Baked oatmeal.

I've been in love with 101 Cookbooks for quite some time.
Beautiful photography.
Delicious vegetarian options.

For Mother's Day weekend, I recommend that we make the Baked Oatmeal recipe from Heidi Swanson's new book, Super Natural Every Day. The recipe was floating around the interweb. As the weekend started and much to my surprise, this gal and this guy gave me the book for my birthday [Thank you, Duluth t.baugh contingent!].

The recipe was easy and delicious. Give it a try. FYI...it goes great with scrambled eggs.

Baked Oatmeal [originally found at Lottie + Doof; from Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen by Heidi Swanson]

• 2 c rolled oats
• 1/2 c walnut pieces, toasted and chopped
• 1/3 c natural cane sugar or maple syrup, plus more for serving [we used real maple syrup, but didn't add any once served]
• 1 t aluminum-free baking powder [we didn't have aluminum-free. oops.]
• 1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• Scant 1/2 t fine-grain sea salt
• 2 c milk
• 1 lg egg
• 3 tb unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly [cool it until completely cool - ours did a bit of coagulating, not that it mattered]
• 2 t pure vanilla extract
• 2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 c huckleberries, blueberries, or mixed berries [we used frozen mixed berries]

+Preheat the oven to 375F with a rack in the top third of the oven. Generously butter the inside of an 8-inch square baking dish [we used an oval shaped baking dish...see the picture].

+In a bowl, mix together the oats, half the walnuts, the sugar, if using, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

+In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, if using, the milk, egg, half of the butter, and the vanilla.

+Arrange the bananas in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle two-thirds of the berries over the top. Cover the fruit with the oat mixture. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture over the oats. Gently give the baking dish a couple thwacks on the countertop to make sure the milk moves through the oats. Scatter the remaining berries and remaining walnuts across the top.

+Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is nicely golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Drizzle the remaining melted butter on the top and serve. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar or drizzle with maple syrup if you want it a bit sweeter [no need to add anything].

Serves 6 generously, or 12 as part of a larger brunch spread [ours fed 7 adults, some had 2 servings + 1 kiddo]

Mottainai.