The Best Bowl of Oatmeal Ever!

Alright so this bowl of oatmeal was a complete accident.  It's something of a mash-up of Kath's overnight oats and my own tropical oatmeal, though with fresh fruit instead of dried.  I was making regular overnight oats, except I used coconut milk instead of soy milk.  I figured I'd have a coconutty tropical bowl this morning and just eat a banana on the side.

Two things happened.  First of all, I used steel cut oats.  I love them!  They are way better than rolled oats--firmer, chewier, heartier.  That's the problem here.  They don't really make good overnight oats.  They don't completely absorb the liquid and get all soft like rolled oats do.  The second thing that happened was that it's cold.  Yes, I know it's almost May.  Don't tell me; tell Mother Nature. 

Since my oats had been soaking in coconut milk and yogurt all night, I thought about scrapping them and just starting over.  I had no idea how cooking them would go with all that yogurt.  I am loathe to waste food, however, so I decided to give cooking them a shot.  What's the worst thing that could happen, right?  What resulted was the best bowl of oatmeal I've ever had!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup plain soy yogurt
• Liberal amount of cinnamon
• Dash of allspice
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 mango

Directions:

1. Place oats, coconut milk, yogurt, cinnamon, and allspice in a container with a lid.
2. Stir well and allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator.
3. The next morning, cut up half of a banana and half of a mango into chunks.
4. Place fruit in medium sized sauce pan, and cook it over medium heat.  The fruit will start to get soft, melty, and caramelized.
5. Add soaked oats and one cup of water to the pan and stir well.
6. Let cook until it begins to softly bubble, about three minutes.
7. Once it begins to bubble, cook, stirring continuously for three to five minutes more.
8. Let sit for a minute before serving.

I garnished mine with a few fruit slices (that I didn't eat while waiting for the oatmeal to cook!) and a few spoons of the cream from the top of the coconut milk.  If you don't shake the milk before using, the cream rises to the top, with the milk underneath.  Just spoon off the top.

Enjoy!