Hearty whole-grain oatmeal made in a slow cooker

Cooking good-for-you grains takes something that's often in short supply: time. Now, imagine waking up to find a deliciously filling breakfast just waiting for you. Impossible? Not at all! This tasty whole-grain oatmeal recipe cooks while you sleep.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 8 to 10 hours in a slow cooker
Serves: 1 person

Although the list of ingredients is simple, together their flavours become rich and hearty.

• 3 cups of unsweetened apple juice
• 1 cup steel-cut oats
• 1/2 cup hard wheat berries
• 1 cup dried fruit – such as raisins, currants, dried cranberries, dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, chopped dried figs or chopped pitted prunes
• 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup of 1% milk or soy milk

1. Coat a four-litre (or larger) slow cooker with cooking spray.
2. Combine the apple juice, 2 1/2 cups water, oats and wheat berries in the cooker.
3. Cover and cook on low heat for about 10 hours, until the wheat berries are tender and the cereal has thickened.
4. Stir in the fruit, then cover and cook for five minutes.
5. Sprinkle the cooked oatmeal with about 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon.

You can always top the oatmeal with a tablespoon of milk before serving. In addition, you can add fresh berries or nuts to boost the sweetness and crunchiness.

To help ensure this recipe is even more delicious:

• Be sure to use steel-cut oats (sometimes known as Irish oats), which are whole oat groats that have been cut into several pieces rather than rolled.
• Avoid traditional rolled oats, even the old-fashioned variety, as they cook too quickly and may turn to mush with this slow-cooker method.

You'll find steel-cut oats in the natural foods section of your supermarket or in natural foods stores. For the wheat berries, they're usually available in the bulk bins section of natural foods stores. 

Nutritional information
Per each 125 ml (1/2 cup) serving you'll get: 178 calories; 4 g protein; 39 g carbohydrates; 3 g fibre; 1 g total fat; 0 g saturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol and 13 mg sodium.

Each portion of this delicious, slowly prepared oatmeal provides one serving of fruit, one serving of whole grains and one gram of good fat. Not to mention, steel-cut oats, wheat berries and fruit provide a healthy dose of filling fibre.