My Slow Cooker Secret

 Posted by Claire Blais, RD, CDE, LDN

Claire is a Registered Dietician at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

 

 

 

 

I’m a Registered Dietitian.  A healthy food expert. I know the importance of a varied, balanced diet, where half your plate should be fruits and veggies, yada yada yada.  I’m also more than a decent cook.  I mean, we’re not talking Cordon Bleu, but my stuffed peppers have fed several satisfied customers.

But I have a confession to make. I am seriously, woefully, revoke-my-nutrition-license- inept at cooking steel cut oats.  I KNOW how important it is to consume whole grain carbohydrates high in soluble fiber.  But MAN. This stuff somehow manages to be crunchy AND mushy.  It tastes like stale kindergarten paste.

Enter the slow cooker.  I had never really used a slow cooker until I started cooking with my boyfriend, the king of “fix it and forget it” cooking.  I remember hearing someone say you could cook oatmeal in a slow cooker, so last week I gave it a shot.  After searching a few complicated recipes online, I found this little gem:

1c steel cut oats
4c water

1. Combine water and oats in slow cooker.
2. Turn slow cooker on low.
3. Go to bed.

Brilliance!

So I executed this complex recipe and headed off to bed.  When I woke up the next morning, I enjoyed a cup of the most delicious, creamy, perfectly-cooked steel cut oatmeal I’ve ever had!  Not crunchy, not runny, not kindergarten paste-y!  It made about 4 cups, which is enough for a week of breakfasts.  I added 1 tbsp chopped walnuts and a sliced banana to my ¾ cup serving for some essential fatty acids, protein, and a serving of fruit.  It also gave it that fresh-baked-banana-bread flavor.  The final test was that I ate around 7:30 am, and didn’t feel hungry until noon.  I have a new favorite breakfast!  I feel like a steel cut oatmeal cooking master! Just don’t give away my slow cooker secret, ok?

What are some of your favorite slow cooker secrets?

Comments

[Jay]

I love my slow cooker - it's great for cooking stews and meats that are big or frozen. I'll buy a pork loin, trim off the fat, and stick in in the slow cooker with half a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (or 2 cups of my own, homemade!). Put the slow cooker on low before work, and when I get home I have hot pulled-pork sandwiches for dinner! You can do this with chicken, too, or ground beef for sloppy-joes or chili.