News - Nutrition
Oatmeal truth
A recipe for oatmeal using traditional preparation.
by Daniel Lynch
1. One pound steel cut oats (not flaked oats)
2. 16 oz. yogurt or kefir
3. 16 oz. water, milk or coconut milk (preferably non chlorinated)
4. 1 tablespoon unrefined, Celtic sea salt
5. 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon honey (both optional but highly recommended)
Oats are incredibly healthy and taste good with proper preparation, so they’re suitable to eat each day, if you’d like. The importance of the yogurt or kefir is highlighted in my June article, ‘Grains: modern and traditional,’ and with this recipe, you’ll be applying the traditional grain preparations it covered .You can find steel cut oats in the bulk food section of most health food stores for about $1-$1.30 a pound. Using a pound will yield about 5-6 servings.
If you have a big enough pot, like something you might use for cooking spaghetti, pour in the oats, yogurt and water. Stir. They mixture should be soupy, with the liquid covering the oats. Place on stove top, medium low for about three to four minutes, stirring occasionally. The most important thing is to just warm it up, do not allow it to get hot. It should not be steaming. Once warm, about 100F, cover and let sit overnight. In the morning, in the same pot, add some more water, milk or coconut milk and one table spoon unrefined salt, then bring stove up to medium high and stir frequently. It will stick and burn onto the bottom of the pot easily if you walk away while the heat is high. If you need to do something else meanwhile, turn the heat to very low and cover the pot.
Eventually, after about 10 minutes, all the liquid will congeal into the oats. If it seems too thick add more liquid, and cook while stirring for a couple more minutes. Any fruit is excellent in oatmeal from raisins to bananas to fresh summer berries. At this point, it's nice to add some butter and maple syrup/honey.
Store left overs in the refrigerator and reheat by adding about two to three ounces of water to a small pot, bring to a boil and then add the cold oats, cover and turn down heat, stirring occasionally. They’ll be ready and re-softened after about five minutes and they actually taste even better after reheating.
