I used to live on Division street amongst Chicago's best Puerto Rican restaurants. After having Ezra, my son, I was HOOKED on avena de coco from Nellie's restaurant. I had my husband get it for me every morning, no exaggeration. I have tried recreating this so many times but of course, it never was quite as good as Nellie's. UNTIL this morning!
I woke up starving (per usual) and since the weather is starting to change and its a bit cooler, I thought back to the wonderful mornings where I would have Derek walk out in the freezing cold and go and get me my avena :) I decided, since we no longer live in walking distance and I had a can of Goya's Leche de Coco, I would give recreating it another shot.
Now, I know that Nellie's is probably loaded with sugar, cream, and all the stuff that makes us oh so happy, but I still want to leave all that stuff out and eat as clean as I can, so I stuck to making mine vegan. I still added some stevia in the raw, full fat coconut milk, and sweetened coconut flakes, so yes it is still indulgent and I have a feeling that's why is tastes so good :)
You can sub out the full fat coconut milk for unsweetened, fat-free, but it will taste much different and won't have the same feel as the classic avena.
Also feel free to add, coconut water with full fat coconut milk, and gauge the amount of liquid you put in on your personal preference on how thick or thin you like your oatmeal. Nellie's is very milky, not thick at all, so I add ed more milk as I went to ensure mine was also nice and thin.
Ingredients
Half a can of full fat coconut milk
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)
2 Tbs stevia in the raw
2 tsp imitation coconut extract
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (or the rest of coconut milk can)
Optional: Sweetened coconut flakes to taste
Procedure
Boil your coconut milk then add oats, cinnamon and stevia. Feel free to add more coconut milk or almond milk at this point depending how thick you like your Avena. I like mine thin so I usually add more at this point.
Stir and let cook 5 minutes.
Once oats are fully cooked, put them into blender and blend for 5 seconds on liquefy.
Pour into bowl of choice and add some almond milk or more coconut milk depending on how "watery" you want your avena. I like mine to be nice and thin. Add more cinnamon, stevia, and coconut flakes to taste and enjoy!