Michelle Darmody: How to use oats for summer baking

Oats are inexpensive, healthy and can be delicious

If you find porridge heavy or too warm for these summer mornings, try Bircher muesli.

Oats are one of Ireland’s wonderful edible assets. They are inexpensive, healthy and can be very tasty. Oats, in various forms, have been a staple in the Irish diet for centuries, having been brought to the island by the ancient Celts. As a grain it tolerates rain quite well, so is very suited to our climate.

We eat porridge year-round in our family. I sometimes veer towards granola and yoghurt for a few days, or some toast and marmalade, but inevitably by the end of the week I revert back to a bowl of creamy porridge.