Engine 2’s One Dish Baked Oatmeal Crisp

I’ve been re-reading some of my older books including The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn and The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook by Dr. John A. McDougall and Mary McDougall. I highly respect Dr. McDougall as a true pioneer in the field of achieving health through a plant-based diet and I strongly suggest reading any or all of his books. Rip Esselstyn is the son of the famous Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. (Ex-President Bill Clinton’s physician). Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr. has been successfully treating his heart patients with a plant-based diet at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic for quite some time. Rip’s book “The Engine 2 Diet” documents the success of his co-workers, Texas firefighters, after 28 days of following Rip’s suggested plant-based diet. I strongly recommend this wonderful book.

Rip Esselstyn and Dr. John McDougall are strong advocates of a whole foods plant-based diet for health; but, more significantly, they advocate diets with no added oils, zero cholesterol and virtually no fat. Although I do cook with and consume small amounts of added oils and fats, I do believe that Dr. McDougall’s and Rip’s way is the best way to achieve optimal health. I found this great post on the website of engine2diet, dated June 14, 2012, entitled “One Dish Baking Meals.” I was drawn to the recipes in this post because they are all one dish meals meant to be eaten throughout the week. Rip stated that his family often makes these dishes on Sunday to last throughout the week. This, to me, is very useful information!

Today, I made the One Dish Oatmeal Crisp. I used a large Pyrex baking dish and the berries from my CSA which I previously froze because I had so many. Since I had so many ingredients in my baking dish, my oatmeal crisp took a lot longer to bake than the recipe’s suggested 35 minutes (mine baked for just over one hour). When I first tried the oatmeal crisp, I thought it may have been too bland to be blogworthy; but when I mixed the oatmeal and berries in my bowl with a touch of Stevia, ground flax seeds and a sprinkle of cinnamon, the dish came to life.

I think that this recipe provides a great way to have a healthy breakfast or snack at hand throughout the week. You could add dried fruits, seeds or whatever you wish to your oatmeal crisp each day. It could be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week too. I love the Pyrex baking dishes with the plastic snap-on covers for storage as shown in my photo below the recipe. You can use any size baking dish you want for this recipe. If you have a large family, simply use a larger baking dish. If you are cooking for one or two, you will want to use a smaller baking dish.

ENGINE 2’s ONE DISH BAKED OATMEAL CRISP

Ingredients:

Frozen fruit (enough to layer a baking dish)

Quick-cooking oats (enough to cover the frozen fruit by one inch in the baking dish)

No oil/unsweetened non-dairy milk, as required (you can also do half water/half non-dairy milk if you like…I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk only)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a baking dish layer the following:

1 layer of frozen fruit

1 layer of quick-cooking oats (enough to cover the frozen fruit by one inch in the baking dish)

Next, pour non-dairy milk over the oats so that the oats are well covered. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil so that nothing overflows into the oven. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F. for about 35 minutes or until the non-dairy milk has absorbed into the oats (there shouldn’t be any liquid).

Enjoy!! As previously stated, this will last in the fridge for one week. I love the pyrex baking dishes with the snap-on covers…