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Whole Grain Cereal, cooked all night in the Crockpot (serves 4 to 6)

This is an easy way to start your day with a great breakfast, healthy and delicious, without much fuss. If you want to, you can skip the first step and just wash your grain right before you put it in the Crockpot. Soaking it improves digestibility, but it's not absolutely necessary. One more important tip: when you buy your whole grain, make sure you are not buying one that's used for sprouting grass for juicing. That kind of whole grain would not work, unless you plan to feed your cereal to a horse or a goat, since it's still wrapped in its husk and, even if you cooked it for two days, it would not be digestible, or even chewable, for humans.

PROCEDURE

1) In the morning, wash and pick clean of debris 1 cup of any hardy whole grain like rye, spelt, kamut, oats, barley or wheat berries. Leave the clean grain soaking, in water to cover, all day.

2) At night, before you go to bed, strain the grain and discard the soaking water. Place the grain in a Crockpot, on "auto" (whereby it switches automatically from high to low heat, once it reaches a certain temperature), with 5 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Place the lid on the Crockpot and let your cereal cook overnight. If your Crockpot only has "high" and "low" heat choices, choose "low".

3) In the morning, if the grain looks watery, remove the lid from your Crockpot, turn the heat up to "high" and continue to cook for a while longer, perhaps while you shower and dress. By the time you come back, after 15 minutes or so, your cereal will look creamy and is ready to be served.

4) Serve with maple syrup, a pat of butter, milk and/or cream, nut milk or soy milk. Or, if you prefer a savory breakfast, top with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, a handful of chopped parsley, some of your favorite grated cheese, a dash of salt and black pepper to taste.

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