I’m not usually much of a weekday breakfast person. You might catch me grabbing a lemon blueberry croissant from my favourite bakery or picking up a dirty Chai tea latte on the way to work if I’m looking for a treat, but making something at home before heading out the door? Highly unlikely.
Now that we are in the interminable work from home routine, I’ve been making more real breakfasts. I still want something that is easy, and preferably doesn’t produce too many dishes because God knows I’m done with doing dishes.
As a result, I’ve kind of gotten into oats lately. What I’ve learned is that they don’t need to be the mealy sustenance that I used to top with heaping spoonfuls of brown sugar as a child. Turns out, they are way more delicious if you cook the flavour right into them. (Sorry Mom, love you).
Who knew?
I’m partial to throwing in a 1/3 cup of pumpkin puree and topping it off with some toasted pecans but last week I recreated a childhood favourite, in oatmeal form. The classic PB&J sandwich transformed into a hot bowl of oatmeal.
Add the peanut butter, some spices, and a few healthy glugs of maple syrup to the hot oats and then top it off with some Blueberry Chia Jam and other topping of your choosing.
What is not to like?! Well, probably a lot if you have a peanut allergy. But for everyone else: GLORY!
It can be hard to find bright spots in this dark and uncertain time but I’ve found some solace in cooking a good meal, regardless of how humble. This PB&J oatmeal is certainly no exception.
If only I could outsource all the cleaning…
PB&J Oatmeal
- 4 cups frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- Dash fine sea salt
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or more to taste
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 3 tbsp maple syrup or more to taste
- Fresh berries
- Mango
- Slivered Almonds
- Shredded Coconut
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Prepare the chia seed jam: In a medium pot, stir together the blueberries and maple syrup until combined. Add a dash of salt. Simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered, for about 8-10 minutes until softened (the berries will release a lot of water during this time).
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Add the chia seeds and stir until combined. Continue simmering and stirring frequently (reducing heat if necessary to avoid sticking) about 8-15 minutes longer, until most of the water cooks off and the jam reduces in volume. it will look thickened.
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Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.
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Combine the water and coconut milk in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add oats, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed.
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Turn off the heat and add peanut butter, cinnamon, cardamom, and maple syrup. Stir until fully combined. Add more spice or maple syrup as needed.
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Spoon hot oats into bowls and top with warm blueberry chia jam and other toppings. I’ve used fresh berries and mango but a little shredded coconut or slivered almonds would be great too.
Recipe for Blueberry Chia Jam adapted from: Liddon, Angela. “Coconut-Cardamom Vegan Overnight Oat Parfait with Blueberry Chia Seed Jam.” Oh She Glows. July 30, 2015.
