Veggie With A Vision

Heidi Swanson lives in a world of SLR’s, Moleskine notebooks, aged wood and cappuccinos…she just makes me want to ride my bike to the farmers market and fill my basket with leeks, lettuce and carrots. Those are my kind of people. When I saw the article about her in this month’s Whole Living, I was excited to learn more about her and how she came to be 101 Cookbooks. If you aren’t familiar, she is a revolutionary food photographer and blogger. The article featured some scrumptious recipes (along side her delicious photographs). I had to try out the baked oatmeal. I felt this dish would make me feel domestic and I was in that kind of mood on a rainy day.

Heidi Swanson's photographs make me want this. (Photo courtesy of inspiring blog, Accidental Brilliance, http://www.accidental-brilliance.com/)

Swanson makes vegetarian dishes and sometimes vegan dishes. This dish was not vegan so I whipped out the flax (to replace the eggs), the Earth Balance and the soy milk and all went very well. This treat made me want to grab the bubbly and make mimosas for some guests. Next time, I will plan better and have some people around.

My delightful baked oatmeal

I need an SLR like Heidi..

Heidi’s masterpiece oatmeal

Here’s the recipe:

Serves 6 to 8

* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus more for coating baking dish (I used Earth Balance)

* 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

* 1/2 cup walnuts or almonds, toasted and chopped

* 1/3 cup fine-grain natural cane sugar (I cut back a bit on the sugar)

* 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

* 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

* 2 cups milk (I used plain soy)

* 1 large egg (I used one tablespoon of Flax and two table spoons of warm water mixed together as an egg replacer. Let them sit for 15 minutes. See here for more on that.)

* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

* 2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2-inch slices

* 1 1/2 cups huckleberries, blueberries, or mixed berries

* Maple syrup, for drizzling

This is how organized I typically am when pulling ingredients for a recipe...

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.

2. Combine the oats, half the nuts, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk the milk, egg (or flax seed egg-replacer), half the butter) (Earth Balance, and the vanilla.

3. Arrange bananas in a single layer on the bottom of the coated baking dish. Sprinkle with two-thirds of the berries, then cover with the oat mixture. Slowly drizzle [soy] milk mixture over the oats. Gently tap dish on a work surface to distribute liquid. Scatter remaining berries and nuts across the top.

4. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is nicely golden and the oat mixture has set. Let cool slightly. Drizzle with remaining melted butter (Earth Balance) and maple syrup. (I did not add the extra Earth Balance and maple syrup because I just did not think it was needed. Up to your sweet tooth.)

Tip for you – Go beyond what you usually treat yourself with. I don’t usually eat sugary, baked good for breakfast but it felt absolutely amazing to make this tasty dish. Instead, I ate it for desert!