This is a breakfast I created to use Scottish oats, which are whole oat groats that have been flattened in a slow grinding process, producing something like rolled oats, but retaining all the nutritional value of the whole grain. They take longer to cook than rolled oats but would get too mushy if cooked overnight in a slow cooker like steel cut oats. To make these work for a quick weekday breakfast, I was inspired by a recipe from Heidi Swanson of toasting rolled cereal the evening before. I found that toasting these in some butter and then soaking them in boiling water made them easy to finish off the next morning. Then I experimented with other grains and liked including some nutty teff grain for body and flax seeds for texture. I've also made this with a mixture of rolled and steel cut oats, and I've swapped in chia seeds for the teff grain, all with good results. This hot cereal is delicious with lots of different toppings. I suggest dried apricots, hazelnuts and a drizzle of maple syrup. Will including the nutritional powerhouse of teff grain and superfood of flax seeds in your daily breakfast bring you health and superhuman powers? Maybe not. But taking the extra few minutes in the evening to start a warm bowl of oatmeal for the following morning, and infusing your house with the fragrance of buttery, toasted grains in the process, will make you feel cared for, which apparently accounts for a great deal of the healing power of placebos. A good breakfast when you'd like a little extra insurance for getting through a demanding day.

Oct. 1, 2021, 11:50 a.m.

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