You mentioned using oatmeal in savory foods instead of rice, which caught my attention. Do you have a favorite recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing? Stuffing, yummm!
It’s an old Scottish dish that doesn’t get used too much anymore cause things like super noodles tend to be cheaper and quicker to make (less nutritious/filling though) but a real easy quick savory thing you can do with oatmeal is to use chicken or vegetable stock to cook it with instead of water and a pinch of salt. (and before anyone starts the whole “I never salt cooking water” discourse again (what even is my blog sometimes), yes you should always salt the water to cook it with idgaf love yourselves and salt your cooking water as it comes up to heat when you’re cooking—unless you have a reason to avoid sodium in your diet, of course in which case I do gaf and you should do whatever works for you <3—you add the sweetness after, it makes it into a much better cooked, more flavorful food)
If you don’t have any fresh stock to add, you can throw a stock cube of choice into the water instead, cook your oatmeal like regular. Mines usually takes about 10 minutes on a low simmer. While that’s cooking down I like to chop up some carrots and leeks, maybe some celery if I have some, or any other vegetable you like, and throw them in a pan with a little olive oil and salt till they’re nice and caramelized, throw some oregano or parsley on top. When the oats are done I just throw the veggies in with it and stir it in. That in itself can be quite filling but I’ve also added sliced up chicken or turkey breast/thigh into it as well.
I basically use it for a rice substitute for any dish that calls for rice. It’s pretty tasty. Even goes quite well with curry sauce I’m told. Some people might not like the texture, (and I can understand why if they’re only experience is Quaker Oats mushy paste—get yourself some Irish steel cut or pinhead oats. My fave is still Bob’s Red Mill Scottish ground oats, tastes just like home and has a nice grainy texture, more like rice I suppose but creamier)
Whole thing takes about maybe, ten, fifteen mins to make? longer of course if you’re making meat to go with it. But it’s fairly simple and fills a hole inexpensively :)
