Recipe: Nutty Steel-Cut Oats With Fruit

Here’s a quick way to upgrade your breakfast: Eat steel-cut oats. They’re freshly milled from high-protein oats and cut into neat little pieces on a steel burr mill. They’re also one of the healthiest foods you can eat, and they make a delightful, full-bodied hot cereal with an appealing texture.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup steel cut oatmeal
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tablespoon fresh strawberries
• 1 tablespoon fresh blueberries
• 1 teaspoon toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon honey

Directions

1. In a medium-sized pot, add almond milk and oatmeal.
2. Bring to simmer; stir until oatmeal is thick and creamy — about 20 minutes.
3. Serve with your favorite fresh berries, sliced bananas or toasted walnuts, and almond milk.

Ingredient health benefits

• Steel-cut oats: With essential minerals like zinc, copper and manganese, steel-cut oats can give your day a strong start. They also have vitamin B1 (thiamin), which helps keep you energized, and fiber for a healthy gut. And adding oats to your diet can lower your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol, which your heart will appreciate.
• Almond milk: A popular nondairy alternative, almond milk has vitamin E, an antioxidant that gives your immune system a helpful boost. Almond milk also has fewer calories than cow’s milk.
• Strawberries: These beloved berries are a wonderful addition to your morning meal, and not just for their delicious taste. Strawberries are also a good source of immunity-building vitamin C and anthocyanins — antioxidants that give strawberries their delectable red color. Anthocyanins also support your body in many important ways, from helping to regulate blood pressure to preserving heart health.
• Blueberries: Don’t let their small size fool you; blueberries pack a nutritional punch. Among their remarkable list of perks, they’re full of antioxidants that protect your cells from damage by free radicals. The soluble fiber in blueberries helps lower your cholesterol levels and supports a thriving gut, and vitamin K keeps your bones and blood in working order.
• Walnuts: It’s no secret that nuts have a lot of tasty benefits. Walnuts are a good way to get omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. Omega-3s are unsaturated fats that keep your cells working properly and promote many other aspects of your health, especially heart health. Walnuts can also improve your gut health by encouraging the growth of good bacteria.
• Honey: Like many other ingredients in this recipe, honey has antioxidants that fight inflammation and promote peak performance in your cells. Raw honey, in particular, has prebiotics; nutrients that pave the way for probiotics to do their jobs.

Nutrition information (per serving)

Makes 1 serving

Calories: 210
Total fat: 6 g
Saturated fat: .5 g
Protein: 7 g
Carbohydrate: 34 g
Dietary fiber: 5 g
Sugar: 4 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg

— Chef Michelle Bartoul-Mangan, Cleveland Clinic Wellness.