- 45g of porridge oats (I haven't tried soaking them overnight, yet, this may yet prove to be a further revelation, if so, will amend.)
- 225ml of Sainsbury's own brand chilled sweetened Soya milk - this is really important to this recipe, as soya milk drinkers will know they all taste SO different, if you use Alpro Soya sweetened, I probably wouldn't add sugar, as it's way sweeter and tastes slightly vanilla-y. Sainsbury's is the only one I like, tastes almost neutral to me.
- a sprinkling of ground cinnamon
- half a tsp of cloudy clover honey (or brown sugar if vegan-ness is important)
- a dessert spoon of Alpro soya plain yoghurt (the vanilla-y taste is welcome as a topping)
- a dessert spoon of jam. I am currently on the massive pot of homemade bramble jam made by my mum.
So I recently discovered porridge. I know, it’s probably been around for thousands of years (Actually just googled ‘first historical record of porridge’ and am reading about its Tunisian history in the 17th century) As long as there’s been oats, really. But there you go, I’d never had it before. Now I have, and am astonished at how much easier it makes going out for a run in the rain, and for how long it makes me feel full! Why am I writing you a recipe for it? Well, slthough I’m sure you can follow instructions on a back of a pack of oats to make it, if like me you’re lactose intolerant/cut down on dairy for the environment, it’s usually useful to experiment with amounts a bit to get it right when using soya milk, which boils and thickens differently. Here’s what I’ve struck on:
Serves: 1 || Preparation: 2 minutes || Cooking time: 8 minutes
Nutrition: if you serve it with jam and soya yoghurt as below, 317 kcal per portion.
Ingredients:
Here it all is. So, yes, you might want to try soaking the oats in water overnight, I think it speeds this up a bit? If you do, drain before adding to a pan, pour over the soya milk, sprinkle over the cinnamon and add the tiny bit of sugar.
Stir continuously and bring to the boil, then simmer and stir continuously for 5 minutes. We all know what porridge is supposed to look like, so make it that thick. And be aware it thickens a little on standing, too. Spoon over a spoon of soya yoghurt, and a little less jam (you don’t want it to over power the relatively delicate taste of soya plain yoghurt)
Eat. Be warm and full all day. Hurrah.
I like cinnamon on weetabix, will need to try it on porridge.I think the programme for Josie Long’s fringe show last year had some porridge tips in it.My recipe is:1 cup oats2 cups waterMicrowave for 3 minutes, or until it looks right.Toppings:Chopped roasted hazelnuts Fruit (sliced banana, or dried cranberries, blueberries, raisins, all work)Honey or maple syrup to sweeten
Thanks, John, obviously water is definitely vegan, too, but the sound of making it with that weirded me out. Will trial it though :) also, sweetening with honey sounds like a plan, I have some lovely clover stuff.
I’m a make it with water & stir the milk in afterwards girl, but that’s cos I don’t like how soya milk behaves when heated. Having said that it could just be that I’m using the wrong brand so may experiment! Also, highly recommend a) trying overnight soaking, as it improves texture IMO, though I rarely remember to do it, and b) adding maple syrup. Pricey but so worth it.