We just returned from an incredible vacation in Palm Springs. Blue skies, 90 degrees, warm pools, margaritas, mermaid Barbies … yeah, I’ve gotta admit to far more Barbie than margarita, considering our preschooler was in tow, but nonetheless. Ahhhhh.

Here in Seattle, winter wasn’t necessarily the coldest, but it was certainly a wet one. Luckily, the sun came out for our first couple of days back, and I’m just experiencing spring fever all around.

I created this Toasted Steel-Cut Oats with Coconut & Tropical Fruits in mid-January, when the world was much more gray, and food with a tropical vibe was feeling a bit like salvation.

The super-simple oatmeal itself doesn’t necessarily need to be covered in tropical fruit, but it’s certainly a nice addition. The base recipe for the oats is a bit of a discovery in itself – creamy and full of flavor. One of the secrets is to toast your steel-cut oats in a pinch of coconut oil before you start simmering it. This really helps bring out the toasty flavor of the oats – a bit of a game-changer when it comes to the steel-cut variety.

Then, the oats are simmered with coconut milk and water, and flavored with a bit of vanilla at the end of the process. I try to add very little sweetener to my morning oats, but I found a tablespoon of pure maple syrup added to the whole batch made a nice difference.

And finally, the toppings. Nuts, raisins, seeds … really anything goes. But this combo of mango, papaya, and coconut is pretty dang nice. Sunshine on the table, if not in the sky.

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