While I mostly eat my sweet oatmeals, I find my savory concoctions so rewarding on a creative level. When I make savory oatmeal recipes, I practiced some of my less-used cooking skills and ingredients and am always shocked at the results. My Herbed Pumpkin & Leek Oatmeal had me dreaming about it for the rest of the day, and the Lemon Asparagus Ris-Oat-to leftovers recharged me every day for a week.
Now there’s this.
Freaking beautiful, right??
This recipe was inspired by a recipe I made for a vegan Seder potluck. My vegan Jewish friend wanted to host an event for his other vegan and/or Jewish pals, and I was honored to be one of them. After doing much research for what is kosher for Passover, I made this quinoa salad*.
*I made it with maple syrup instead of honey to make it completely vegan, and I omitted the cumin to make it 100% kosher.
Not an arugula fan? Me neither. But you should use it anyway!! Arugula is a fussy green, and it works best in very specific recipes. This is one of them. Once you stir in the arugula and let them wilt from the residual heat of the porridge, the citrus and olive oil together really tame the bitter flavor. Like I said, I do not like arugula, but I loved it in this recipe.
While the original salad uses roasted butternut squash, I omitted this for a few reasons. 1) I wanted citrus to be the star. 2) I wanted to make this recipe more spring-appropriate, and butternut squash is the epitome of fall and winter! 3) I wanted to make the recipe a little less laborious.
Surprisingly, this oatmeal lends itself too many different toppings quite well. You can add more olive oil, dried cranberries, edamame, roasted chickpeas, pepitas, pecans, or my personal favorite, TAHINI. ?
Random Recommendations:
- [vids] this 6.0-worthy short program by Sasha Cohen, my all-time favorite skater
- [vids] this compilation of all of Meryl & Maks’s dances on Dancing with the Stars
- [eats] the Pure Organic snack bars are my new favorite bars–way less sweet and artificial-tasting than other bars
What you'll need:
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 1 zucchini or yellow squash, grated (optional, adds volume and texture)
- 1 large orange
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- juice of one lime
- 3/4 tsp finely chopped garlic (I used 1/2 tsp because I don't like garlic)
- baby arugula, for topping
- pomegranate arils, for topping (optional)
How to make it:
- Add water and salt to a large pot over medium-high heat. When water comes to a low boil, add oats and zucchini and reduce to a simmer.
- While oats are cooking, prepare orange by cutting in half, running a paring knife along each edge and against the pith. You should be able to easily scoop out the segments and set them aside in a bowl for later. See here for step-by-step photos. Hang on to the orange skin as you will use this for zesting later.
- After about 15 -20 minutes, or when more of the liquid has absorbed in the pot, add orange zest, olive oil, lime juice, and chopped garlic. Then stir. Add more salt if desired.
- Once oatmeal has reached the desired consistency, remove from heat and transfer to four or five bowls. Top each with a bit of orange segments, pomegranate arils, and a small handful of arugula.
Just an FYI:
I recommend stirring the toppings into the oats just before eating so the orange doesn't fall apart and the arugula only slightly wilts. If you want the arugula to be less bitter, you can stir in the arugula before removing from the heat as its flavor will "calm down" upon wilting from the oatmeal's residual heat. Quinoa hybrid variation: swap half of the steel cut oats for rinsed quinoa! (shown below) Butternut squash variation: Roast cubed squash at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until tender. Add with the orange segments in step 4. (Also shown below, although you can't really see it!)
8 Responses to Savory Citrus Arugula Steel-Cut Oatmeal