Savor Your Oats: Caprese Ris-Oat-O

I first heard about savory oats from a friend casually mentioning that her husband wakes up at 6 a.m. to make breakfast for her every morning. This fact alone made me drool, never mind the description of her favorite menu item: “Steel-cut oats cooked in bacon-caramelized onions, mixed with cheese, adorned with bacon crumbles, and topped with a runny poached egg.” Be still, my palate.

Despite a laborious quest, I have not been able to find a clone of her husband, so I did the next best thing and learned to make this dish myself—as Gandhi would (probably) say, “Be the sexy kitchen-savvy spouse you want to see in the world.” When I began channeling my man-find­ing energy into brunch-hosting energy, I discovered one of my favorite ways to show love for my friends is by cooking for them. Savory oats feels like love in a bowl—the heartiness of the steel-cut oats, the bacon-y-ness of the bacon, the runniness of the egg, all served up in a bowl, the coziest vessel from which to eat.

If it isn’t already clear, I am not a professional chef, but I am an improviser! Savory oats is a way to play around with your palate in the kitchen with plenty of room to get creative—use up leftovers, try new flavor combi­nations, dive into a new brunch experience. These recipes are sparse on purpose. Have fun sowing your oats!

Caprese Ris-Oat-O

So you’ve mastered the basics, and you want to move on to something new. Start by mixing up what you use as the liquid for the base of your oats. Instead of simply adding water and/or milk, add a mixture of water and mar­inara sauce to create oats with an Italian flair. I recommend top­ping with Burrata cheese, basil, roasted or sun-dried tomatoes, and of course a freshly poached egg. It doesn’t have to stop with Italian. Try this with a pesto base and top with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and basil. Or make it a Fiesta Bowl with black beans, corn, pico de gallo, and guacamole. The possibilities are endless.