Steel Cut Oats for Breakfast

Have you ever gone the grocery store and picked up an item, only to get home and smack yourself in the forehead because you got the wrong thing? Yep, this was me last week when I got home and realized I had gotten organic steel cut oats out of the bulk bin and not organic rolled oats. Bummer. Luckily all is not lost, for the most part they merely take more time to cook. While I cannot use them in the recipe I originally intended to make, I can still make some yummy breakfasts. (I had also thought, hey they are better for you but after looking it up, it seems they are nutritional equals.)

So this morning at the bleak crack of dawn, at least I think it was dawn, it was raining so hard that I can only assume. (Yes, yes, I know the assuming joke but really, the sun must come up around 6 am even if I cannot see it.) Anyway, to get rid of the damp chill I thought we should have a nice warm breakfast. Happily I went to my computer and located a recipe (or rather a tempting picture and off I went)

Slow & Easy: How to Cook Perfect Steel Cut Oats

                                                   Perfect Steel-Cut Oats
                                                   serves 2-4, depending on how hungry you are!
                                                   3 cups water
                                                   1 cup steel-cut oats
                                                   pinch of salt

                                                   1. Bring the water to a boil and stir in the oats and salt.
                                                   2. Let the water and oats come back to a boil then reduce to medium-low heat.
                                                   3. Let the oats simmer with the lid slightly ajar, stirring frequently until cooked through
                                                   20 minutes for chewy oats or 30 minutes for softer oats.
                                                   4. Stir in extras like milk, sweeteners, nuts, and fruit off the leftovers keep for one week.

Now for those of you who have read my other posts about food, I often substitute and today was no exception. Instead of using milk, I wanted to use coconut milk. I bought a big thing of it at Trader Joe's and have only a few more days to use it up so I used 2 cups of water and 1 cup of coconut milk to cook my oats in, plus a generous splash of vanilla. After cooking the oats (20 minutes was plenty for us), I added almond meal and maple syrup. It was heaven. I cannot wait to add this to my regular breakfast recipe. I think I will make some up the night before though and warm it in the morning as 20+ minutes in front of the stove is not always an option.

On a side note, I loved this so much, that I was checking out the mother site and found that it is quite popular to make savory oats these days. I think we are going to try the recipe for Mark Bittman's Savory Oatmeal with Scallions and Soy Sauce next!

Anyone have an other steel cut oats recipes we can try?