The other day I found this article on lacto-fermented oats. Hmmm… apart from a pretty un-appetizing sounding name, the whole concept was a little bit perplexing. In the title of the article it even states: “(It’s not weird at all!)”… Isn’t it??
No! It turns out it’s not weird at all, in fact it makes total sense!! The benefits of soaking oats have been increasingly discussed in the last while. It seems that if you soak oats before eating them, their starches begin to break down making them easier to digest. Not only that, but their phytic acid, a compound in the oats that stops our bodies from absorbing their nutrients, is reduced. So in soaking them they become easier to digest and their nutrients more bio-available. Good news so far!
So what about this lacto-fermentation business? It simply means introducing some Lactobacillus bacteria into the mix, which preserves or increases the nutrient content and makes it into a probiotic food! Plus it gives it a complexity of flavour that makes it seriously delicious! And all you have to do to reap these nutritional and tasty benefits is add a bit of yogurt (plain dairy or coconut to make it vegan- “lacto” refers to the bacteria in this case, nothing to do with dairy) to your soaking oats and leave it until the morning. Of course the other great thing about this oat-y preparation is that come breakfast all you have to do is eat it!
You can add anything you like to your soaked oats and warm them up if you’d like. I’ve added some frozen raspberries and some lemon zest, and sweetened it with dates to make these raspberry lemon lacto-fermented oats. Yummy!!
Lacto-fermenting oats is definitely destined to become a regular breakfast for me. Give it a try, it’s well worth it!
- 50g or 1/2 cup of oats
- 2 Tbsp active plain yogurt or coconut yogurt to make it vegan
- 140 mL or 1/2 cup of water at room temperature
- 1-2 dates
- 50g or 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
- Zest of half a lemon.
- Handful of nuts to sprinkle on top (optional)
- In the evening combine all of the ingredients, except for the nuts, in a bowl or container. Stir it well, cover with a lid or some cling film and set it somewhere at room temperature overnight.
- In the morning uncover your oats, give it another quick stir and sprinkle on the nuts if your using any, then enjoy!