Ode to Oats, part II

Another disco for your microbiota; a speedy midweek risoatto, and a strawberry cardamom crumble

Hello gorgeous crew,

First up, I am overjoyed by the sheer number of you who have signed up to Taking the Hell out of Healthy. There are over 6000 of you now, and that just feels soul-thumpingly beautiful. (A special fistbump to my paid subs, who fuel this space and pinball me around the kitchen. You have me singing to my pots and pans!) The more support Taking the Hell out of Healthy receives, the more time and resources I can devote to making it a dazzling space of learning, eating and nourishment for everyone. It's such an honour to write for this super-engaged and present audience. You are all so generous, fun and smart - what a gift. Thank you for bringing me into your kitchen and your lives.

So let's gut going!

We know that oats are Ireland’s superfood, dancing through our DNA. Continuing our aria on oats, I have a legendary midweek veggie meal inspired by creative genius Heston Blumenthal. Yup. It's an Irish risotto made from burly pinhead oats (risoatto?), a sprinkle of wild Irish seaweed, and Ireland's answer to Parmesan, Cais na Tire. By using whole pinhead oats, we make this meal mad-cheap, accessible, sustainable, local and bonkers delicious. Heston Blumenthal put this recipe on the circuit twenty years ago in his restaurant The Fat Duck (remember snail porridge? It was surprisingly good, but closer to a garlicky risotto than a porridge). Pinhead oats are the same as steel cut oats. Regular oats we use to make porridge are simply flakes made from steaming pinhead oats and rolling them into their flat flaky shape. Caveat for the cook; only pinhead oats for this risotto recipe please!