It’s the dead of winter, and we still have to wake up in the cold and dark and get ready to go out of the house and go to work. Not much fun, but it’s a lot more pleasant when it includes a hot breakfast that tastes good and is good for you. Steel-cut oatmeal, as the name suggests, is oatmeal that is cut into little chunks by big steel blades. Rolled oats, the other kind, are flattened into flakes so that they will cook faster, and instant oatmeal is faster still. That’s the tradeoff: rolled oats and instant oats are ready sooner, but steel-cut oats have a crunchy, nutty texture that you just have to experience to decide if it’s worth it. Add some combination of milk, brown sugar, raisins and fresh fruit and you get the best high-fiber, cholesterol-fighting winter breakfast known to man. If it works for you, make it work even better by making a big batch when you have some time. It will keep perfectly in the refrigerator, ready to be scooped out and nuked in the microwave to make the high-end equivalent of mushy and boring old instant oatmeal. No better way to start the day on a winter morning. Available in better supermarkets everywhere.
Affordability: 10 Luxury: 10
