Okay, I have to confess, oats are not my favorite food – usually slimey and mushy and flavorless. Blech. However, I have discovered the secret for the best tasting and most nutritious oatmeal – soaking!
First of all, don’t buy quick cooking oats. They are less nutritious and their texture when cooked is gluey and awful.
Soaking oats overnight increases their digestibility since the sprouting process, which begins with soaking, decreases the amount of enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid. Adding a little bit of wheat makes the level of phytates (which can prevent absorption of minerals) much less, so I like to add some red river cereal to the mix. The yogurt (or any other acid, such as lemon juice, vinegar or buttermilk) ensures the correct PH level for optimum fermentation conditions.
THE BEST OATMEAL
1 c. oats, old fashioned large flake
2 T. red river cereal
1 c. water – can be heated first
2 T. yogurt (or other acid as noted above)
To increase the effectiveness, heat the water before adding the other ingredients (temperature of the water should be slightly warmer than lukewarm)
Soak overnight or longer, up to 24 hours. In the morning, just heat and serve. It does not need to cook longer than 5 minutes at the most.
Makes a couple of generous servings!
To jazz it up add:
1. chopped apple and cinnamon
2. sliced banana, pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup (my favorite)
Also very good with my favorite dairy substitute: unsweetened almond milk