4 Super Nutritious Gluten-Free Slow-Cooker Porridge Recipes

Growing up in the 50s and 60s in wintry Rural Saskatchewan, Canada, I believe that most farm kids took in a breakfast that included either oatmeal or cream of wheat or some other such hot cereal variety. My mother was a big promoter (at least in our family) of the benefits of eating oatmeal porridge. She said it "stuck to your ribs" or some like anatomically-unlikely statement. We ate it with a generous coating of brown sugar and milk. Some days it tasted like a lovely creamy pudding, possibly even a little too decadent for breakfast, and other days it was dry-lumpy, cold, and gritty.

When I attended boarding school (technically, a convent) at age 11, the morning porridge was an oatmeal gruel... heavy on the water and thin on the oats (think Dickens' "Oliver Twist"). I was also introduced to cream of wheat cereal there. I didn't much like it, because I am a fan of creamy texture, and inspite of it being called "cream" of wheat, it was actually a sort of gritty, taste-less white concoction, not at all creamy.

When I married, my German mother-in-law dazzled me with her wonderful creamy oatmeal, made in a double boiler.

Over the years I have discovered that there are other ways to prepare breakfast porridges that sometimes don't even contain oats (and certainly not wheat) and that are healthier, heartier, and definitely in the "comfort foods" category. And I find that the slow-cooker or crock-pot is by far the easiest method of putting together a yummy, nutritious breakfast meal with a minimum of morning stress. Because I am gluten-sensitive and vegan, the following recipes are designed to use gluten-free ingredients and are dairy- and egg-free.

I hope you enjoy the recipes that follow. Two are what you might call "traditional" and two are a little more exotic. Enjoy!

Just like you might look for any excuse to use your grandmother's "best china" or to wear a favourite dress, you will look for any excuse to cook up this delicious, dessert-like take on traditional oats.

Tools needed:

• Slow-cooker or Crock-pot with low setting

Ingredients:

• 2 C. Steel-cut Gluten-free Oats
• 2 T. Chia seed
• 1/4 C. unsweetened Coconut shreds
• Handful of dried Cranberries
• 4 Turkish dried Apricots, unsulphured, chopped
• Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt
• 6-8 C. Water
• Coconut or Almond Milk
• splash of Maple Syrup (optional)
• Chopped Raw Walnuts OR Hemp Hearts

Directions (Night Before):

• Combine Oats, Chia seed, Coconut shreds, Cranberries, Apricots and Salt in Water in Slow-Cooker or Crock-Pot.
• Turn on to Low Heat.
• Stir with a wooden spoon for about 10-15 minutes until the Chia seed is beginning to gel and is not clumped but absorbed into the rest of the ingredients
• Put on the Lid and leave until morning
• Stir when you take the lid off to serve
• Spoon into bowls and pour on Almond Milk and a splash of Maple Syrup (or other sweetener or not).
• Sprinkle on chopped Walnuts and/or Hemp Hearts (both high in healthy Omega-3s)

When you cook up corn meal with water it turns into a thick viscous material called "polenta". The original porridge here is still fairly moist early in the morning and will turn into Polenta as more water evaporates. I put the remainder of our porridge into a small glass baking pan and put it into the freezer with plastic wrap over it. The next day we cut the thawed polenta into squares and fried it as you would pancakes on a griddle. Another hot breakfast, served up with maple syrup!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 C. medium or coarse ground Cornmeal

• 6-8 C. Water

• Pinch Celtic Salt

• 1/2 C. chopped dried figs & Raisins

• Almond Milk or Soy Yogurt

• Walnut pieces

• Maple syrup

Directions:

• Combine Cornmeal, Water, Salt and dried Fruit in a 4 qt slow-cooker or crock-pot

• Cover and cook on Low 6 hours

• Pour on a little Almond Milk or spoon on some Soy Yogurt.

• Crown with Walnuts or Hemp Hearts when porridge is ready to serve.

• Spoon into serving bowls and dizzle with Maple syrup.

This is one of the "exotic" porridges I referred to-- a version of "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold". It can be eaten throughout the day as a rest from rich foods, a light cleanse. It is delicious and a nice change-up from the sweet porridges.

Ingredients:

• 1 C. short grain Brown Rice

• 1/4 cup firm Brown Lentils (not red lentils, which will turn into mush)

• 3 Green Tea bags (Macrobiotic purists might use loose tea in a sort of bouquet garni cheesecloth rig-up, but tea bags are by the far the easiest)

• 1/4 teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt

• 6 C. Water

Directions:

• Rinse the brown rice in cold water and discard floaters.
• Put Lentils, Salt and Rice into slow-cooker
• Add teabags, and pour Water over top.
• Turn to Low Heat and put on Lid.
• Take out the tea bags first
• Stir and serve. It might be a little soupy but it will be comforting to the tummy.
• You may want to add in some salty sesame seeds (gomashio), tamari sauce, umiboshi plum pickle, or miso. I dissolved a little miso in the sauce in my bowl and then added my porridge to that, mixing it up. So tasty and comforting!

This is another gluten-free savory porridge that some might recognize from a long-ago Macrobiotic Cooking Class (although they probably used brown rice or millet instead of the Quinoa). This porridge is a satisfying and pleasant way to start your day.

Ingredients:

• 1 pc Kombu sea vegetable

• 1 Yellow Onion, chopped fine

• 2 stalks Celery, chopped fine

• 1 C. Kuri Squash, peeled and chopped (or other squash)

• 1/2 C. Quinoa

• 8 C. Water

• 2-3 green onions, sliced thin on the diagonal

• Miso

Directions:

• Layer Kombu, Onion, Celery, Squash, and Quinoa in slow cooker.
• Gently add in Water.
• Turn cooker to Low and put on the lid.
• In the morning, turn off the cooker. Add miso (to taste) to your porridge bowl and mix in some of the liquid from the porridge. Stir to dissolve. Add in the rest of the porridge serving and enjoy!
• (Makes about 6 servings and is appropriate for all meals)