Savory oatmeal with mushrooms, ginger and charred onions

Who says oats have to be for breakfast? In the time of the pandemic pantry, it's time to rethink some staple stereotypes.

Sesame-ginger oats with mushrooms and charred green onions

From Better Homes & Gardens, October 2016. The recipe notes that you could sub in other grainish-type items in this recipe, such as buckwheat, barley or quinoa.

Note: As written, this recipe would serve 1 as a main dish, or 2 somewhat skimpily as a side dish, so you may well want to double it from the get-go.

Ingredients

1 cup chicken broth (or slightly more, if you like creamier oats)

½ cup steel cut oats

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil, divided

1 cup chopped assorted mushrooms

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

2 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Crushed red pepper flakes

Method

In a small saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Stir in oats. Cook, uncovered on medium low heat for 25 to 30 minutes until oats are tender, thickened and creamy, stirring as needed.

Meanwhile, in a skillet heat 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and ginger and cook 3 to 4 minutes until tender. Remove from pan to a small bowl.

In same skillet, heat remaining oil. Cook green onions a few minutes over medium high heat or until slightly charred. Remove from heat.

Stir mushrooms into cooked oats. Serve topped with green onions, soy sauce and crushed red pepper.

Rating: You wind up with something that’s risotto-like in texture, with considerably less hands-on monitoring. A quick fix, and one you can readily imagine modifying as needed. Basically, it's a blank slate for flavors. The sesame-ginger flavoring works well, but any flavor profile you like could work.