It’s usually the case that, when I finish up a period of being especially busy or distracted, I can’t wait to get back into the kitchen. Not so with the end of my DI. Maybe I’m still bouncing back, maybe it’s the summer heat, but I’m feeling spectacularly lazy about cooking. I’ve been making a proper recipe about once each week; the rest of the time, it’s toast, random bowls, and a very enjoyable excavation of everything that’s in my freezer.
Breakfasts have been equally hands-off: usually toast or breakfast tacos with store-bought vegan refried beans and little bits of this or that for filling. Yesterday, though, it was glorious weather here—breezy and dry enough to feel like those early days of September—and I actually found myself craving a bowl of oatmeal. These golden milk oats with gingered blueberry sauce, which sound a lot fancier than they are, were the result.
The oatmeal here is the exact same formula I always use (rolled oats, 50:50 mixture of water and soy milk, flax, a pitted date, a pinch of salt), with the addition of turmeric. I’ll be honest: I added the spice it in part for the color, which I knew would look pretty with the blueberries. But as I continue to rest up post-internship, I don’t turn down opportunities to work anti-inflammatory spices into my diet, either.
“Sauce” is a big word for blueberries that have been simmered for ten minutes with some freshly grated ginger, which is precisely what this sauce is. But it’s yummy, convenient, and a great way to use up blueberries if you’ve been buying them by the bushel this summer. And you can make it just as easily with frozen blueberries in the winter. Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 pitted medjool date, chopped finely
- 1/2 cup soy milk (or another non-dairy milk)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon ground flax seed
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (or 1 teaspoon grated fresh turmeric)
- pinch salt
Gingered Blueberry Sauce
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (more if you like)
- 1/2 cup water (orange juice is nice, too!)
Instructions
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To make the sauce, add the sauce ingredients to a medium sized pot over medium high heat. When the blueberries start to pop and release their juices, reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, then remove the sauce from heat. Allow it to sit and thicken up a bit for 10-15 minutes. You'll have about 1 1/2 cups sauce, and it will keep, covered, for up to 5 days in the fridge.
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To make the oats, add the chopped date, water, salt, flax, and turmeric to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, or until the oats are creamy, stirring a few times and added an extra splash of water or milk as needed. Serve the oats with a half cup of the blueberry sauce.
What a treat to eat oatmeal again! It’s an all time staple breakfast for me, but I didn’t turn to it often during my internship because I was usually rushing out the door in the morning, or eating my breakfast on the go. Baked oats were a fun change of pace. But there’s nothing quite like digging a spoon into a piping hot bowl of oats, or porridge, and while it’s suddenly too hot again for that pleasure, I’m excited for more bowls like this in the fall.
Happy Tuesday, and I’ll be back around this weekend with words and food.
