Gluten-Free Vegetarian Grain Bowl. Did you realize there are other options for gluten-free grain bowls besides quinoa? Yes! Here is one example- this one made with oat groats. Even if you aren’t a gluten-free eater, oat groats are the bomb. I use them all the time! They are perfect for breakfast porridges, soups, wraps, etc. They are really versatile!
You can either cook the oat groats on the cooktop or in the pressure cooker as I did. One of the complaints I hear about using whole grains is they take so long to cook. Well, pressure cookers have solved this problem. It cuts the time in 1/3-1/2. So, it makes cooking whole grains so much easier! Just as a note, you can buy your oat groats online, or hopefully you have a store that carries bulk foods in your area. I love Winco Foods and it is where I do a lot of my shopping for bulk grains. It is so much cheaper!
There are a lot of options for pressure cookers out there. I am hardly an expert, the one I use was gifted to me by my sister. I love it but have no experience with others. Mine is a Cuisinart 8 Quart Pressure Cooker. It has been great for me and I use it constantly. So, add the oat groats, water, and salt to the pressure cooker. Set it to high and let it go!
Now that the oat groats are cooking, let’s get started on the veggies. You can use whatever vegetables you love for roasting. I used garnet yams, yellow potatoes, brussel sprouts, beets, and butternut squash. So clean your veggies, peel, and cube. I like to roast them all the same pan, so I am mindful of the size I cube them to. So, the butternut and potatoes cook much fast than the beets. So, I will cut the potatoes in a larger cube and the beets smaller. That levels the playing field. Then one won’t get overcooked and the other undercooked.
I peeled my beets and cubed them to about 1/2 inch.
Now on thing I also did was to create a small “boat” for the beets. This is an anal little thing I do. The beets will bleed all over everything, so I like to keep them separate. Drizzle all the vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the hot oven and roast!
If you time it just right, everything will be coming together at the same time. Layer in your cooked oat groats. I generally use about 1 cup.
Then add plenty of the roasted veggies. I think we could all use a lot more veggies, right?
Isn’t the finished bowl beautiful. Healthy can be amazing, and I know we can all use a little more healthy in our lives, especially when it comes to whole grains. This is a great way to get several good servings of whole grains in one dish.
Are you interested in getting more whole grains into your diet? Let me suggest a few great recipes to get you started!: