My life involves a great deal of oatmeal. Each week, I bake fruit and nut oatmeal bars to snack on at work. I have not one, but three different recipes for overnight oats. Potlucks frequently involve pumpkin oatmeal cookies, fudge oatmeal bars, or Icelandic oatmeal cake. All of this necessitates buying quick and rolled oats in bulk, and I also have a canister of steel cut oats for my more ambitious oatmeal-making moments (I typically cook up a big batch of steel cut oats and refrigerate the leftover portions to reheat later).
But the odd thing about me and oatmeal is that I rarely bother to cook it for breakfast. I am not a morning person, so I allot the bare minimum of time needed to brush my teeth, attire myself in a reasonably professional manner, and spoon down some breakfast. This is why I need three recipes for overnight oats: next to granola with milk, they're pretty much the easiest thing one could eat.
So where does my hot oatmeal consumption come in? At lunch, for a mid-afternoon snack, for supper if Mike is out and I'm feeling particularly lazy. Depending on my mood, I top my oatmeal with brown sugar, maple syrup, sunflower seeds, shredded coconut, and/or raspberry jam. Sometimes, in a burst of virtuousness, I eat it plain. A hot bowl of oatmeal is my all-purpose comfort food, and I suppose that as comfort foods go, I could be doing a whole lot worse.
The one thing that's been missing from my oatmeal repertoire is a savory oatmeal recipe. After a bit of experimentation, I settled on a hard-boiled egg and sliced green onion, which kind of reminds me of an omelet. I like to cook the egg for 8 minutes, so that the yolk is creamy and just barely set, but feel free to cook the egg for longer if you prefer a firmer yolk. You could also use a previously cooked hard-boiled egg to save yourself some time in the morning--or at lunch.
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced (about 2 tablespoons)
- salt
- pepper
Place egg in a small saucepan. Fill with enough cool water to cover the egg by one inch. Bring to a boil, cover, and remove saucepan from heat. Let sit for 8 minutes. Remove egg with tongs or a slotted spoon and place in a bowl of cold water.
Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in the saucepan. Add oatmeal, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour oatmeal into a bowl.
Peel egg and cut in half widthwise. Serve egg on prepared oatmeal, topped with green onion and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.
