Mango Basil Oatmeal

I love basil and I love mango. Don’t mind me; I’ll just be over here adding basil to every type of fruit you can think of.

What you’ll need:

• 3/4 cup milk of choice, water, or mango juice*
• 1/4 cup quick cook steel cut oats*
• 3/4 cup peeled and diced mango (fresh or frozen)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 4-8 fresh basil leaves
• pinch of salt

How to make it:

1. Bring milk (I use 1/2 c mango juice and 1/4 c almond milk) to a boil, add oats, and reduce heat to medium. (If you’d like to add flax or chia seeds, do so now.)
2. Add most of your diced mango to the oatmeal and reserve a few pieces for topping. Stir occasionally.
3. Using the chiffonade method, cut your basil into ribbons.
4. Once more of the liquid has absorbed in the oatmeal, add vanilla extract, a 2/3 of your basil ribbons, and salt. Stir.
5. When you’re pleased with the consistency of the oatmeal, transfer to a bowl. Add a splash of your milk of choice, remaining diced mango, remaining basil ribbons, and any other additional toppings (nuts, balsamic reduction, coconut, yogurt, coconut whipped cream, etc.).

Just an FYI:

I really love mango, and I forgot just how much I loved it until I bought a fresh one the other week. I normally stick to frozen mango because it’s cheaper, more convenient, and retains its flavor well in frozen form.

But when I bought that fresh one, I remembered the aroma that infuses the air when you first cut into it. I remembered how I refuse to let a single centimeter of mango remain on the seed or on the skin, so I gnaw at it until every drop is gone. I remembered the way the juice runs all over the cutting board, and I remembered how I insist on licking all of it off before dropping it off in the sink.

Mangoes are perfection.

The nice part about mango is that it is so sweet and flavorful that it can stand up to the bold peppery smack of fresh basil. I think fresh mango does this even better because all that juice infuses the porridge with so much more flavor. But of course, frozen works just fine!