty kilometers yesterday with a twenty minute pit stop and it was quite easy. The last few blocks on the way back are the only difficult ones.

Stopping to take a break by a man made waterfall at one of Montreal's largest and popular park, Mont Royal at Lac Du Castors. This was always one of our favorite places to go.

We sat on a picnic table and were joined by a seagull that had hopes of a picnic to share. It was a lost cause for him.

The great thing about this park is that it has a big man made lake to enjoy and feel like you are not in a big city.

And now we headed back a different way that we came, taking a trail down the mountain into the city but taking the time to enjoy the last bit of a nature hike before we hit the pavement to journey for another couple of hours until we made our way back.