Beet & Mushroom Savory Oatmeal
You may have noticed that recently I have been adding in more oats to my diet (see Overnight Oats recipe here) . I make sure they are certified gluten free so that I can tolerate them and I like to vary up my diet from day to day to see if I feel a difference. The oats are a fast and easy option that help give me energy especially since I am on the move daily. Remember, if something is “healthy” but does not make you feel good, do not force yourself to eat it, it is your health, take control of it. Oats are currently working for me and are quite delicious. Always check the ingredients for anything funky, it should just be OATS.
I have been talking to my friends a lot lately about changing up breakfast and the topic of Savory Oatmeal kept coming up. I had never tried the combination and figured since it was so cold out I better give it a try and see what happens. I mean, what could go wrong, another excuse to get vegetables in a meal, makes a dietitian happy. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy and delicious the recipe turned out to be and I even saved the second helping for myself over the weekend so I didn’t have to cook, win-win.
When developing the recipe, I was trying to decide what combination would be best and I kept coming back to beets. I love beets. I never thought I would ever say that but hey, never say never. Growing up my mom would eat beets on the regular and I would turn up my nose. Really my parents are still scratching their heads asking themselves how on earth their chicken nugget loving daughter turned out to be a dietitian. It’s a miracle!
Anyway, I’ve been reading a lot about beets and oats and both happen to be perfect for this month’s national agenda, heart health. That’s right, February is National Heart Month and both of these real food ingredients are great for your heart. I also figured that beets, while earthy, are also pretty sweet so they might add the right savory-sweet taste that I was looking for. Sure enough, these oats are savory yet sweet and delicious for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Alright, so of course I cannot let you off the hook and not fill you in on the health benefits of the ingredients in this recipe. Of course you can scroll down to the bottom of this post and go straight to the recipe, but for the nutrition nerds out there like me, let’s figure out why this recipe is good for your heart and your taste buds, shall we?
Heart Health Benefits:
- Beets: Beets are rich in antioxidants and help to reduce inflammation in the body. They are also rich in fiber which helps your body reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol and protects your heart health. Finally, beets help to reduce blood pressure as it is a good source of potassium.
- Oats: Oats have been shown to reduce cholesterol, reduce risk of heart disease and much more. They are rich in fiber which makes them filling and a good way to stabilize blood sugar, win-win-win.
The best thing about this recipe may not even be the health benefits but the TASTE benefits. Seriously, real food should taste real good. This recipe fits in that category, mainly because the ingredients are tasty all on their own.
This recipe has 3 of my favorite ingredients:
- Eggs
- Beets
- Mushrooms
The best of the best only for my favorite sassy followers. Go ahead and enjoy the savory oatmeal! Maybe you can share the second bowl with someone special, or save it for later, you decide.
This time around I actually used ready to eat Love Beets as I was running low on time and I had heard great things about their products. If the cooking process of cooking beets is one step too much, check out Love Beets at your local grocery store and save yourself the time and hassle. I wish more companies would find a way to make REAL food ingredients more convenient, accessible and not so gosh-darn expensive. A dietitian can dream, right? Love Beets is making real beets easy for you to access so no excuses!
Now onto the savory oatmeal, enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten-free oats
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 small beets, peeled and cooked (~4 ounces)
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups raw spinach
- 2 Tablespoons green onions, sliced thin
- 2 Tablespoons cheddar cheese
- 2 pasture-raised eggs
- Salt, to taste
- Peper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil and add oats, boil until cooked through ~10-15 minutes. (Or prepare per instructions on package). Remove from heat, cover and let stand.
- In a small pan, heat oil over medium heat.
- Add beets and mushrooms and stir until mushrooms begin to sweat. Add spinach and saute until spinach begins to wilt. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- In two small bowls, split both oats and vegetable mixture evenly.
- Return pan to heat and fry 2 eggs to desired doneness, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Top each bowl with one egg, a tablespoon of green onions, a tablespoon of cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
[bctt tweet=”Try out my Savory Oatmeal recipe and change up your breakfast. “]
When trying out this recipe, feel free to add any other vegetables to the mix to make it as veggie packed as possible. If you try a new combination, let me know in the comments or tag me on social media (@thesassydietitian) so I can try it out too! Enjoy and have a great week.
xoxo,
Sassy
[…] I spent the last week playing around with ideas for breakfast and I remembered that savory oats were a thing. I mean, lets be honest, anything can be a thing if you try hard enough. But I figured […]