As mentioned in Day 1 of The Challenge
I love oats. I start 90% of my days with porridge and have oats at other times too. When I haven't had it for a few days I actively miss it and I have no qualms about having it multiple time a day. I get told regularly about how porridge sticks to your ribs, but honestly, having it so often for the last decade, it feels no heavier to me than most breakfasts and lighter than most other meals, while still having substance. I stay full longer after porridge than after a bowl or cereal for example without feeling any more full after the one than the other.
After a day of driving and a week-end of being feasted on excellent food, what better go-to than porridge for a quick, easy, and healthy yet flavorful and satisfying dinner? With minimal ingredients in the house, this is also versatile, allowing me to match ingredients to the dish more easily than some things. A couple of tweaks and it was perfect baby food too.
Ingredients:
1 cup oats
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 head of garlic, peeled and grated
1 knob of ginger, peeled and grated
1 shallot, sliced
1 leek, chopped
4 cabbage leaves, shredded
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 tsp Cape Malay "Mother-in-law" spice
2 tsp of the cumin, salt and other spices mix from an Indian friend. No idea what else is in it so unfortunately this is where reproducibility falls down, but sniff around your spice rack and see what you feel might work.
2 eggs
1) Put oats, water and milk in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring occasionally.
2) Put oil in a frying pan and heat. Add shallot, ginger and garlic. Cook until the vegetables start to turn slightly tan and add the cabbage and leek (we cooked the leek separately as a certain Someone doesn't have leek on his food list yet). I decided to char the cabbage and leeks a bit, you can pull them off sooner if you'd rather.
3)Add spices and soy sauce to oatmeal and stir. Taste test and adjust as necessary.
4) Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the eggs and boil for 4-5 minutes.
5) Dish the oatmeal into bowls and add the vegetables. Peel the eggs and put them n the side, then drizzle the pomegranate molasses over everything and enjoy.
This came out beautifully and there is nothing I would have changed. The balance of tanginess, and heat an saltiness, then soft porridge with the egg and crispy vegetables. It was perfect. The only issue was that there were a few more dishes than we wanted, but it didn't take long for the clean up either, all told.
I apologise for the inability to give an accurate spice ingredient. I am afraid this might be a regular occurrence though, so get used to it.
To make this baby friendly, we needed to cut out the salt, and leeks. I took out a baby portion when the oats were cooked, and in a small saucepan I added a cube of a carrot ginger purée that I made and keep in the freezer. It is quite gingery, so I wasn't sure how he would accept the ginger and garlic (ours was a big knob of ginger) on top of the gingery carrot purée already added, but it went over a treat. I should just have cut the cabbage shreds a bit shorter as Someone found them a bit difficult with only 5 teeth.