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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Best of 2011: Scotch Oatmeal Soup

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Oats are awesome. They're one of those foods that I never get sick of and I begin every morning at work with a steaming bowl of them. I wasn't surprised to find them as one of the featured ingredients in The 12 Best Foods Cookbook, but I assumed it would have a lot of recipes similar to baked oatmeal or oatmeal muffins. The cookbook did indeed have a lot of breakfast recipes, but I was most intrigued by an oatmeal soup recipe.

Paired with beer bread, this soup was a warming lunch on a snowy January day. The soup is rather light, primarily made of vegetables, so I suggest a hearty bread or salad alongside of it. This isn't a heavy meal that'll leave you sluggish and in need of a nap. Clean eating at its finest!

Any other oatmeal soup recipes to share with me? I loved the addition of the grain in this! So far we're 2/2 when it comes to recipes for the Best Of 2011 Challenge!


From The Best 12 Foods Cookbook, a few health benefits of oats...
Oats:
  • Contains selenium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, fiber, and protein
  • Reduces insulin resistance and stabilizes blood sugar (when eaten regularly)
  • Lower blood cholesterol levels, thus reducing heart disease risk
One Year Ago: Mexican Pot Pie

Scotch Oatmeal Soup
from The 12 Best Foods Cookbook


Ingredients:
-1 tbsp canola oil
-1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
-1 leek, white part only, chopped
-1 medium onion, chopped
-1/2 small cabbage, halved, cored, and sliced crosswise into 1/2" strips
-1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes, with their liquid
-4 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken)
-1/2 cup steel-cut oats
-1 tsp dried thyme
-1/2 tsp sugar
-1 bay leaf
-1/2 tsp salt
-freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high. Add the carrot, leek, and onion, stirring to coat with oil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until veggies release their juices (approximately 10 minutes). Stir in the cabbage, cover the pot, and cook an additional 8-10 minutes, until cabbage is wilted.
2. Add tomatoes, broth, oats, thyme, sugar, bay leaf, and salt. Season to taste with pepper.
3. Simmer, uncovered, until the oats are cooked and the cabbage it tender (approximately 30 minutes). Remove the bay leaf and serve soup warm.
*Soup keeps 3-4 days in the fridge!

This post is linked to Eat at Home.