Slow Cooker Carrot Cardamom Oatmeal

I’m so glad that Linda gave me a little time with all of you to share one of my oatmeal recipes.

If you’ve visited my blog, Healthy Slow Cooking, you already know I’m more than a bit oatmeal obsessed. I just counted and I have 61 oatmeal recipes just to keep Winter breakfast exciting.

I am also madly in love with Indian food and eat it whenever possible. Carrot Halwa is a traditionally a thick paste of carrot, sugar and cardamom that’s sometimes topped with saffron and pistachios.

If you’re not sure if you’re a fan of cardamom or not just use 1/2 teaspoon instead of a whole teaspoon. You can always add more but you can’t take it back out!

Slow Cooker Carrot Cardamom Oatmeal

2 to 3 servings

**Please note this recipe uses a smaller slow cooker that’s 1 1/2 to 2 quarts

● 1/2 cup steel-cut oats

● 2 cups non-dairy milk (soy, coconut, rice, almond, etc.) or water

● 1 cup organic carrots, chopped fine or shredded fine

● 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

● Sweetener of your choice, to taste (I used 1 tablespoon agave nectar, but stevia, maple syrup, or even plain sugar will work fine.)

● For serving: chopped pistachios

The night before: Spray your crock with some oil to help with clean up later. Add oats, So Delicious Coconut Milk, carrots, and cardamom. Cook on low over night (7 to 9 hours).

In the morning: Stir your oatmeal well. It may seem watery at the top but if stirred it should become a more uniform consistency. Stir in agave or other sweetener. Top each serving with 1 teaspoon of pistachios (and you can add a pinch of saffron if you’re feeling particularly rich).

A few faqs on making oatmeal in the slow cooker:

There are a few things to keep in mind when you are cooking oatmeal in a slow cooker. The most important is to use steel-cut oats and not rolled oats. Steal cut can hold up to an 8-hour-plus cooking time much better than rolled oats. I’ve heard horror stories of waking up to burnt rolled oats.

If you are concerned about clean up, spray the crock with a little oil before adding the ingredients. But be aware that even if you spray your crock with oil some oatmeal will still stick to the sides. To clean it out simply fill it with water in the morning. It will come out easily that evening. I fill mine with water, then drain off the excess water and give my dog the oatmeal that was stuck to the sides. She loves it and it’s good for her coat.

Unfortunately slow cookers run at different temperatures depending on age and manufacturer. So there is some trial and error in getting everything just right for your slow cooker. I have one newer model that I add some extra water to and 2 others that use this recipes just fine as is. If you think you might sleep in go ahead and add a little extra water then too.

You can also use almond, soy, rice, or coconut milk as your liquid. Just be mindful that if you are using applesauce (or dried cranberries) and it has citric acid or lemon juice it will make your oatmeal a curdled mess. So make sure to check the ingredients before adding.

Text and image © 2011 Kathy Hester. Follow Kathy on her blog Healthy Slow Cooking.

Comments

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Looks like "steel-cut" got auto-corrected to "steal cut" in the third sentence after the faq sub heading