Wild Rice and Oat Raw Porridge

Those who live in exotic and tropical locales have it made when it comes to adopting a raw diet. It’s a lot easier when fresh fruit is virtually dripping from trees and the markets are overflowing with all manner of produce. We ‘peons’ of colder climes have never even seen some of that stuff. Ask a New Mexican what a rambutan or durian is and you’ll get a blank face staring back at you. Never heard of it. Consequently, it’s in places like this, where cold creeps in and settles like an unwelcome guest, that we need to get creative. We are beckoned from beyond the fruit bowl. And that’s how I came up with this wild rice and raw oat porridge.

Now, some people think ‘porridge’ and something like a gruel comes to mind. Maybe even with a bunch of smudge-faced waifs to complete the vision. Well, I’ll tell you, there’s more than enough kids here with perpetually dirty faces to make that part of the vision my own reality. But when it comes to the food… this is not that porridge. Add some beautiful berries and coconut puree to the oats and rice and you’ve practically got food porn.

Keeping the Cold Out

Years ago, when I owned a cafe, we used to have something like this on the menu and it was a big crowd-pleaser when the weather got blustery. That dish was warm of course but there’s no saying this can’t be too if you add in a short stint in the dehydrator. It’s not even cheating! Yet, even without getting the dehydrator involved, the rice and oats make for a meal that’s a little more ‘stick-to-the-ribs’ and that, somehow, has a warming effect.

Not to mention, calling it a porridge – even if it’s a raw porridge – is a little mind trick too. Who doesn’t want to feel like Goldilocks, finding that perfect bowl of porridge sitting on the table just for you? For us, that perfect bowl would just have to be raw porridge, wouldn’t it? And it’s very energizing too, so the one thing your inner Goldilocks won’t need is a bed to fall into afterwards. You can just go, go, go.

My Kind of Rice

The most wonderful trick is, with forbidden rice you don’t have to think about any of this too far in advance. This is the one kind of rice that will ‘bloom’ virtually overnight like a magic trick. Soak a bunch the afternoon before and in the morning it will pretty much be soft and ready to eat. Rinse, strain and use. If it’s not quite soft enough and you have to wait another day, it’ll still be worth the wait. Give it a few more rinses and, like Scarlett O’Hara, know that ‘tomorrow is another day’. That’s the day you’re going to get to have some delicious raw porridge!

RAW VEGAN RECIPE: Forbidden Rice and Oat Raw Porridge with Coconut Puree

1 1/2 cups Forbidden Rice (soaked overnight, strained and rinsed – blooms should have formed – meaning rice looks white edged)

3/4 cup raw oats

Flesh of one young thai coconut

berries of choice

maple syrup

Combine rice and oats in a large bowl.

Put flesh of coconut in a blender with just enough water (1/2 cup) to facilitate blending. Blend thoroughly to create a puree. It should not be completely smooth.

Pour coconut puree over rice mixture and toss together to blend into a raw porridge.

Generously add berries and toss lightly to combine.

Drizzle with maple syrup.

SERVES 2.

*With regard to the oats, most are not really raw so you really have to make sure. Raw oats are a great staple to have on hand for deserts and snacks as well.