[Sometimes, you just want to eat something now. I’ve decided to offer a mini-post every once in a while, for a dish that comes together incredibly quickly or else is so easy to make that no recipe is required. Here’s today’s “Flash in the Pan.” (For other FitP recipes, see “Categories” at right).]
Over the past year or so, it seems that a bowl of humble oatmeal has catapulted to star status on food blogs. Not just any oatmeal, either; old-fashioned, cooked, steel-cut oatmeal–but with fancy add-ins.
When I first started this blog near the end of 2007, I wrote about one of my favorite breakfasts: baked oats. Back then, I couldn’t have imagined all the recent variations on steel-cut oatmeal that have since materialized, from those with almond butter stirred into them (fabulous–it creates an incredibly creamy cereal); to blended oats (gotta love the ultra-smooth texture!); to carrot cake oats (with carrots and “frosting”); and even spinach oats, with their vibrant emerald hue (and while I love my greens, I can’t say I’m quite ready for Shrek-inspired oats just yet).
So I’m guessing that someone has already posted about my new love, zucchini bread oats, but since I haven’t come across the recipe, I’m sharing it here (and hey, if you’ve already posted about it on your own blog, let me know!).
I’ve been enjoying this breakfast about once a week over the past month or so, what with the abundance of zucchini at the markets these days. Not only is this a great way to enjoy those overgrown 10-inch zukes*, but the grated zucchini softens and fairly melts into the oats when cooked so that it’s barely discernible and virtually tasteless in the mix. And as a bonus, it adds fiber, moisture, Vitamins A, C, and K, as well as good amounts of magnesium, manganese, and potassium to your morning meal.
“Mum, we’d be happy to give those spinach oats a try–the color wouldn’t bother us at all. Besides, since we’re color blind, we won’t even notice the green. Oh, and we probably wouldn’t notice it in any case, given that we’d lick the bowl clean within about 2.5 seconds.”
Zucchini Bread Oatmeal
Infinitely adaptable, this recipe is great when you’ve got leftover cooked grains, extra zucchini, or just feel like a hearty, tummy-warming breakfast.
Per serving:
2/3 cup (160 ml) water or soy, almond, or rice milk
pinch fine sea salt
1/3 cup (80 ml) dry steel-cut oatmeal
1/4 medium zucchini, grated very fine (use smallest holes on box grater, or “fine” blade on food processor)
handful chopped pecans
1/2-1 tsp (2.5-5 ml) cinnamon, to your taste
pinch nutmeg or 1/8 tsp (.5 ml) ground ginger, if desired
1 heaping Tbsp (20 ml) natural smooth almond butter, or nut/seed butter of your choice
handful raisins, if desired
1 Tbsp (15 ml) agave nectar or maple syrup, or 5 drops stevia liquid
In a heavy bottomed pot, bring the water and salt to a boil over high heat. Add the oats, lower the heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice (if the bottom begins to scorch, add a bit more liquid).
After 15 minutes, add the zucchini, nuts, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir well, then cover again and cook for another 5 minutes. (Again, if the oats are too dry, add a bit more liquid).
Remove from heat, stir in the almond butter. Stir before serving with sweetener of your choice and more milk, if desired. Makes one serving.
NOTE: This is not a zucchini-flavored oatmeal; you won’t really taste any zucchini in this (though you might detect a few shreds here and there). The veggie is just a silent nutritional bonus!
Variation: You can substitute about 3/4 cup (180 ml) of another cooked grain of your choice for the oats and water. In that case, either reheat the grains in about 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk before adding the remaining ingredients, or blend the grain, nut butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk in a food processor before warming gently for 7-10 minutes; stir in the zucchini and then allow to warm through before serving.
Never miss a recipe–or a comment from The Girls! Click here to subscribe to RickiHeller.com via email. You’ll get recipes as soon as they’re posted, plus cookbook updates and news about upcoming events! (“We love subscribers, Mum. . . almost as much as we love treats!”)
* Sorry, people who found this post via those depraved Google search terms–I’m talking about food.
Oh, and stay tuned next time for a yummy giveaway! 🙂
This post is being shared at Cara’s Love Your Heart event!
© 2009 Diet, Dessert and Dogs
Last Year at this Time: Muhammara
Hi! I'm Ricki, cookbook author, professional recipe developer, holistic nutritionist and anti-candida crusader. Let me show you how easy it is to eat plant-based, sugar-free, gluten free food that tastes great! 
What a fun breakfast!! Definitely a great way to use up all the fresh “zukes” in season right now 😀
I’m totally making this ASAP! I have a HUGE Zucchini just waiting to be used up for this =)
Mmmm…this looks yummy. I haven’t had zucchini bread in ages, and I don’t know why not!
Oh holy yumminess!
YAY! Thanks. *Bookmarked*
Zucchini bread oatmeal!?!? That looks and sounds amazing! More like a creamy, warming dessert than a breakfast. Such beautiful pictures, as always. Thank you for this recipe, I can’t wait to give it a try!
for a long time I’ve dreamt that one day I will learn to love porridge – this idea is wonderfully new to me – gives my dreams a psychedelic vividness! sounds a great way to start the day
I would never have thought of that Ricki. My thoughts will turn to oats when winter arrives here in a few months.
Wow, what a treat! I’ve never seen such an amazing creation, you are so creative! I just started eating steel cut oats on occasion, but I’ll probably be more likely to eat them in the winter (I’m a cereal person). I will keep this recipe in mind!
