Steel Cut Oats

I've been reading Mark Bittman's blog daily, and I'll probably reference him regularly. He's a great journalist, food writer, and cook. I'm looking forward to reading his newest book Food Matters about food and climate change. Today's featured recipe is steel-cut oats for breakfast, a favorite of mine. These take a little longer than your humble Quaker oats, but they're way better for you and exponentially more delicious. The possibilities for toppings are nearly endless. Most mornings, I load mine up with with raisins, bananas, brown sugar, ground flax seed, and a little warm milk. It's like your dream breakfast cereal come to life with fresh ingredients: sweet, fruity, and a little nutty from the oat's natural flavor and the flax. Fresh fruit is also a nice addition when you have it. I find that raisins are a healthy, cheap mainstay for 2 bucks/bag at Trader Joe's. This is the breakfast equivalent of a steak.

The water-to-oat ratio is 4-to-1. A man-size serving is about a 1/3 cup. A two-man-size serving is 1/2 cup (if you know you've got a busy day ahead, this can tide you over until dinner) .