Hot Oat and Wheat Berry Breakfast Cereal
Yes, well, I’m back with more fodder for your (read: my) whole grain infatuation.
Can I tell you a story? Thanks.
My older sister, sometimes known as the Ultracompetitive Firstborn Sister, sometimes as the RacerSister, sometimes as just plain Exasperating, likes things a certain way. She has strong opinions of pretty much everything, including food. The strong opinion that I’m talking about in this instance is that she used to “not believe” in salad. It’s too fussy and doesn’t pack enough caloric punch to bother with. It especially should not be ordered in restaurants and is to be barely tolerated at home as a jaunty but ignorable sidekick to meat and potatoes.
The segue: I used to not believe in oatmeal. I used to laugh when I saw Steel Cut Oats for $5 on a menu. “Ha ha ha, a Lincoln for some gray mush? ha ha… choking on my bagel… ha ha.”
And then my mom “discovered” steel cut oats and the rest was history. They are so infinitely better than the 1 or 5 minute kind of oats, with a chewy texture and a real milled-at-the-farm toasty taste.
The RacerSister sometimes orders salads now, I survived choking on my bagel, and everyone benefits from the whole grain goodness of this hot delicious breakfast cereal. Kumbya.
Oh, and my mom deserves a shout out not only for rearing the RacerSister but also for helping me discover steel cut oats and this delicious breakfast combo. It’s really her recipe so all kudos should go to her.
Serves: 4 - 6
Time: 45 minutes
Hot Oat and Wheat Berry Breakfast Cereal
6 cups water
1/2 cup wheatberries
1 cup steel cut oatmeal
1/4 cup flax seeds (optional, but yummy)
1/2 tsp salt
Topping suggestions:
butter, milk, cream, soymilk, or yogurt
honey, maple syrup
chopped walnuts. almonds or pecans
berries, raisins, chopped apples
This one easy recipe. Bring the water to a boil and add the wheat berries. Cook for 15 minutes and add the oatmeal and flax seeds. Cook for another 25 - 30 minutes or until the wheat berries are soft.
Divide into servings and let everyone top to their heart’s content. And being whole grains their hearts really will be content.
April 7th, 2007 12:29
A nice substitute for milled flax is Golden Roasted Flax Seed - it does not have to be ground up and is really easy to chew and breakup in the mouth. For more info visit roastedflax.com
April 7th, 2007 15:22
This is SOOOO my type of breakfast… growing up, we’d have whole bulgur with raw milk, raisins, honey or blackstrap molasses and brewers yeast. I still want that, sans the milk.
Love your brunch photos.. I just may hit you up for as many brunch tips.. I got a job at a vegan cafe and we are serving our first brunch on the 15th!
April 9th, 2007 18:10
great looking oatmeal. thanks for share.
April 10th, 2007 15:59
Steel-cut oats are my favorite, too (and also introduced to me by my mom). Try them in cookies or scones…to die for!
April 12th, 2007 17:13
Lisa– Do you cook the oats before adding them to cookies?
May 7th, 2007 16:19
Vanessa, thanks so much for this recipe…I googles the ingredients …that’s how I found you. Just came home from a week in Santa Fe where I had the best oatmeal ever at a place called The Tea Room…a lot like this recipe, but they used wild rice in it too, so it was nearly as black as black beans. I loved it…now trying to recreate it. This is close. I’ll experiement with the wild rice.
Melinda
May 9th, 2007 14:50
Thanks Melody - your version sounds superfab!
Thanks Joanna!
Lisa - I think you’re on to something there! I love oatmeal cookies and am going to have to try them with steel-cut oats soon.
Pat - I second your question.
Melinda - will you please let me know how it comes out? I’d absolutely love to make a breakfast cereal with such a startling color - think about how great it would look with raspberries!
May 9th, 2007 16:12
Hi, Vanessa…
I’ve just made it once to experiment and my husband said it was as good as the oatmeal at the tea room. I used what I had on hand: 2 cups of water to a boil, then added 1/2 cup of steel cut oats, 1/4 cup of wild rice, and a 1/4 cup of sweet short-grain rice. Simmered covered for about 40 minutes. Topped it with Silk, maple syrup, and pecans. Delicious.
Melinda