Crazy About Oats

I've been having fun with oats this week--making hot oatmeal with both rolled and steel-cut varieties; putting together overnight concoctions with raw ingredients in Mason jars; mixing up batches of granola and muesli; and finally making a couple of loaves of oatmeal bread with some leftover cooked oats. I'm still jazzed about this once humble grain that seems to have metamorphosed into a new superfood.

I started on this project courtesy of my friend Cherry, who shared a recipe for an overnight oatmeal that she said had helped reduce her levels of unhealthy cholesterol. Then another friend sent me her recipe for oatmeal with almond butter, nonfat yogurt and fresh fruit. My little (new and improved!) brain started to tick.

My ties to oatmeal go way back. One of my early food memories is of my mother stirring a pot of the thick, beige stuff with a wooden spoon. She used old-fashioned Quaker Oats from the trademark red and blue canister with the smiling, black-hatted, white-haired gent on the front. A native of Glasgow, Scotland, Mom often served oatmeal, which she called porridge, with a little milk and sugar, plus raisins if we wanted (I wanted!). I still eat it that way, though sometimes I add other dried fruits, a few roasted nuts and some maple syrup.

These days Quaker has lots of competition. Oats--particularly the steel-cut variety and those labeled gluten-free and/or organic--continue to grow in popularity, with their health benefits topping the list of why many people choose to include them in their diets, especially for breakfast. An article in Medical News Today notes that oats are particularly rich in a type of fiber known to help lower the levels of LDL cholesterol, the so-called "bad cholesterol" that collects in our arteries and leads to strokes and heart attacks. Other studies have shown that adding whole-grain foods such as oats to our diets may reduce the risks of colorectal cancer. One benefit I've found is that oats are so filling (must be all that fiber!) that I don't really get hungry again for hours after consuming a bowl of oatmeal.

For Cherry, it's oatmeal's cholesterol-fighting properties that are the attraction. She's been dealing with high cholesterol numbers for several years. Slender, fit and a longtime vegetarian, she says the issue is primarily genetic. Her father died at 57 after suffering a stroke, and her older brother contends with life-threatening cardiovascular disease.  "My life's at stake," she told me.

My friend is experiencing some success in fighting genetics and high cholesterol by changing her diet. "My labs went up and down through the years, so it isn't just oatmeal that helped," she explained in an email. "It was the combination of decreasing my intake of fried foods, desserts, and increasing my exercise routine, plus more water." Cherry, a former nurse, said her levels of the "bad" LDL cholesterol dipped from 115 in 2013 to 75 in 2015. An LDL level below 100 is desirable, she said.

One of Cherry's friends attended a cooking class at Whole Foods and gave her a recipe for an oatmeal, fruit and nut concoction that sits in a jar overnight and is ready to eat in the morning. No cooking required. Apparently overnight oatmeal is all the rage right now. I found pages and pages of recipes when I did a search on Pinterest.

Cherry's recipe requires a bit of work--and expense--to gather the ingredients. But if you shop the bulk bins, you can buy just the amount you need and cut the costs way down. I recently bought organic rolled oats at Whole Foods for $1.69 a pound (the steel-cut variety was $1.79 a pound), far less than comparable packaged products. Dried fruit and nuts can also be purchased in small quantities from the same bulk bins. The spices really add a lot of flavor to the recipe and have many reported health benefits. For instance, antioxidants in cinnamon have been linked to lower inflammation. Chia seeds, another popular superfood known for its omega-3 fats and fiber, is an optional ingredient in this recipe.

Ingredients for overnight oatmeal.

The recipe is also gluten-free (assuming you buy gluten-free oats)* and vegan--and quite delicious, especially with some added fresh fruit. Enjoy!

Overnight Oatmeal

Ingredients: 

  

1/2 cup raw oatmeal (rolled or quick variety)

1 tablespoon seeds, such as chia, pumpkin or hemp

1 tablespoon unsweetened, shredded coconut

1 tablespoon sliced almonds, chopped

1 tablespoon walnuts, chopped

1 tablespoon pistachio nuts, chopped

2 tablespoons dried Calimyrna figs or dates, chopped*

2 tablespoons raisins

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 cup non-dairy milk (preferably almond milk)

1 teaspoon honey or agave syrup

Notes:

*Oats are naturally gluten-free but cross-contamination

 from other grains can occur, so if you have celiac

disease or are otherwise gluten-intolerant, it's better

to buy oats that are certified gluten-free.

**You can use a combination or another dried fruit.

Directions:

1. Mix oatmeal, nuts, dried fruit and spices in a Mason jar or other container with a secure lid.  You can make 2 or more jars at a time.

