My best friend Meredith, pursuer and purveyor of delicious recipes everywhere and my most fierce cooking competitor, first introduced me to this delicious breakfast dish. I was at her house for one of my rare visits to Florida when she offered me a bowl as she described the ingredients. I'll admit, I was skeptical, not being a fan of yogurt in general, and especially Greek yogurt. (I know, I'm probably the only person IN THE WORLD who feels this way, I mean, c'mon, who doesn't like yogurt, what kind of ridiculousness IS THIS!! But it's true.) I also felt a bit unsettled about the chia seeds; I'd heard of them before, but never tried them. So I took a bite, and I remember it tasting good, but I think my yogurt-starved brain just couldn't get past the ingredient list long enough to really enjoy it. And that was it. I forgot entirely about the overnight oats, or muesli, as some call it (but not me because I don't even know how to pronounce it)...until one day a series of events happened that brought me to today, sharing this recipe with you.
A couple months ago, I read something on the internet (it's all true, every word on every page of the world wide web, you know) about the health benefits of chia seeds. And that brought back the memory of the bowl of overnight oats that my friend had shared with me. That day when I made my weekly trip to the grocery store, I was walking through the health food aisle when, lo and behold, the chia seeds were ON SALE! That was it. I grabbed them and put them in the cart before I could change my mind. I brought them home, looked up a few recipes online for overnight oats, and mixed up my first batch. The next morning, deliciousness ensued. I immediately contacted my ever-patient friend Meredith, who had been waiting for me to get on the overnight oats bandwagon for a while, and she gave me some additional tips that she'd discovered to further enhance the recipe, which I've tested for myself and consequently added to the completed recipe you see below. Overnight Oats
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (do not use instant or quick cooking oats)
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 and 1/3 cups almond milk (or any milk of your choice)
3 Tbsp. chia seeds
2 Tbsp. local honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup fresh fruit of your choice
Stir first 6 ingredients together in a medium size bowl until mixed. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Stir in fresh fruit just before serving.
Makes approximately 3-4 servings.
And that's it! Five minutes of your time in the evening = a delicious, nutritious breakfast in the morning, and it's easily packed if you eat breakfast at your desk at work, like I do most mornings. I've made this dish a dozen times since the first time, and every time I eat it at work or share it with someone, I've always been asked for the recipe. It's so tasty, quick to make and fills you up so you're not hungry and snacking before lunch.
Also, you can use frozen fruit instead of fresh fruit if that's what you have on hand, just be sure to add it the night before, instead of in the morning, to give the fruit time to defrost. You'll probably notice that the end result isn't quite as "set" the next the morning, due to the extra liquid from the defrosting fruit, but you should be able to combat this by just adding a little less milk in the beginning.
Source: This is the first recipe I tried and it ended up being the best one and the inspiration for my recipe, but the proportions have been adjusted and a few ingredients added based on my preferences and my friend's recommendations. (http://www.pepperlynn.com/2012/02/overnight-oats-two-ways/)
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