This morning, as I was hanging out the washing in the glorious winter sunshine, I was wondering what to write about this week. Valentine’s was past, Lent not yet upon us and spring is officially weeks away. Hmmm. Then I turned my attention to breakfast and that’s when it hit me. Oats! I should write about oats!
Breakfast of champions
Most mornings, we would indulge in rather expensive and delicious granola. However, one day, Mariia was perusing the ingredients and quantities and discovered that our ‘healthy’ breakfast included rather unhealthy quantities of sugar. Drat! Once you know this you cannot unknow it. And since we are both trying to improve our figures, a sugar laden breakfast cereal is definitely a no-no.
‘Let’s have porridge instead,’ I suggested and we’ve never looked back. Ukrainians love porridge – kawa (pronounced kasha) and cook it using all kinds of grain: buckwheat, millet, whole oats and corn. They have it savoury and sweet. Being a Scot, however, I am less adventurous and have it made from oat flakes and salt.
Following a suggestion by Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall, I’ve been soaking my oats overnight and prepare them using a ratio of 1 part oats to 2 parts liquid. At first, I tried it using only water and they tasted very creamy to me when cooked in the morning. Mariia, however, in Goldilocks mode, was not impressed. I tried half milk and half water, then all milk. That proved just right.
Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
Interestingly, when it comes to porridge, we all display our cultural heritage. I eat mine with milk and salt, Mariia with homemade jam and my husband with maple syrup and bananas. But that’s the thing. Oatmeal is a joy, because you can add whatever you fancy: cooking apples, nuts, dried fruit (even peanut butter according to Mariia) are all delicious. Like bread, it is a blank canvas on which to paint your favourite flavours. Unlike bread, it will keep you well fed until lunchtime.
Oats’ superpowers
For a super food, the humble oat is a very user-friendly one: it is cheap, available at any supermarket and requires little or no skill to prepare. In its tiny flake it holds really everything you need to power you through the day. Weight for weight, there is little to compete with it. And don’t just take my word for it, Healthline.com said, ‘… oats are among the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. Oats are rich in carbs and fiber, but also higher in protein and fat than most other grains.’ (9 Sept 2019)
If you soak your oats overnight, you can increase its nutritional qualities further. Since they cook very quickly and do not need to boil, very little of the goodness is lost and it saves on the energy bill.
Oats must be one of the least expensive cereals, so you can indulge in the best. We buy organic whenever possible and these never disappoint.
Compared to other cereals, oats definitely provide a great deal more value for money. To start, they cost less than half yet give twice as much. One cup of overnight oats is composed of 20% fats, 60% carbs and 20% protein. Cornflakes in contrast, provide 0% fat, 93% carbs and 7% protein.
And you don’t even need to cook them. Some recipes use oats soaked overnight and kept in the fridge. I’ve included some rather fun ones here should you fancy something more exciting:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/overnight-oats-recipes
Oats all the way
We follow a mainly plant based diet, so regular cow’s milk is not for us. I tried all the alternatives: almond – too sweet, soya – not great and rice – bleuch! Then oat milk became popular and we were saved. All the above alternatives are not great for the planet, but oats? Well, they grow in our hemisphere and are actually good for the soil, so much so that one gardening tip for house plants is to mix oats into the soil as a sort of cheap fertiliser. (I kid you not!!) See https://www.gardeningetc.com/news/houseplant-care-tip-oats-does-it-work
Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
The barista edition of Oatly is especially fine and very comparable to whole dairy milk, so if you are considering becoming more plant-based in your diet or you wish to walk more gently on the Earth, this is a great place to start. Oat milk ‘uses 60% less energy and generates 85% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than cow’s milk.’ (Country Living, Feb 2023) The figures say it all.
And if you are nervous of venturing into non-dairy milk territory, I suggest you start with the chocolate version. That really is dreamy.
This morning, I have only looked at using oats in porridge, but the applications of this humble grain are endless. Some recipes I use include oat flour (simply whizz in the blender), others incorporate it in crumbles and nut roasts. Oats have long been favoured in biscuits and desserts like cranachan and raw in muesli. Many folks with gluten intolerance can eat oats and they are far nicer to work with than gluten free flours.
However you choose to enjoy them, I hope that you’ll agree that it is always good to get your oats!