Savory Oatmeal for Breakfast

If Penny De Los Santos and Mark Bittman had a baby, this would be it. Confused!? Of course you are. I'm talking about breakfast ;)

A while ago, there was a recipe by Bittman going around the blogosphere that used leftover rice, combined with ginger, leeks and topped off with a fried egg. I made it. I loved it.

Then, last week, my friend Cecilia tweeted a recipe by Penny De Los Santos for Sexed Up Savory Oatmeal. I just HAD to try it.

And so, I combined some of the ingredients from Bittman's recipe with the ingredients from De Los Santos' recipes, and came out with my own little version of Savory Oatmeal for Breakfast.

{Note: check out the oh-so-pretty bowls my friend Jenny gave me for my belated birthday: love!}

Ingredients
oatmeal, cooked according to the directions on the can/box/etc {I used instant oatmeal, but think regular one would work better}
olive oil
1 leek (white part only), sliced in half, washed, sliced across thinly
1 inch ginger root, peeled, chopped finely
salt & pepper
1 egg
tamari or soy sauce

Directions
1. Heat oil in a skillet. Add leeks and ginger, salt & pepper and cook till leeks and ginger have softened and browned.
2. In a separate pan, fry an egg.
3. Mix cooked oatmeal with most of the leek/ginger mixture. Spoon into a bowl. Top off with a fried egg and the remainder of the leek/ginger mixture. Drizzle with tamari.

Honestly, forget the oatmeal. You could use rice, potatoes, noodles or even polenta. The star in this dish is the combination of leeks with ginger, the runny yolk of the fried egg and the saltiness of tamari. I absolutely loved it.

Do you like an unconventional breakfast? If yes, what is it?

PS Check out the food diary I wrote for the Washingtonian!