Like any self respecting millennial, I love a good toast situation. But, being a little burnt out on the classical avocado toast, I decided to try something new. I went with a goat cheese toast made with freshly baked sourdough. From there, I added a generous amount of black pepper, some manuka honey, and blueberries. I also threw hemp seeds, flaky sea salt, and shredded mint leaves on for good measure. And damn, was it good.
In addition to being wonderfully simple, this dish is wholesome and delicious. It also worked beautifully with my completely obnoxious gestational diabetes diet! Of course, if you’ve got gestational diabetes, you’ll want to be very careful about what type of bread you use. And how much you eat.
The beauty of sourdough
Personally, I find sourdough to be a great option, as it’s said to regulate blood sugar. Being a mere layman, I don’t know the science behind it, but it’s got something to do with the slow fermentation process when baking sourdough. I tested this out a few times before plunging into the business of baking my own, and it worked like a charm. That said, not all sourdoughs are created equally. A grocery store sourdough made with white flour probably won’t work quite as well as a homemade loaf involving whole wheat and bread flours. But it’s definitely worth experimenting if you feel that you can do so safely. Quality of life and all that.
Manuka honey
Honey is another thing that I was told to avoid as a gestational diabetic. Despite being one of the healthier forms of sugar, it’s still quite high in carbs. But upon being gifted some Three Peaks New Zealand Mānuka Honey, I was delighted to find that it only contained 4 carbs per teaspoon! Now that I can work with.
In case you’ve never heard of it, manuka honey is a type of honey that’s native to New Zealand. It’s also said to have anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. A true super food. In fact, I once asked a woman with the glowiest complexion I’d ever seen about her skincare regimen, and she said that she used manuka honey in lieu of face wash.
It’s a bit more herbal tasting than standard honey, but still quite delicious. Another thing worth noting is that it’s heat sensitive. So if you’re using a highly potent manuka honey (the higher the UMF number, the more magical it is) you might want to avoid cooking or baking with it. Save that for the lower UMF varieties!
Alright, now let’s get to the goat cheese toast.
Goat Cheese Toast with Manuka Honey, Black Pepper, and Blueberries
Ingredients
- 1 piece Sourdough bread
- 1/2 tsp Olive oil
- 1 oz Goat cheese
- Freshly grated black pepper (to taste)
- Manuka honey (to taste)
- A few Blueberries
- A pinch of Hemp seeds
- 1 Mint leaf (shredded)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and proceed to toast your bread until it's sufficiently golden and toasty on both sides. (Alternately, you can use a toasted I guess.)
- Spread the goat cheese on the toasted bread, then add a few twists of freshly grated black pepper. Then spread a little manuka honey on top. It's a bit thicker than regular honey, but the flavor is strong so you won't need much. A knife's worth should be good. Next, add a few blueberries followed by a large pinch of hemp seeds. Finish it off by scattering some shredded mint leaves on top, and enjoy!
And that’s it. A simple, yet delicious twist on toast. If you give this recipe a try, let me know in the comments or on Instagram!
