The heat in Mumbai this summers has been incessant and in every single meal we're looking for things which are cooling and light. And the search starts at breakfast where fresh fruits and cold milk and cereals come to our rescue. I don't buy any prepared or processed cereals at all. Even the healthiest looking Muesli undergoes a fair bit of processing and is loaded with sugar and fat that is far from desirable and ideal. But there is one no cook oatmeal recipe that I turn to every single day to get the perfect start. Imagine a bowl of chilled rolled oats and yogurt, alternatively layered with cold fresh fruits and a tiny drizzle of honey on top. And the perfect for summer part is that you don't need to spend time in the kitchen cook it!

The only limitation of making this recipe in India is that rolled oats are not easy to find. But if you have access to rolled or steel cut oats, this is a perfect breakfast. The quick cooking oats available in most places dont respond well to the overnight soaking. They tend to become mushy and don't hold the texture that is expected in this recipe. Also, rolled or steel cut oats prepared like this have much lower GI. All you need to do is soak the oats at overnight in some skim milk and add a few drops of your favorite extract to it to add a bit of fresh aroma. In the morning, mix the soaked oats with low fat yogurt and layer with fruits of your choice and serve. It really takes 10 minutes to put together and it just right for busy mornings. To make things easier, you can prep the fruit the night before and that saves even more time in the morning.

In the Indian summers, mango is the perfect fruit for this recipe. It is sweet, full of goodness and sometimes I don't even need to add any honey as the mangoes are sweet enough by themselves. I have used several varieties of mangoes in my oatmeal all summer and they all work perfectly. Just make sure the mangoes are well ripened and not sour. The anti-oxidant rich berries add a slight tang, lightness and freshness to the sweet mangoes. If it is not possible to find fresh berries, feel free to used frozen, they taste just as good and make the work of prepping in the morning even easier. I have tried this with many fruits - apples and pears with cinnamon, banana with a dash of brown sugar and cinnamon, peaches and raspberries and even mangoes or berries alone and they all taste fantastic. I have several more combinations that I am looking to try and will definitely update the blog as I go.

This dish is a perfect example of eating clean. Whole grains, yogurt and fresh fruits without any cooking make for a wholesome dish. In order to up the nutrition value further and to add more flavor and texture, one can always add toasted nuts or seeds to it, sprinkle with a tsp of mini dark chocolate chips or top with toasted flaked coconut. Alternatively use fresh or dried fruits like figs and generously use flavors like cinnamon and cardamom to bring it together. Flavored yogurt can also be used to prepare this instead of plain but that adds to the sugar in the dish. That can be great alternative if the fruits being used are not seasonal and maybe less sweet than desired.

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup skim milk (or enough to soak the oats completely)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or any other flavor of choice)

400 gms (1 med container) slim/low fat yogurt

1 cup finely diced mangoes

1 cup frozen/fresh berries (I prefer mixed berries)

1/2 tsp honey per serving (optional)

Method:

1. Soak the oats in skim milk with Vanilla Extract overnight in the refrigerator. This can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days also.

2. In the morning, beat yogurt lightly with a whisk to make the texture smooth throughout. Mix the yogurt into the oats and set aside.

3. In individual serving bowls layer fruits and cover with the oats and yogurt mixture. Put another layer of fruits and top with remaining oats mixture. Drizzle with 1/2 tsp of honey per bowl. Serve chilled.