Saturday, October 06, 2012

Overnight Steel Cut Oats

I've never been a fan of oatmeal. To me, oatmeal was always that nasty stuff that came in individual packets and always tasted like cinnamon and some dried fruit combo, was mushy and unappealing. I tried over the years to 'love' it like everyone else seemed to, but it never stuck. Whenever I got tired of tofu scrambles or smoothies for breakfast I'd try it again. No dice.


Enter Steel Cut Oats. I had them at a restaurant in town pan-seared and amazing. I copied their method and enjoyed them that way a LOT. But I had to have the forethought to make them ahead of time, stir a pot of oats for 40 minutes before bed and use a little too much Organic Smart Balance in the morning to enjoy them.

Did the crock pot thing for a while, but even that wasn't delivering the right texture. A visit from a friend last weekend changed everything. 'I do mine overnight. Nuke them at night, again in the morning. Perfect every time!'. No, it couldn't be. How had I missed this method? (Ironically, she told me this as I was stirring our breakfast oats for forty minutes that morning).

For the past week I have been blissfully enjoying the overnight method. You could do it on the stove if you prefer, but I like fact that I can make them and eat them all in one bowl and utilize the microwave while doing other things like dishes or getting a certain four year old to bed.

Basically, I take:

1/4 c. steel cut oats
3/4 c. water 

and place in a Pyrex bowl. I cover it with a small plate and microwave for two minutes. Remove from microwave, cover tightly (I use a bowl that came with a lid so that's super simple) and leave on the counter til morning.
In the morning I remove the cover, replace that small plate and microwave for another minute.
Done.
Seriously.
Then I stir in a big tablespoon of Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter (oh my dog. how did I live without this stuff?!) and a sliced banana. 
Perfect. 
Every time.

2 comments:

Desdemona said...

YES! This is so simple, and yet I never thought of doing it; it's happening tonight, though!

radioactivegan said...

That looks really good. I bought some steel-cut oats recently but I haven't tried them yet because it takes so long to cook. I'll definitely give this a shot!