Citrusy ‘Nana Ginger Oatmeal

I love fresh ginger. I love to drink it and I love to cook with it. I like the powerful scent that fills the room when you juice ginger, and I love the surprising zest it adds in a savory dish.

I’ve often looked into ways to add ginger to oatmeal, but in the past, I’ve never been satisfied with it. This recipe changed that.

What you’ll need:

• 3/4 cup milk of choice, or water*
• 1/4 cup quick cook steel cut oats*
• 1/2 ripe banana, mashed
• 1 orange
• 1 or 2-inch knob of fresh ginger
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cayenne (optional)

How to make it:

1. Bring milk (I use 1/2 c almond milk and 1/4 c water) to a boil, add oats and mashed banana, and reduce heat to medium.
2. Peel ginger and grate into the oatmeal. Stir.
3. Cut orange in half crosswise. With one half, squeeze juice into the saucepan. Stir.
4. With the other half of the orange, cut out segments by running knife along the edges to loosen and carefully scooping out. Set aside.
5. Add salt and cayenne pepper (if desired).
6. When you’re pleased with the consistency of the oatmeal, carefully fold in orange segments.
7. Transfer to a bowl. Add any other additional toppings (nuts, coconut, dried fruit, etc.).

Just an FYI:

This recipe was inspired by a smoothie recipe by Oh She Glows. It’s called a smoothie, but honestly, it gives off major juice vibes. It’s called the Flu-Fighter Sunshine Smoothie (doesn’t Angela give her recipes the most cheerful names?) on page 65 of The Oh She Glows Cookbook.

I made the smoothie while I was doing the OSG Cookbook Challenge (which is not a thing; I made it up for fun). I made 20 recipes from the book in one month, and since I’m lazy, I would often select easier recipes with a short ingredients list. This smoothie was one of them.

I’m glad my laziness brought me to that recipe, because it was SO good. Spicy and vibrant and bright and acidic and powerful. I should have known it would be good, given the fact that it has ginger juice in it. What’s not to love? I ended up making it several more times, which is a big deal when you consider the fact that I rarely make or drink smoothies.

As I thought about what to make this week, I tried to remember things I liked with ginger, and this smoothie recipe came to mind. What really worked was the orange, ginger, and cayenne together.

I added a banana because, well, I like oatmeal 50 times better when banana is involved. Creamy, sweet, and silky.

Random Recommendations:

• [reads] my article “Isolating Yourself Can Make Holiday Blues Worse–Here’s Why” via HealthiNation
• [vids] Juan Pablo and Cheryl’s samba on Dancing With the Stars