Getting creative with oats

I love eating oats. They’re one of the best breakfast foods you can put into your body. Oats are loaded with fibre. They make energy quickly available to the body and are easily digested. And they’re a great pre-workout snack.

But oats with milk/honey/nuts gets a bit monotonous.

So, I’ve experimented a bit and found a couple of easy deviations. Savoury oats is now one of my favourite breakie options. And it takes just a few precious morning minutes to whip up.

Ingredients:

Any other brand of oats you like

Onions/celery/spring onions chopped fine

Vegetables diced small (carrots, mushrooms, beans, peas, cherry tomatoes)

Curry leaves (optional)

Chicken/vegetable stock or cube (optional)

Chilli powder and haldi (optional)

Water                              

Salt to taste

Coriander to garnish (optional)

Preparation:

You’ll notice that a lot of the ingredients are optional. That’s because there are different permutations and combinations that work really well.

Using just a tiny bit of oil, sauté the onions until they lose their raw taste. If you’re using the curry leaves, fry them just before sautéing the onions.

Throw in the veggies and stir fry lightly for 5 mins.

Add the dry oats and mix well with the veggies.

For the next step, here are three tried and tasted versions:

1.     Keep it simple: You could just add enough water to cook the oats and season with salt. Garnish with coriander.

2.     Soup it up: Use a soup cube or chicken or vegetable stock for flavour. You probably won’t need to add salt. This gives the oats a delicious and wholesome flavour. Leave out the curry leaves if you’re doing it this way. Works really well with all kinds of veggies, but best with mushrooms. You can opt to keep it a little gluggy if you like, or dry it out to a flaky finish.

3.     Go Indian: While sautéing the onions, add a dash of chilli powder and haldi, then the veggies and finally the oats. This makes it a little like poha. Option to add some roasted groundnuts. 

     

    You can work any flavour or ingredient and create your own fun version of oats. They're so versatile that way. Bon Apetit :)