In honour of Canada’s Ag Day, I whipped up a protein/breakfast bar using Canadian staples including oats, milk, eggs, flour (wheat), flax, blueberries, canola oil, lentils and honey. Happy Canadian Ag Day to all my food lovers!

I am proud to have Canadian ingredients as staples in my cooking. Here are a few from today’s recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup dried lentils
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup or less canola oil
1/4 – 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup (both are produced in Canada!)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups oats (any kind)
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup roasted flax

Instructions

1. Add lentils to a small pot and cover with about 2cm of water. Bring to a boil at high heat and, once boiling, reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes. You want the lentils to be softened but still a little firm. Do not over cook them or else they will turn to a paste in your bars. (If that happens, you can always purée them instead of keeping them whole). When they are finished cooking, dump contents from the pot into a small strainer and rinse with cold water to cool them down, stirring gently with your fingers.

2. Add the blueberries to a microwave-safe bowl and defrost in the microwave in 1-minute intervals, checking between sets until thawed. Alternatively, while the lentils cook, thaw them over low heat in a small pot. This is what I did. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients: eggs, milk, vanilla, honey and canola oil. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients: oats, flour and baking powder. Add all the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a whisk until fully combined. Add the blueberries and lentils (once finished cooking) and gently stir as not to mush either the berries or lentils.

4. Spray a 8″ x 8″ glass baking pan with cooking spray. Use a spatula to help pour the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the flax on top of the batter, then, using a fork, slowly stir the flax into the top half of the batter.

5. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top and toothpick or fork inserted comes out clean and the batter is no longer runny. Let the bars cool for at least half an hour in the pan before cutting and/or moving from the baking pan.

Bon appetit!