Savor Your Oats: Pump It Up

STORY BY KATIE BARBARO // PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADAM MILLIRON // STYLING BY ANA KELLY

Savor Your: Pump It Up

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!

Pump It Up

Did you think we’d be able to do a spread of cozy oat recipes without including a pumpkin-spice option? Think again. You can put pumpkin into anything to make it an instant autumnal treat. There is nothing basic about this version of savory oats, cooked in water mixed with pumpkin purée, Pumpkin Pie spice, mixed with chunks of roasted pumpkin or squash, and topped with fresh goat cheese crumbles and spiced pumpkin seeds. Add sage, thyme, rosemary, or whatever adornments your taste buds desire.