‘Tis the season for bad photos of food.  It’s dark by the time I get home to make dinner so my typically unattractive food can’t be saved by good lighting.

It’s also the season for warm spices and thick sauces.

Oats are supposedly healthy.  With a family history of high cholesterol I make an attempt to eat more of them.  But I eat way more savory things than sweet things so I’m on a mission to use oat groats as a rice or barley substitute.

For inspiration I searched Andrea’s Flavor Bible for possible savory ingredients that pair with the sweet-nutty oat flavor.  This is what I needed up with: Ginger Coconut Chicken with Oat Groats.*

I started by cooking a cup of oat groats like pasta in salted boiling water and then draining them.  The groats didn’t swell as much as rice does and in the future I’d cook more.

I sautéed red onion with carrots in oil (I think I used a mix of olive and coconut) with a generous four finger pinch of salt, then added fresh minced ginger and  jalapeño.   Once it had all gotten nice and soft I added a very generous heap of cinnamon and ground ginger.  I let the spices get all warm and fragrant. before adding a bunch of chopped chicken plus more salt. (I use thighs trimmed of the excess fat because they are so forgiving in cooking and don’t get dry).

Once the chicken was mostly cooked I added a can of coconut milk and a single serving of greek coconut yogurt (It was actually vanilla coconut because that’s what Will found in the grocery.  In the future I’d use Fage plan yogurt and add honey).  I let that cook a good while to get thicker.  I tasted it and then added some more ground cinnamon and ginger and this time some paprika because it felt needed.

Right at the end I added a whole bunch of fresh chopped green onions (using everything but the roots and the dry ends).

It was delicious with the nutty and chewy oat groats.

*These are never really recipes.  They are not tested and much detail is up to your interpretation.  Hopefully just inspiration and guidance for your own culinary adventures.