2. Add almond milk and honey or agave to the jar and shake it vigorously. Put the jar in the refrigerator overnight.

3. The next day add a little more milk, as the mixture may be quite thick. 

4.  Options: If you're like me and prefer your morning cereal warmed up, you can zap the mixture briefly in a microwave or take the chill off it in a saucepan. You can also add fresh fruit or more nuts if you like to the finished product to perk up the flavor. I threw in a few fresh blueberries and a chopped, roasted almonds.

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

I can't think of a better antidote to holiday stress than baking. It's hard for worries to intrude when you're focused on measuring flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and trying to remember where you hid the vanilla. My angst-abatement project earlier this week was to turn out some goodies that might travel 3,000 miles and still be tasty when the recipient--my husband's brother Jez and his family in Atlanta--opened presents on Christmas Day.

As I've discovered, not all cookies are created equal, especially when it comes to long-distance shipping.  An example is one of my favorites, rugelach, a traditional rolled crescent-shaped cookie made of cream cheese dough wrapped around a filling of jam, nuts and chocolate. I usually turn out a batch of these delectable little pastries for Hanukkah, which this year is already a distant memory. Rugelach are never quite as flaky and fresh as the day they're made and definitely do not improve with age, so clearly they're not a candidate for the mail. Biscotti, on the other hand, are hard, dry cookies that, if wrapped well in an air-tight container, seem like they might survive a trip to the moon, that is if a hungry astronaut didn't dig into them first!

A foolproof biscotti recipe that has already become a holiday staple at my house is one I first heard about a year ago on a podcast I often listen to while cooking and baking. The recipe is a little unusual in that instead of butter, it calls for olive oil, though not a large amount. I believe the oil adds a subtle flavor note that blends well with the pistachios, cranberries and vanilla and almond extracts. I dipped or drizzled some of the cookies in melted white chocolate just to add a bit of holiday pizzazz, but other than this, the recipe sticks fairly close to the original. I suggest some other possible variations at the end, but I'm sure the options are limited only by your imagination. Happy stress-free baking!

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

1/4 cup mild extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 large eggs

1 3/4 cups unsifted unbleached flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 1/2 cups unsalted shelled pistachios

Mixing in dried cranberries and pistachios

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick baking spray or cover the bottom with parchment paper (I did the latter, spraying the paper with a bit of oil).

2.  In a large bowl, beat the olive oil and sugar together. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and eggs, beating until the mixture is completely blended.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder with a hand whisk. 

4. On low speed (or by hand), gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture.*

5. Carefully fold in the cranberries and pistachios.

6. Divide the dough in half and form into two logs. (The recipe suggests these will be 12 inches long by 2 inches wide. However, mine were about 15 by 3!) Wetting your hands in cool water before shaping makes the process much easier, as the dough does tend to stick otherwise.

Cutting biscotti on a slight diagonal 

7. Bake for about 30 minutes, turning the cookie sheet halfway through the process to make sure the cookies are evenly browning. 

8. Remove from the oven, cool for at least 15 minutes on the cookie sheet. Then, using a sharp knife, cut the cookies at a slight angle into slices that are about 3/4-inch thick.

9. Spread out the cookies on the cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, flipping them midway through. Cookies should be slightly golden on the sides, but not overly brown. After removing from the oven, cool on a wire rack.

Biscotti cooling after second baking

*I did all the prep work for these cookies this by hand, but you could also use a hand or stand mixer. However, adding in the flour mixture should be done with care, making sure not to overwork the dough.

Optional: If dipping the cookies in white chocolate, melt about 6 to 8 ounces of white chocolate chips in a double boiler (or in a pan over another pan with a couple of inches of water in the bottom, as I did), stirring until melted. Add about a teaspoon of canola or other flavorless oil to thin out the chips a bit. Dip cookies into the melted mixture to get the half-dipped look, or drizzle liquid over the cookies in squiggly patterns. Place the cookies on a parchment-covered cookie tray or dish and refrigerate for about a half hour so that the white chocolate will harden.

Biscotto taking a white chocolate dip

More Options:

1. Instead of white chocolate, dip or drizzle in melted semi-sweet chocolate.

2. Substitute dried cherries and chopped, toasted hazelnuts for the cranberries and pistachios. Walnuts and mini chocolate chips would be another winning combination, I think.

3. Add other dried fruit, such as raisins, currants or chopped dried apricots, drop the almond flavoring and add a tablespoon of orange juice and a teaspoon of orange zest.