Most of us think of oatmeal as a breakfast cereal, sweetened with brown sugar, raisins, bananas or berries. But there’s nothing inherently sweet about oats. They can just as well be incorporated into savory dishes. Which is what Grainful does with its line of steel cut meals and steel cut sides.

I tried three of Grainful’s vegan choices: Thai curry, Madras curry and jambalaya.

Grainful Thai curry

The Thai curry combines whole grain steel cut oats with coconut milk, massaman curry, tofu, green beans, baby corn and red bell peppers. It’s unusual, since curry is usually eaten over rice. But the oats work perfectly well for sopping up the sauce and small pieces of tofu and vegs. The frozen meal takes 25 minutes to heat in a conventional oven or four in a microwave. The Thai curry’s nutrient profile is quite good. One serving includes 5 grams of fiber, 10 grams of protein, 20% of the recommended dose of vitamin A, iron and calcium and 35% of vitamin C. All this, and only 5 grams of sugar. I found the 280-calorie meal a little on the light side, so supplemented it with a piece of wheat toast.

Grainful Madras curry

Grainful also offers pouches of steel cut sides. These are shelf-stable, rather than frozen. I thought the Madras curry worked well with steel cut oats rather than rice. My husband was harder to convince. When I asked him what he thought, he shrugged and said, “It tastes like oatmeal with curry mixed in.” Yellow with turmeric and sweet with plump golden raisins, this low-fat side has 190 calories per serving and includes 5 grams of fiber, six grams of protein and 10% of the recommended daily iron dose. I ate the curry as-is, but the package recommends adding extra veggies, tofu or (shudder) meat to make it more of dinner’s centerpiece.

Grainful jambalaya with added veggies

The jambalaya is a slightly spicy mix of oatmeal, dehydrated veggies and spices. This time I added extra veggies – zucchini, mini sweet peppers and snap peas. The jambalaya had a familiar taste of soups and mixes that include dehydrated bell peppers, celery and tomato, but I liked it. I especially appreciated the nutrient profile. A one-cup, 200-calorie serving contains 6 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein, 70% of your Vitamin A, 160% of Vitamin C and 20% of iron.

Grainful was founded by Chef Jeannine Sacco and President Jan Pajerski in Ithaca, New York. They were big oatmeal-for-breakfast enthusiasts. But one evening, Chef Jeannine started cooking and discovered she was out of pasta and rice. So she decided to sub steel cut oats in her jambalaya, to the delight of her dining audience. Grainful favors less-processed, high-fiber, high-protein steel cut over rolled oats.

If you like oats for breakfast, why not allow them into lunch and dinner?