Savoury oats with Basil pesto

It's been long since I have moved to oats porridge for breakfast. Isn't it great when you invest just 5 mins in the morning to eat the healthiest breakfast. I usually set up the oats porridge on the stove on low flame and finish off with my bath. Kinda mutli-tasking you see..

Well, now that I have some free time in the morning, my palate is demanding attention. I know everybody has that stubborn palate who needs change every now and then. So I started experimenting with different ways to eat oats, I tried over night oats, the fruit- salad oats and what not. Then once, pasta sauces caught my attention. I thought of trying my favorite pasta sauce- Basil Pesto. Gosh, I added basil pesto sauce into the cooked oats and the outcome was awesome.

While I first used the regular pesto sauce, I later realized, that this pesto is increasing the calorie count of the entire dish. I did not want to fall into the trap of eating smart with fad foods without realizing the calorie count. It happens, I have seen people going crazy about eating healthy food tweaking the recipes so much that you end up consuming more calories than what you'd eat consuming a single piece of sandwich.

So, I tweaked the recipe making little changes like using walnut or almonds or roasted peanuts instead of pine nuts. I also tried to add cilantro (coriander) and Basil in equal amounts because I feel sometimes, only Basil pesto can turn more pungent in a certain dish.

Finally after some failed attempts, and handful of successes on the adapted recipe, I have finally my own way of making pesto sauce.

I usually store it in an airtight container in the refridgerator so that I can use during the week. So whenever I crave for savoury oats, I just need to add some pesto and tada!! pesto oats are ready in a jiffy.

Pesto flavoured oats
Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins

Pesto flavoured oats are my new obsession these days. I have a jar full of sauce waiting in my refridgerator everyday. Just add a spoonful on cooked oats and voila! you're all set for the awesome savoury oats meal of the day


Ingredients:

• 1 cup classic rolled oats
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 clove of garlic
• 8-10 sprigs of fresh Basil
• 5-7 sprigs of fresh cilantro
• 7-9 almonds
• 2 chillies
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt as per taste

Instructions:

1. In a blender, blend together washed basil leaves, cilantro, chillies, almonds, garlic to a fine paste. Add salt as per taste.
2. Cook rolled oats in 1/3 cup of water for 5 mins.
3. Once the oats are cooked, add the pesto sauce as per taste and serve immediately.
4. Store the rest of the sauce into an airtight container in refrigerator and can be stored for upto a week.