Name: Spicy Steel-Cut Oatmeal with Garlic Chips
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients: 1/2 cup (125 g) raw steel-cut oats; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 4 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced; About 1 tablespoon tamari; Chinese chile paste (sambal oelek) to taste; 2 scallions, thinly sliced on a bias; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

vegan, gluten free

I often crave a spicy breakfast—chorizo and egg tacos, skillet crisped sweet potatoes with liberally applied Cajun spices, leftover kung pao chicken—and I also believe that nothing can beat a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal in the morning, so I make this meal to satisfy both cravings at once.

You might think of hot cereal as a wintertime dish, a prelude to shoveling out the car or leaping over slush lakes in the crosswalks on your hike to work, but this savory version, with crisp scallions, bright cilantro, and vinegary heat from the chile paste, is invigorating all year round. If you'd like some (nonvegan) protein in your bowl, fry an egg (or shredded cooked chicken or firm tofu) in the oil leftover from frying the garlic and set it on top of the oatmeal.

Recipe notes

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Charred Vegetable Ragù

This sauce is slightly magical. The texture cloaks pasta much like a traditional meat sauce does, and the flavors are deep and rich, but it’s actually vegan!