My staple- oatmeal!
I have never been a fan of sweet breakfast foods.
Many years ago we lived in Southern Africa, where maize meal is a staple food called mealie meal. I was delighted to discover that they often serve it at breakfast time as a base for a delicious "relish" of stir-fried onions and tomatoes. Most people enjoy their breakfast of mealie meal with milk and sugar, as with oatmeal in our culture.
But since my days in Southern Africa, I have been eating oatmeal with salt and pepper, chili sauce, and maybe a sprinkling of cheese.
Recently having a house guest who liked oatmeal for breakfast, I dug out my Costco sized bags of oatmeal. I have been trying to lose a few pounds, and I thought, what if I served my favorite "relishes" over oatmeal instead of rice, or potatoes or other starchy comfort bases?
And guess what? It's working! Not only is oatmeal lower cal, it makes a delicious creamy base for curry, veggies, Mexican- everything I've tried. And it is so filling!
Tonight's experiment:
I started with leftover oatmeal, added chicken broth from a carton, then chopped onion, minced garlic, and chopped carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and spinach. Simmered it all together until it was like a hearty stew.
Add salt pepper, and a sprinkling of shredded cheese, chopped coriander and chili sauce if desired!
Many years ago we lived in Southern Africa, where maize meal is a staple food called mealie meal. I was delighted to discover that they often serve it at breakfast time as a base for a delicious "relish" of stir-fried onions and tomatoes. Most people enjoy their breakfast of mealie meal with milk and sugar, as with oatmeal in our culture.
But since my days in Southern Africa, I have been eating oatmeal with salt and pepper, chili sauce, and maybe a sprinkling of cheese.
Recently having a house guest who liked oatmeal for breakfast, I dug out my Costco sized bags of oatmeal. I have been trying to lose a few pounds, and I thought, what if I served my favorite "relishes" over oatmeal instead of rice, or potatoes or other starchy comfort bases?
And guess what? It's working! Not only is oatmeal lower cal, it makes a delicious creamy base for curry, veggies, Mexican- everything I've tried. And it is so filling!
Tonight's experiment:
I started with leftover oatmeal, added chicken broth from a carton, then chopped onion, minced garlic, and chopped carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and spinach. Simmered it all together until it was like a hearty stew.
Add salt pepper, and a sprinkling of shredded cheese, chopped coriander and chili sauce if desired!
Oh I will definitely have to try this...I do NOT like regular oatmeal at all, no matter how many different flavour combinations I've tried...but this seems very different!
ReplyDelete