Cook without a Book: Meatless Meals: Recipes and Techniques for Part-Time and Full-Time Vegetarians: A Cookbook

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A warm bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar, raisins, and a splash of milk feels dutifully virtuous. Oatmeal Worth Waking Up For is a whole new ball game. It starts with flavored soymilk, with dried or pureed fruit added to naturally sweeten the oatmeal as it cooks. (In fact, you shouldn’t need additional sweetener unless, of course, you want it.)

The possible flavor combinations read more like a dessert menu than breakfast: imagine chocolate-cherry, pumpkin spice, figs and cloves (for Newton fans), or one of my favorites–oatmeal with prunes, vanilla, and walnuts. But do the math and you’ll find that these naughty-sounding bowls of oatmeal are, in fact, very, very good for you.

Master Formula Oatmeal Worth Waking Up For

3 1/2 cups chocolate or vanilla soymilk
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
Pinch of salt
Fruit (Pick 1)
Spices/Extracts/Zests (Pick 1)
1/4 cup Nuts (Pick 1)

Combine the soymilk, oatmeal, salt, and Fruit in a large saucepan or 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. (If using Spices, stir them in now.) Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, to the desired thickness, about 5 minutes. If using Extracts/Zests, stir them in now; continue to cook for another minute or so to blend flavors. Serve sprinkled with Nuts.

Serves 4

Oatmeal Options

Fruit (Pick 1)

1 cup solid-pack unsweetened pumpkin puree 1 cup banana puree (about 2 ripe medium bananas) 2/3 cup dried blueberries, cranberries, or raisins 2/3 cup coarsely chopped dried cherries, peaches, apricots, dates, prunes, or figs

Spices/Extracts/Zests (Pick 1)

Warm spice blend: 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon almond extract 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

Nuts (Pick 1; buy roasted nuts, see notes and tips on page 6, or toast the nuts yourself, see page 270)

Roasted pecans, coarsely chopped Roasted slivered or sliced almonds Roasted walnuts, coarsely chopped Roasted pistachios, coarsely chopped Honey-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped Roasted and skinned hazelnuts, coarsely chopped Toasted coconut

Pam’s Fave Combos for Oatmeal

Vanilla soymilk, pumpkin, warm spices, and pecans

Chocolate soymilk, banana, cinnamon, and peanuts

Vanilla soymilk, blueberries, cinnamon, and almonds

Chocolate soymilk, cherries, almond extract, and almonds

Vanilla soymilk, cranberries, orange zest, and pecans

Vanilla soymilk, golden raisins, cardamom, and pistachios

Vanilla soymilk, peaches, cloves, and pecans

Vanilla soymilk, prunes, vanilla extract, and walnuts

Vanilla soymilk, figs, cloves, and pecans

Notes and Tips

If you have a container of premium roasted mixed nuts on hand, you can pick out 1/4 cup of whichever nut you want when you need them (plus they’re already roasted).

Since banana and pumpkin puree are great in oatmeal, you might assume applesauce or apple butter would be too. Turns out they’re not. Applesauce is not distinct enough, and the more concentrated apple butter is acidic enough to curdle even soymilk.

You can use light soymilk, which has fewer calories, but I prefer the flavor and richness of oatmeal made with regular soymilk. I prefer soymilk to dairy milk because it’s lower in calories, and of the nondairy milks, it’s widely available and comes in chocolate.

This recipe can easily be halved or quartered for 1 or 2 servings. If you like thinner oatmeal, stir in water at the end of cooking, or splash a little extra soymilk over the oatmeal once you’ve served it up.

Spraying your knife with cooking spray makes it easier to cut dried fruit.