Vegetarian Oatmeal Bowl – The Perfect Breakfast

Oatmeal doesn’t always have to go with bacon, right? I mean, it is awesome with bacon, but have you tried a vegetarian oatmeal bowl with berries as explained in this recipe?

Health Benefits of Oatmeal

Oatmeal is one of the healthiest breakfast items one can have. Here are some of its benefits.

1. Oatmeal has a high nutritional value and fiber content.
2. Oatmeal is known to be great for your gut as a prebiotic.
3. Oatmeal may reduce the risk of heart disease.
4. Oatmeal makes bowel movements easier due to its high fiber content.
5. Oatmeal is known to be filling due to its high density.

These are just a few of the countless benefits of oatmeal to your body, hence why you should consume it regularly. And about that, sometimes you just want a quick and easy recipe for your oatmeal. This vegetarian oatmeal bowl recipe incorporating berries, honey, lemon juice, and optional nut butter has all of that covered. You’ll have this ready to eat in just 10 minutes.

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A Note About Selecting Oats for the Vegetarian Oatmeal Bowl

Note that there are several types of oats out there, each with different characteristics. You should pick the right type, i.e., rolled oats, for the recipe to come out perfectly. Rolled oats fall in between steel-cut oats and quick (instant) oats in terms of texture and thus cooking time. Steel-cut oats are much firmer and take much longer to cook while quick oats are much softer and take the shortest time to cook.

I find rolled oats to be the perfect choice for this recipe because they cook relatively faster too, and they offer a great texture that is neither too chewy nor too soft and mushy. What is more, rolled oats contain the same high nutritional value as steel-cut oats with only minor differences in components like fiber which is more present in steel-cut oats. Quick oats, on the other hand, while they are the easiest to cook, have undergone much thorough processing and contain a little less protein as well as fiber.

That is not to say that you cannot use steel-cut oats or quick oats for your oatmeal bowl. You can absolutely use them too and should you choose to, just follow the cooking instructions on the container and prepare the berries as explained in this recipe.

Additional Cooking Tips for Vegetarian Oatmeal

1. I used blueberries and strawberries in this recipe, but they are not must-haves. You can use other berry combinations for the recipe. My other favorite combination is blueberries plus raspberries. Also, you can use just one type of berries if that is the only option you have but combining two or more types will give you a much richer flavor.
2. You can substitute honey with brown sugar if you need to. Use half the amount you would for honey (in this case, 1 ½ tbsp of brown sugar).
3. Do not exceed the recommended amount of lemon juice because the berries will provide additional sourness to the meal. Any extra lemon juice will make the meal too sour.
4. You can substitute almond butter with any other nut butter such as peanut butter, cashew butter, etc. I love almond butter for its flavor and texture.
5. This dish will have a sweet and sour taste. If you usually like to add salt to your oatmeal and you’d like to do so with this recipe, I’d suggest just a pinch but not much as it could interfere with the desired taste.
6. If you usually add cinnamon to your oatmeal, you could add it to this recipe as well but do so very sparingly (½ tsp) to not affect the overall taste of the meal.

Handling Leftover Oatmeal and Berries

I would recommend that you make just enough food to be served all at once. In my experience, oatmeal does not retain that great texture and color long after it is cooked. And since it cooks pretty quickly, I think it is not that much of a task to make it fresh every time. However, if you end up with cooked oatmeal that you wish to preserve, place it in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge or freezer. According to this article, refrigerated oatmeal is good for up to five days, and frozen oatmeal for up to three months.  

To reheat leftover oatmeal, place it in a bowl and loosen it up with a spoon. Add a little water and reheat in the microwave.  Alternatively, do the same in a cooking pot and reheat on low heat on the stovetop. Stir to break the lumps.

Similarly, store any leftover berries in an airtight container and refrigerate. To reheat, place in a bowl or cooking pot cover, and reheat in the microwave or stovetop respectively until warm enough.

Other Delicious and Healthy Breakfast Ideas to Explore

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• Delightful banana pancakes
• Soft and moist scrambled eggs
• Crispy baked bacon