Savory oatmeal bowl to start your day

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I often asked my parents if I could stay up a little late to watch my favorite TV shows at night when I was still in grade school. Most of the time my parents would give in. My mom made me promise that I must wake up on time the next day for school. Of course I told her I would. Alarm buzzed and I snoozed and snoozed. My dad would piggybacked me to the bathroom. Only he would be patient enough to do that sort of thing. My mom would open the curtains in our room wide, turned on the light, and threatened that there would be no breakfast if I didn’t wake up at once. NO BREAKFAST ? Well, actually I missed breakfast couple times and trust me, I wished I never stayed up late !

I am a breakfast person. I love my breakfast. My mom usually prepared hot breakfast for us. One of my favorites was her savory oatmeal. In Southeast Asia where I grew up, having savory rice porridge for breakfast is as common as having pancakes here in the U.S. Instead of using rice grains, my mom used oats. She also prepared savory toppings to go with the oatmeal. The best thing about this savory oatmeal bowl is that you can have it with as many toppings or as few as you wish. No matter which route you choose, it’s a satisfying one-bowl breakfast to start the day.

Now I have two kids of my own and I made this savory oatmeal bowl for breakfast (or sometimes lunch) pretty often. They love it !!
Let me show you how you can easily whip up this hearty savory oatmeal bowl in the morning. These are the things you need:

These are the things you can do the night before and trust me, you will appreciate them the next morning:
1. Soak the oats in the water. It cooks even faster and to that gooey consistency I like
2. Cook the soft/hard-boiled eggs
3. Slice the tofu
4. Finely chop the green onions

While the oatmeal was cooking, I pan fried the tofu slices with a little bit of oil and soy sauce. It may sizzle a little bit, but nothing messy or scary 🙂

When ready to serve, I topped the cooked oatmeal with halved hard-boiled egg, slices of tofu, chopped green onions, sprinkle of sesame seeds, and drizzle of sesame oil/truffle oil and soy sauce. You are ready to go !!

Detailed recipe here:

Savory oatmeal bowl to start your day (2 servings)

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Ingredients

  

• 1 cup Quaker® Oats
• 8 oz of firm tofu
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp of sesame or truffle oil

Toppings:

• 2 hard-boiled eggs halved
• Soy sauce to taste
• Sesame or truffle oil to taste
• 1 stalk of green onions
• 1 Tbsp of black or white sesame seeds

Instructions

 

Things you can do the night before:

• Place the eggs in a small saucepan with water enough to cover the eggs. Bring the water to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat and then cover the pan with the lid. Let the eggs sit for about 10 minutes (for hard-boiled eggs) to continue cooking the eggs. Drain off the water. Store in the refrigerator and you can easily peel the eggs the next day
• Place 1 cup of Quaker® Oats in a medium to large pot. Add in 3 cups of water. Let it soak until the next morning
• Drain the liquid off the tofu and place the tofu on top of absorbent paper towel to absorb excess liquid. You can also gently pat the tofu dry with paper towel. Cut the tofu into about 2 1/2 x 1/2 inch strips. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator
• Rinse the green onion with clean water and pat dry and cut off the roots at bottom and finely chop it. Place in the container and cover and store in the refrigerator

The next day:

• Place the soaked oats on stove and bring it to a boil and then lower the heat and let it gently simmer to a thick but still a bit runny consistency, about 5 minutes or so, don't forget to stir every now and then. The longer it sits, the thicker it will get. If it gets too thick for your liking, just add a bit more water and warm it back up a little bit before serving
• While waiting for the oats to cook, preheat a non-stick medium to large size skillet. When it's hot enough, add in the oil and gently place the tofu strips on the pan and let it brown for about 3 minutes. Add in 1 tsp of soy sauce and it will sizzle a bit. Turn the tofu to the other sides and let it brown for another 3 minutes. Remove from the stove and set aside for serving later

When ready to serve:

• Ladle the oatmeal into serving bowl. Top with halved egg, drizzle of soy sauce and sesame/truffle oil to your taste if you like and some finely chopped green onions, sprinkle of sesame seeds. It is best served warm

Did you make this recipe?Please leave me a comment below and tag @whattocooktoday and #WhatToCookToday on Instagram

Next time you are at Target, don’t forget to grab Quaker® Oats at cereal/hot cereal aisle. While I was there, I also grabbed a box of firm tofu, sesame seeds, green onions, truffle oil, and eggs. I like being able to do all my shopping at one stop.

Of course you are not limited to what I shared with you here. You may find inspirations by just walking down the aisle at Target to come up with toppings for your best bowl of oatmeal. If you do, don’t forget to Bring Your Best Bowl. Who knows you might inspire the next Quaker® Oats flavor and for the chance to win $250,000. Top recipe entries will be created and sold in stores for a limited time in Fall 2016.

I’d love to hear what your best bowl of oatmeal is too !!