Maple Pear Oats

Fall brings beautiful sunny days and crisp, cool air.  My favourite way to have oats is overnight oats, but once in a while I choose a warm bowl of oats to keep me satisfied right up until lunch (especially on this cool day).  Oatmeal tastes nutty and creamy when cooked.  The addition of juicy diced pears in the oats and warm sliced pears nestled in a maple, cinnamon-vanilla glaze on top gave life to this ordinary bowl of oats.  Oatmeal and pears are high in fiber and full of nourishing vitamins and minerals, making this natural breakfast very satisfying. 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup large flake ‘old fashioned’ oats
2/3 cup filtered water
Pinch of unrefined sea salt
1 pear
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp vanilla bean
Pecans to garnish

1. Dice about ¼ of the pear to cook in oats.  Bring oats, water and salt to a boil, then cover and let simmer for 8-10 minutes.  When they are about half way done stir in the diced pears with the oats.
2. Slice the rest of the pear length wise.  Combine the maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla.  Place pears and syrup mixture into a small pot, cover and bring to a boil, so syrup thickens and pears soften. 
3. Put oats into bowl and cover with maple, cinnamon-vanilla pears and sprinkle with pecans.  Serves one.

Enjoy!

Note:  You can use pure vanilla extract in place of the vanilla bean, maybe just add a bit more. 

Also, you can make steel-cut oats if you prefer a hearty oat flavour and chewier texture. 

Double, triple this recipe to serve more people. 

Whole Food Sneak Peak:  
                 Pears

The pear is related to the apple and the quince.  Pears generally have a large, round bottom that tapers toward the top.  Their paper-thin skins can be yellow, green, brown, red or a combination of two or more of these colors.  The flesh is white to cream colored and is very juicy and sweet.  Their texture is soft and buttery, yet slightly grainy. 

Pears are a very good source of vitamin C, folic acid, copper, vitamins B2, E, manganese, selenium and potassium.

Pears are an excellent source of water-soluble fibers, including pectin.  They actually have more pectin than apples.  This makes them useful in helping to lower cholesterol and tone the intestines. 

Pears are often recommended as a hypoallergenic fruit high in fiber that is less likely to produce an adverse response than other fruits.  Like apples, pears have good cleansing and detoxification potential, probably related to their high fiber content.

Pears are fantastic on their own, in salads, cereals, poached, canned, desserts and as juices.