I love a good, hot breakfast.  And I need something that fills me up and doesn’t have me looking for a snack an hour later.  It’s also very flexible so you can add or subtract the veggies as you like.  Always use greens though because they provide excellent nutrition and help bulk it up.  Yum!

Savory Oats (serves 2) 

The original Savory Oats  recipe can be found in the Engine 2 Cookbook.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats (do NOT use quick cooking)
• 2 1/2 cups water (or 1 cup veggie broth and 1 1/2 cups water)
• 1 1/2 cups sliced brown mushrooms
• 1 sliced zucchini
• 1/2 cup sliced or diced white onion
• 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup sliced or diced red bell pepper
• 4 cups greens – your choice of spinach, swiss, red or rainbow chard, baby kale, etc.
• garlic powder, red pepper flakes or your fav seasoning to taste
• 1/2 avocado diced or sliced
• Vegetable broth or water to saute the veggies – if needed
• Hot sauce to taste
• Cilantro (if desired)
• Salt to season after the dish is cooked

Directions

Cooking the Oats

• Place water and broth in saucepan with oats, when boiling stir and settle to a simmer.
• Add garlic powder
• Stir as needed – cook for about 5 minutes and remove from heat

Cooking the Veggies

• Place a nonstick or cast iron skillet on a stove set to medium high
• Add mushrooms, cook for a few minutes stirring until lightly browned
• Add onion, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, diced red pepper, garlic powder and other spices, stir and cook for 5 -7 minutes
• The vegetables will release liquid but you may need to add a splash of water or broth to keep them cooking without burning
• When the veggies are done, heap the greens into the pan, cooking until they wilt and cook (if you are using chard you should add it in earlier so the stems can cook)

Making Your Bowl

• Divide the oats between 2  large bowls
• Divide the veggies and ladle them on top of the oats
• Add the diced avocado and cilantro on top
• Add a few grains of salt if desired
• Season with additional spices to your liking
• Splash on some hot sauce
• Dig in!

If a hot breakfast is a great idea but you don’t have time in the a.m. to chop and cook, you can batch cook this recipe by doubling it, dividing the dish into 4 containers and storing it in the fridge.   A few minutes in the microwave would do the trick to reheat it.   Note – if you’re storing for a later use, don’t add the avocado or cilantro until you’re ready to serve.

Now go run!

Keli 🙂