Steel-cut Oatmeal (Overnight)

I prefer to eat steel-cut oatmeal to rolled oats. Though oatmeal is in general highly beneficial to the body (See Organic.net article on the Health Benefits of Oatmeal), Prevention.com did a comparison of oatmeal and steel-cut oats, and found that steel-cut oats has fewer calories, less sugar, and a lower glycemic index. Besides this win, I simply love the texture of the steel-cut oats.

I grew up on oats! My mom made it for us every week day. At times we would eat it twice a day in either granola, muesli, or homemade meat substitutes. Because I still eat it a great deal, I mostly buy steel-cut oatmeal in bulk. It’s cheaper that way and last longer. I make about six to twelve cups at a time and freeze about two cups in a quart freezer bag and use as needed. Usually, the night before, I’ll put it out to thaw or make fresh oats from scratch with my one-minute “overnight” method. This is the method I’ll relate to you in this post.

The ratio is three cups of water to one cup of steel-cut oats. You can make as much or as little as you like using this ratio. Once you are done, you can make any flavor profile you like. Some like their oats salty to taste more like grits. Others like their oatmeal sweet. I like mine both ways. If I want mine salty, I’ll saute some onions in olive oil with liquid aminos. I’ll add my desired amount of plain oatmeal to this and incorporate. I’ll then add a pat of plant-based butter. Scrambled tofu is really good with this with toast. If I want my steel-cut oats sweet, I’ll add some coconut milk, agave nectar, and raisins to it. At times, I add dates and coriander. Before I pour it into the bowl, I’ll dice a whole banana at the bottom and mix the oats into it and enjoy. This is how I had my oatmeal this morning. The feature picture has the bananas still resting at the bottom of the bowl.

Without further ado, I’ll give the basic recipe. The rest I’ll have to leave up to you. There are tons of ways you may eat your steel-cut oats.

Steel-cut Oatmeal (Simple Recipe)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups water
• 1 cup steel-cut oats

Instructions:

1. The night before, bring water to a rapid boil in a pot with a tight lid.
2. Stir in oatmeal and let boil for one minute.
3. Turn off heat, cover the pot, and remove it from the heat.
4. Let pot sit on stove top or in a closed area (I usually put mine in my unused microwave or in my oven, depending upon size of pot) undisturbed until the next morning.