Somehow, though I am loath to repeat dinner recipes (so many new foods to try!), I dig in—with gusto—to the exact same breakfast every weekday in the winter: oatmeal with apples, walnuts, and brown sugar.

This recipe won’t totally unseat my oats. But it has created a spot for itself in my winter breakfast rotation (of, now, precisely two recipes). It has all the good qualities of my dear oatmeal—warm, filling, cooks while I shower—plus offers the chance to eat something tropical-ish while I stare out at a decidedly un-tropical February ice storm.

Note: you need to soak the rice overnight before cooking.

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Coconut black rice breakfast porridge

Serves 4-6
Adapted from Amy Chaplin’s At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen

Ingredients

2 cups forbidden black rice (at Asian grocers, Whole Foods, or Amazon)
1 1/2 cups light coconut milk
3 cups milk or almond milk
2 cups water
pinch of salt
sliced banana
unsweetened coconut flakes
raw almonds (bashed, slivered, or sliced)
maple syrup

Instructions

Place rice in a big bowl. Cover with a couple of inches of water. Soak overnight.

The next morning, drain and rinse the rice. Place it in a medium-sized saucepan along with the coconut milk, milk, water, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to lowest setting, and simmer for 35-45 minutes. (Watch it as it gets closer to the end to make sure it doesn’t burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.) At the end of the cooking time, check to make sure the rice is soft to the bite. Add milk to make the porridge looser, if you prefer.

Take porridge off heat, dish into bowl, and serve topped with sliced banana, coconut flakes, almonds, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

When I have this as leftovers, I like to dish a serving of rice into my bowl and reheat with a bit of extra milk, drizzling a bit of coconut milk on top when it comes out of the microwave.