Savory Oats

This started out as a bit of experiment, inspired by a craving for grits I had last night.  I love grits, but I haven't had them in years, so needless to say, there were none in the house.  I started wondering if I could make oatmeal into a savory dish, like grits.  I broke out my Google-fu to see what Dr. Internet had to say about the subject, and I found a lot of people who like savory oats, but I didn't find any real recipes--just lots of statements like "Oh I love my oats with soy sauce" and "I make mine with green onions and cheese."

This morning I decided to try my hand at savory oats, catered to my own tastes.  I'm a HUGE fan of everything savory.  You've probably noticed that I don't really add any extra sweeteners to my recipes; the fruit or milk tends to have enough sweetness for me.  I've never had much of a sweet tooth, but I can put away the salty and/or savory dishes!

I made mine with water, but I would have used milk had I had any milk that doesn't have very distinctive flavors.  All I had on hand was coconut and vanilla soy.  We're moving at the end of the month, and I'm actually trying to stretch the food until then, so we don't have to try and move very much food.  But I digress...  Use whatever type of oats you would like, but follow the cooking directions on the package as to oat/liquid ratio and cook time.  Please excuse the wonky pictures.  It's cloudy outside today, so the natural light  wasn't so good.

Savory Oatmeal

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Steel Cut Oats
• 3/4 cup water or milk of choice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt (I used Egg Beaters)
• 2 TBSP shredded cheese
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 cup onion, diced

Directions:

1.  Lightly spray medium sauce pan with olive oil and sauté onions and garlic, over medium heat, until just translucent.  You need to stir constantly so the garlic won't burn.

2.  Add the water or milk and the oats, turn heat to high, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

3.  Once boil is achieved, turn down the heat to low and simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.  Temper the egg by adding a spoonful of the hot oatmeal to the beaten eggs and stirring thoroughly.  Now do this again with a second spoonful of oatmeal into the eggs.  This brings the eggs to the temperature of the oats, ensuring that there won't be any big pieces of egg in your finished product.

 5.  Slowly add the eggs back into the sauce pan with the oatmeal, stirring well to incorporate.

 6.  Return heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until eggs are cooked through, about four minutes.

7.  Stir in half of shredded cheese.

8.  Top with a few grinds of fresh black pepper and the remaining tablespoon of shredded cheese.

Enjoy!