For this first spice and herb post, let’s start with the no-brainer: cinnamon-topped steel-cut oatmeal. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can make this at home. Or, you can go to a fancy breakfast place and spend $10 or more. Either way, tweak it a tad to suit yourself, and it’s as tasty and tempting a dish as you can find.

Here’s a good explanation about the difference between groats, steel-cut oats and the varying kinds of rolled oats.

oatmealMy personal favorite: nutty and chewy steel-cut oats, which can be had for $1.49 a pound in bulk at health food stores as of this writing in January 2016. The lazy woman’s way to cook them is the eyeball method: combine however much oatmeal you want (1/2 cup for a very generous serving) with about three times as much water, in this case a cup and a half. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes or until the water boils away. Add cinnamon to taste, and a splash of half and half or yogurt.