Recipe of the month: Strawberry, Blackberry & Vanilla Overnight Oats

I've become a bit obsessed with overnight oats lately. If you went through my previous post on Chocolate Peanut Butter Raspberry Overnight Oats, you will be aware of it 😀

A quick recap - overnight oats are a no-cook method of making oatmeal. Which means, you don't have to cook your oats on the stove with the liquid of choice. All you do is mix rolled oats with liquid and other add-ins in a clean mason jar and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Easy-peasy? You bet!

Overnight oats are heaps better than those sugar-loaded cereals or granola bars for a quick breakfast fix. It is way more nutritious, tastes infinitely better, can be customized to suit your preferences and keeps you satiated for long.

Twice a week, I go for afternoon exercise classes conducted by my University and on those two days, a hearty breakfast is an absolute must for me. Can you imagine walking into to a high-intensity Zumba class with a rumbling or worse, empty stomach? On the flip side, going just after a heavy lunch is a terrible idea. So in such instances especially, a substantial serving of overnight oats becomes my saviour and keeps me going till the end of the class 😊

This Strawberry, Blackberry & Vanilla Overnight Oats  is another one of my favourite combinations. I love the medley of vanilla, cinnamon, banana and fresh berries. And the addition of chia seeds give it such great texture. There are only two ingredients in common between this recipe and my previous one - the rolled oats (obviously) and banana (coz I love 'em). All the other components vary so this overnight oats does taste completely different. I promise! I have another pumpkin spice overnight oats recipe that is seriously delicious but I'll share that recipe at a later time lest you think I'm eating nothing but oats off late 😝

As is the case with any breakfast oats recipe, you could switch up the ingredients any which way you want. Almond milk, cashew milk or thin coconut milk would be great substitutions to whole or skimmed dairy milk. Use whatever fresh or frozen berries you like, add in nuts of your choice or sprinkle some granola over it for extra crunch. The sky's the limit really.

Okay that's enough of my yakety-yak for now. Set aside 5-10 mins of your time tonight and in the morning you have a pudding-like porridge that is both delicious and fulfilling.

Strawberry, Blackberry & Vanilla Overnight Oats

Preparation time: 10 min; Cooking time: Nil; Overnight chilling time: at least 6 hours
Serves: 1-2
Recipe category: Breakfast/Western
Recipe level: Very easy

Ingredients:

50 gm (1/3 cup) rolled oats
1 tbsp chia seeds

125 ml milk (dairy or non-dairy)

2 tbsp Greek yoghurt (or plain yoghurt)
a generous pinch of cinnamon powder
a few drops of vanilla extract

1-2 tsp agave nectar (or you could substitute with honey or maple syrup)

1 small ripe banana, sliced or chopped

5-6 fresh strawberries, sliced
5-6 fresh blackberries

Method:

1. In a clean mason jar, mix the rolled oats, chia seeds, yoghurt, cinnamon powder, vanilla extract, agave nectar with the milk.

2. Close the lid of the jar ensuring it is airtight and store the jar in the fridge overnight (for at least 6 hours). I usually leave mine for 10-12 hours.

3. In the morning, chuck in the sliced bananas, fresh strawberries, fresh blackberries and give it a quick mix.

4. Grab your spoon and dig in.

Cheers,
Megha