My Favourite Breakfast: Steel-Cut Oats

I would hazard a guess that I eat this at least four times a week.  I absolutely love steel-cut oats, and I know that at some point, I had a recipe for this, but I've altered it and changed it so much, and I don't have the original source anymore, so I feel confident enough to call this recipe one of my own.  

For those of you out there who haven't been exposed to anything but Quaker quick oats, here's what Wikipedia has to say about steel-cut oats:

Steel-cut oats are whole grain groats (the inner portion of the oat kernel) which have been cut into pieces. They are commonly used in Scotland and Ireland to make porridge, whereas rolled oats are used in England, other English-speaking countries, and Scandinavia. They are sometimes named after the grade of cut, e.g. pinhead oats; steel-cut oats from Ireland are sometimes called Irish oats.    

Steel-cut oats are golden in color. They come in different grades depending on the size of the pieces: pinhead (the largest), coarse, medium and fine. 

Steel-cut oats take longer to cook than instant or rolled oats due to their minimal processing, typically 15–30 minutes (though much less if pre-soaked). The flavor of the cooked oats is described as being nuttier than other types of oats, and they are also chewier.^[1] 

Anyhow, in case you're wondering how it is that I can eat porridge (of all things!) so many times every week, here's why.  Steel-cut oats are such a versatile oat.  There's so many ways you can prepare porridge with them, and I rarely make it the same way twice in a week.  They also store extremely well in the fridge, and I will often make two or three days worth of porridge in one go, store it in a little container, and toss it in the fridge.  The con, (and the only one I can think of!) is that it takes about 30 minutes to an hour to make them.  Which is why I prepare many days worth at a time.

My Basic Steel-Cut-Oat Recipe:

*disclaimer: I very rarely measure, especially for this recipe.  So if you can't deal with measurements like 'a little handful' - 'lots' - and 'large dashes' ...this isn't the recipe for you.

• 1 part steel-cut oats
• a spoon of butter, coconut oil, or olive oil
• 3 parts water
• 1 part non-dairy milk (I suppose you could use real milk, but why?  It's gross.  I typically use soy or almond)
• 1 capful pure vanilla extract, or part of a vanilla bean sliced lengthwise
• a large dash of cinnamon
• miscellaneous items *

1. Put pot on the stovetop, heat medium.  Throw in your spoon of butter, or coconut oil, or olive oil.  I've never tried it with olive oil, but I imagine it'd be okay. 
2. Toss in your one part steel cut oats, turn the heat down a little bit, and stir constantly.  That's key: if you don't stir, you will burn them, not brown them.  Stir constantly until the oats are a little bit brown on the outsides, and they start to smell a little nutty.  
3. Add 3 parts water.  That means, if you added 1/2 cup oats, then add 1 1/2 cups of water.  Got it?
4. Add vanilla extract or vanilla bean.  On low-medium, simmer for about twenty minutes, or until it's looking less like liquid and more like porridge.
5. Add one part non-dairy milk.  This morning, I used unsweetened almond milk. (if you added vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds into the pot and throw the pod away)  
6. Add large dash of cinnamon.  Add miscellaneous items. Continue simmering until it looks like porridge again.  

*Miscellaneous items: I switch this up depending on how hungry I am, how I feel, and what I have in the fridge/cupboards.  For this morning's recipe, when I added the milk and cinnamon, I also added a handful of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and about a spoon of whole flax.  While it was cooking, I chopped up half a banana, four strawberries, some pecans, and two medjool dates.  Once it was all in the bowl, I added a spoon of almond butter, and a few hemp seeds.

You can do things how you want, but I always add seeds (except hemp or chia) to the pot while it's simmering to soften them up, and the same goes for dried fruits (raisins, dried dates, cranberries, dried pears, etc).  Everything else goes in the bowl. 

Some things you could add to this are: 

- blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, pears, apples, bananas, or any other fruit you can think of.

- dried fruits

- nuts, seeds of your choice (I typically go for pumpkin seeds, sunflower, flax, hemp, chia seeds, almonds, or pecans.  I'm not a fan of macademia, brazil nuts, or walnuts)

- nut butters (I used almond butter this morning, but good ol' PB is tasty too!)

- honey, maple syrup, agave nectar 

- I've never tried adding cocoa, but that could be tasty too.

And that's basically it.  Make the basic porridge (plus seeds/nuts/dried fruits) ...and that stores in the fridge really well.  Then when you want some, cut up a big ol' batch of fruit and nuts, throw them into a bowl, put porridge over them, and then microwave it for a bit until it's hot.  Add honey or maple syrup if you need a sweetener, or some almond butter if you want it a bit creamier, and voíla! 

1/2 cup of oats typically lasts me three days.