Strawberry Lemon Ricotta Oatmeal

What you’ll need:

• 3/4 cup milk of choice, or water*
• 1/4 cup quick cook steel cut oats*
• 5-10 diced and hulled strawberries, fresh recommended
• juice and zest from one lemon (about 2 tbsp juice)
• pinch of salt
• maple syrup, to taste (optional)**
• 2-3 tbsp ricotta of choice, such as Kite Hill or homemade***

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 strawberries, and reduce heat to medium.
2. After a couple minutes, stir in your lemon juice and zest, and salt. Stir occasionally.
3. If desired, add maple syrup to taste, between 1-3 teaspoons.
4. When you’re pleased with the consistency of the oatmeal, carefully swirl or fold in ricotta. You dont’ need to mix it in completely. I intentionally left some lovely globs.
5. Transfer to a bowl. Add a splash of your milk of choice, more fresh strawberries if desired, and any other additional toppings (nuts, coconut, dried fruit, etc.).

Just an FYI:

I associate ricotta with subtle elegance. Think of little toasts topped with a dainty smear of ricotta, a sliver of roasted pear, and a pinch of fresh thyme. Elegant, right? This is what I imagine when I think of ricotta. As ubiquitous as this appetizer is (at least among middle-class women who host dinner parties), I actually have no idea what it tastes like myself.

I haven’t had ricotta for at least five years now. It’s an ingredient I always admired from afar since it wasn’t something my mom cooked with. Even my mom’s lasagna uses cottage cheese instead of ricotta. (Does anyone else’s family do this? It might be a Midwestern thing.) So even in my pre-vegan years, ricotta was mostly off my radar.

Then Kite Hill ricotta came around. I got excited. I got inspired. I came up with a bunch of oatmeal ideas to get ricotta in my life–ricotta that doesn’t require a calf to be separated from its mother.

But as you can see from the above recipe, I didn’t make this with Kite Hill ricotta.

I added Kite Hill ricotta to my grocery list weeks ago. My imagination was running wild with all the things I could do with it. I even considered buying a pear so I could make the fancy toast! I couldn’t wait to try it. Kite Hill yogurt is the ONLY non-dairy yogurt I enjoy, so I had my hopes high for the ricotta.

Welp, it turns out, it’s hella hard to find this product. The all-vegan market a couple miles away was always out. The nearest Whole Foods was always out. For three weeks, I visited these two spots, checked the ricotta section, and saw an empty spot on the shelf. #sigh

Also, this stuff is like $10. I suddenly realized that if I ever showed up and there WAS a tub available, I’d get sticker shock and back out.

But I already had my heart set on trying some ricotta. What other choice did I have but to make some myself?

I used this dairy-free ricotta recipe from Biting Into Life, except I omitted the garlic since I’m using it in a sweet recipe. In terms of homemade vegan cheeses, ricotta is pretty simple. Since it has a neutral flavor, it doesn’t require a lot of doctoring. The worst part is just dropping dough on raw nuts–but at least it’s cheaper than $10.

I don’t know what to compare it to because I don’t remember what ricotta is like, but it was pleasant and creamy nevertheless. I went with a lemon-ricotta combo, since that’s super classic, but I incorporated strawberries for some berry love.

Random Recommendations: 

• [reads] my article “9 Clear Signs Your Relationship with Food Is Totally Healthy” on HealthiNation
• [things] this reusable coffee filter to save you money and reduce waste