Extreme Makeover:Oatmeal Edition, by Tiffany Hankins, Lola Server
Lola’s oatmeal is like Cinderella dressed up for the ball, a humble grain whose virtuous work in health and nutrition has earned itself the godmother’s touch for a gorgeous showing out at the ball…. or brunch, if you will. Sugared strawberries and sugared toasted almonds dress up the oatmeal at Lola this spring season. For an extra indulgent treat, have the oatmeal at brunch with a glass of Champagne or a glass of the cuvée rosé. If you are watching your diet, oatmeal with fresh strawberries and low-fat milk with a little brown sugar is a light and refreshing alternative that is low in sugar and high in fiber. Our oats are of the steel-cut variety which means that the whole oat groat is slashed into small pieces by steel blades rather than steamed and rolled. Quick-cooking rolled oats lose a great deal of their nutritional quality when they are steamed. Oats contain beta-glucan, and B vitamins are known to slow digestion and stabilize blood-glucose levels, so oats have been a popular health food for years.
Oatmeal became popular in Scotland where the short, wet growing season made oats the staple grain of choice in that country. While most people would balk at oatmeal for any meal besides breakfast, the pre-modern Europeans often ate a porridge of oats or some other grain at every meal. And the way Lola dresses their oats in the best of the season makes me wish they served this hearty and healthy treat at every meal.
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