To Oat, or not to Oat?

The Little Kitchen were generously sent a few Oatly samples to try as part of our healthy eating plan.  Oatly says it is made entirely from oats, which is one of the most beneficial foods you can eat.  For those who don't know, oats contain a balance of protein, carbohydrates and vegetable-based, unsaturated fats; containing fibre, basically it's good for your stomach and heart.

Oatly is a great alternative for people who want to eat naturally healthy food and doesn't contain milk or soya, so good news for those intolerant, however, if like Kate, you are intolerant to oats, then Oatly is probably a no-go.

I attempted to try out a few of the recipes on the Oatly website (http://www.oatly.co.uk/), however as we are currently a blender down, my choices were limited.  Instead, I thought I would go back to basics and see what the drinks tasted like on their own.  The original Oatly looks a bit what I can only describe as dirty milk.  However, don't let that put you off, it tastes just like milk with a dashing of oat flavour.  This all sounds like obvious stuff, but you'd be surprised at how strange it is to try this for the first time.  I had this in my cereal, and even made a scrambled egg with it, which albeit made my egg look a bit ill but tasted exactly the same as you would if using standard milk.  I even used it in my porridge, and if you like the taste of oats, then this is definitely the thing for you.

The chocolate drink can be consumed either hot or cold, used to make a coffee or a chocolate milkshake, this drink is the more accessible one for everyday drinkage on its own.

The cream alternative, for me, is my favourite.  I rarely use, or like to use cream when cooking just because it feels quite fatty to eat, so the Oatly Alternative to Cream is perfect.  It will even go nicely with strawberries, ideal if you want to re-live Wimbledon...or the whole of Summer in fact.

The only thing that holds it back is that the new design doesn't really help to make Oatly more appealing, if anything it still makes it look quite a specialised drink.  And you have to like the taste of oats.  Oatly is a brilliant alternative to milk or soya drinks, the healthy factors are definitely what makes Oatly better than the rest.

...Oatly Revisited

I had some Oatly cream leftover so decided to concoct a carbonara style dish fused with an oriental mix.  Basically, I got home from work and found what was left in my fridge; bacon lardons, stir fry veg, pasta and Oatly.  I must say, I have a habit of mixing up ingredients together, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - this one definitely works!  Here's the result: