With Summer just around the corner, I am on the lookout for the perfect vegan veggie burger. This one was pretty good, but I think I can do better.

Dr. Barnard recommends eating steal-cut oats as opposed to consuming over-processed “1-minute” oats, so I thought I would give McCANN’S Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal a try.

If you like oatmeal but you’ve never had the wholesome steel-cut variety before, you are really in for a treat. I had no idea that oatmeal could taste this great. It sounds silly, I know. But it’s just an entirely different experience than “quick-oats”.

I’ll have to save this treat for weekends, though, as it takes about 1/2 hour to prepare. It’s not that it’s hard to make or anything, it just takes 20
minutes to simmer, and you have to stir it occasionally. That’s not a 1/2 hour I can fit into an already busy workday.

I drizzled a little bit of maple syrup on top. I’m telling you, it was crazy delicious…a nice nutty soft-crunch in every bite.

Here’s how to cook steal cut oats:

1. Bring 3 cups of water and 1/4 teaspoons of salt to a boil.
2. Add 1 cups of steal-cut oats.
3. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from heat and let it rest for 2 minutes.

This is a recipe from Dr. Neal Barnard’s book about reversing diabetes through the adoption a vegan diet. I’d really like to stick to a vegan diet, but so far it’s proven to be a bit difficult. First of all, it’s hard for me to visualize what a dish will look like just by reading the list of ingredients. I’m still too new at this. I feel more comfortable when I see a picture of what the dish is supposed to look like when prepared correctly. I haven’t been able to find very many vegan cookbooks that are photo-rich. Actually, I did find one, but it was super-fancy gourmet stuff prepared by top chefs…not very practical for everyday living.

This is obviously a very healthy meal and my blood sugars never went above 100 both times that I ate it, even with all the pasta. And the serving sizes were generous, too. That being said, it wasn’t the most delicious dish I’ve made, and I probably won’t be making it again. Live and learn.