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Chai Spiced Oatmeal

In this month’s issue of EatingWell – which is, by the way, a wonderful foodie magazine to check out – there was an article on mangos. Gorgeous, versatile, tasty and in season. The article was accompanied by several recipes offering suggestions on how to showcase this fruit in various dishes. One recipe in particular caught my eye: Chai Spiced Bread Pudding with Mango.

I’ve been thinking about making this since I first saw the recipe and so I was delighted to find my mango ripe this morning. Chai spices are delicious and the mango offers a smooth, cooling taste to counter their spiciness. Unfortunately, morning is not a great time for dessert. Let me qualify that statement: I’m all for eating leftover dessert in the morning, but I just can’t justify cooking a dessert before 8am with the intention to consume it for breakfast.

So what could I do? I made oatmeal.

And put chai spices into it.

And topped it with mango.

And it was great.

I’m not giving specific amounts for the spices, as I doubt anyone wants to measure a handful of spices into their oatmeal in the morning. Here’s how I made my (one serving) of:

Chai Spiced Oatmeal with Mango

oatmeal

1/2 tsp vanilla

dash of salt

dash of cinnamon

dash of ginger

1/2 dash of cloves

1/2 dash cardamom

sprinkle of black pepper

1/3- 1/2 mango, in small chunks

Measure oatmeal into a microwave safe bowl and add appropriate amount of water. Add salt and spices.

Microwave according to oatmeal instructions.

Top with mango chunks and stir. Let stand for a minute or two; mango will become tender and juicy.

Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and top with milk, if desired.

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8 Comments
  • Emily
    January 21, 2005

    i loooovveee mango!! your chai-spiced variation makes me actually want to eat oatmeal! i don’t usually eat oatmeal but now i’m afraid i’m going to have to try this. thanks. 🙂

  • dksbook
    January 22, 2005

    I made a chai spiced rice pudding a few months ago – similar to your spiced oatmeal, but with the addition of a bit of vanilla after the pudding was done cooking. I also put in a dab of butter, too. My basic rice pudding couldn’t be simpler:

    1 cup medium grain rice
    4 cups water
    3/4 cup sugar
    vanilla
    spices as recommended in your recipe, with lots of cardamom
    about 1 T. butter

    Steam the rice, covered, in the mild and sugar for about 45 minutes. Uncover, stir, add butter and spices. Continue steaming until most of the milk is absorbed – about 5 more minutes. Remove from hear, stir in vanilla, and THEN top with very cold chunks of very sweet mango, as per your suggestion. Then if, God forbid, there is not enough richness, top the whole off with unsweetened whipped cream. Not a very “Eating Well” recipe that way, but fit for a celebration.

    Om Monday I am making Tiramisu to celebrate my son’s good results at a tournament in Montreal today – I use David Rosengarten’s recipe that has a custard base, and serves about 12 people. I found some half chocolate, half vanilla ladyfingers at the local Middle Eastern market (Ali Baba in San Antonio, TX) that were very inexpensive, that I thought I’d try in the dessert.

  • Nic
    January 22, 2005

    Oh that pudding sounds great. I love this combination of spices. And your recipe reminded me that I hadn’t listed vanilla in my oatmeal, though I did put it in. Chocolate and vanilla ladyfingers sound like they would be fabulous in tiramisu. I’ve never seen chocolate before – I can’t imagine that it will turn out any less then excellent.

  • dksbook
    January 23, 2005

    How sweet you are to acknowlege every comment! I forget vanilla when I write recipes all the time. Once I sent this great recipe for vanilla vinegar, and forgot to mention the vanilla bean. How is it that a flavor so sublime is so overlooked? I have to make my own vanilla ice cream because most are too sweet, and I have to have vanilla bean ice cream. Just like I have to have creme brulee made with the beans. But the recipe below, while using vanilla, doesn’t require a bean:

    Here is my adaptation of David Rosengarten’s Tiramisu, the uncooked egg one, which I am going to use because I trust my eggs and it tastes better than the one that calls for making a custard:

    8 eggs, separated
    1/3 cup sugar (I used that new sugar blend stuff, worked great)
    1 cup chilled cream, beaten
    1 pound (or 1/2 kilo) fresh mascarpone
    about 60 or more dry ladyfingers – not the ones from the bakery dept., the ones from the cookie aisle
    2 cups real brewed espresso
    2/3 cup brandy or other booze you like (Amaretto for you romantics out there? You may want to cut the sugar if you use a liqueur)
    1/2 tsp vanilla
    grated chocolate for garnish

    Couldn’t be simpler, could it? Or messier, but worth the mess, the expense, and time:

    Beat egg yolks, slowly adding sugar until they are very thick and light yellow. Beat in the mascarpone blob by blob, until it is incorporated into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in the whipped cream, vanilla and the booze. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry (in a perfectly clean, perfectly dry bowl with a perfectly clean and dry whisk beater, and fold them into the cheese/eggs/cream/booze stuff.

    Put 1/3 of this mixture into the bottom of a 9X13 glass baking dish, or similarly sized dish. Top with 1/2 the ladyfingers, which you have ever so briefly soaked in the espresso. Pack ’em in. Repeat with 1/3 more goop, the rest of the ladyfingers, and top with the remaining 1/3 goop. Chill at least 8 hours. To serve garnished, place strips of waxed paper or foil across the top diagonally. Sprinkle with the finely grated chocolate (or cocoa if you must). Quickly and carefully pull up the strips , revealing diagonal stripes across your Tiramisu.

    Serves 12-16 normal people, 8 pigs

  • Nic
    January 24, 2005

    That tiramisu sounds great. I have a ladyfinger recipe that is begging to be tried in the next couple of weeks (though it’ll have to wait until the chicken wing frenzy of the superbowl is over), so I’ll want to put them to good use!

  • pumpkinpie
    January 29, 2006

    Thanks for your mango chai oatmeal recipe! It seems related to Thailand’s delicious mango sticky rice. I tried your recipe using oat groats, which made the texture more like sticky rice, and flavored it with coconut. I guess I could have used coconut milk but then that really would have been dessert for breakfast!

  • Patrick Del Rosario
    November 24, 2012

    I always eat oatmeal for my breakfast, and would love to try this one.

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