I’ve thought about making zucc-bread oats, but I didn’t have a good recipe (my last attempt at zucc bread failed). So I’m bookmarking YOUR recipe and am excited to try it soon!
I wonder if Molly and Henry would like oatmeal…
Love,
Katie
Mmm I wish I’d read this post an hour ago when I threw zucchini into a tofu scramble. This is definitely making a breakfast sometime this week!
Girl! I think you are on to something here! This sounds just like something I would LOVE! I also have WAY too much zucchini this year and am looking for ways to use it up. I just posted a double dark chocolate zucchini bread on my blog. Oh, is it good, and not too evil.
Have a delicious day!
Dana Zia
http://danazia.wordpress.com/
This must be delicious! Yay for new ways to enjoy oatmeal!
It’s always nice to include vegetables in breakfast! A great start to the day.
oooh i just picked up a zucchini in my csa!! and its time to bring back oatmeal mornings!! so making this soon!
When I first saw this recipe, I thought maybe it was the recipe I’ve been searching for. Out in Pennsylvania, we used to go to a diner that served baked oatmeal – it was like a thick sweet oat cake that was served with warm milk. Even though this isn’t exactly what I was looking for, you’ve totally inspired me to add zucchini to whatever baked oatmeal recipe I find. Thanks for the idea!
I was just thinking about doing this!!! A take off of the carrot cake oats. Your looks delicious! I may just have to have this one tonight for dinner!!!
Oh wow 🙂 I am obsessed with zucchini–I always have been and will eat it just about any way…I even love it raw!–so this is right up my ally! It sounds delicious. I will hope for a cool morning one day soon when I can bring myself to turn on the stove in my non-ACed apt and make this!
Thanks!
Courtney
I wish I had seen this yesterday! I had some leftover zucchini already shredded and no idea what to do … i ended up eating it with some pesto – delicious, but this would have been better!
Looks healthy and delicious! Breakfast is my favorite because you can make things healthy and sweet 🙂
This looks really good. Can you imagine I’ve never had zucchini bread?! I do love my zukes though..can’t wait to try it =)
love the idea. that sounds like amazing comfort food!
Oooh, oatmeal is pretty much my favorite food ever. I have it for breakfast every morning and am always looking for fun variations.
Oh this looks awesome. And you could use carrots in place of the zucchini. Oh YUM.
I spy green emerald specks in that bowl…even without spinach. 😉
Sounds delicious. I must make this soon!
Oh yes, I would totally take a bowl of this!
Great idea! I like how you can do so many things with oatmeal. I tried a carrot cake oatmeal a while ago.
I <3 zucchini bread. This sounds awesome!
I am totally going to make this for breakkie this morning.
OK. I made this this morning. Not bad. A nice way to use up zucs.
Yum!
I adore oatmeal, it’s my favourite breakfast for much of the year (in the summer I tend to make smoothies for bfast). I can eat oatmeal every single morning and not get sick of it. I also love it with a bit of coconut milk, half a banana, and some cardamom.
I always love the idea of sneaking in extra veggies into break though! Great idea! Some ginger in this would be really yummy too…
What a great way to have oatmeal – something I never would have thought of – and since I love both steel-cut oats AND zucchini – wow! what a combo! Thanks for the idea!
ooooh, hooray! i looooove zucchini bread & i looove my oatmeal – i can’t believe i’ve never thought to make something like this. i’ve tried (and loved) the carrot cake oatmeal, but i think zucchini bread oatmeal sounds so awesome! i need to get some more steel cut oats as i have the regular gluten-free rolled oats right now, but i’ve been wanting to switch it up. looks like this is the kick in the pants i need to grab some! w00t! thanks, Ricki!
Oh wow Ricki you have a talent for making a bowl of oatmeal look as good as a piece of cake!! I’ll have to try this version out sometime.
Thanks, Ricki 🙂 That is such a sexy bowl of oatmeal 🙂 I can’t wait for cold(er) weather.
Now that I’ll be able to properly simmer again, hopefully I can make a bowl of my own! I’ve burned more “butter” than I’m comfortable with admitting.
I have porridge every morning, make up my own mix of grains, seeds, oats and dried fruit and this morning I added grated zucchini which I’d bought from the farmers market at the weekend and was feeling pressure to use – I loved it! I never would’ve thought of doing this but it was so tasty. I may not even make the cakes and bread that I’d planned, just save it for my morning breakfast.
Hi Ricki, I made the your date cake recipe gluten-free and it is so good it could make the weak of heart faint it is so delicious. It came out the texture of a thick brownie and I am guessing that your original had a lighter texture? Nevertheless, I am taking these for my needlework meeting tomorrow afternoon. The girls are sure to love them. And thanks for such grest recipes!
I always skip breakfast and eat cereal for dessert, so this would be a great dessert for me. I made some savory oatmeal a while back and blogged about it. I love oats in all forms.
Well, I haven’t seen zucchini in oats yet, so I’m very intrigued! Sounds great.
What a great idea! I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this… But I’m so glad you did. Brilliant!
what a fabulous idea!!! if i can tear myself away from your zucchini muffins 🙂
This is a great idea for someone like me who eats 6 servings of veggies a day! Thanks!
That’s a great idea Ricki!
what a neat idea, it seems like I always end up with to many zuc’s this is great
!!! oh my god, I want to dive into those oats, that is so brilliant! I bet they’re so toasty and sweet vegetable-y… eek, I want to try this morning except I’m such a stickler for oats with plain banana that it’ll take a special day for me to put green in the bowl. But someday it’ll happen and I’ll thank you for the idea. 😀
Beautiful pictures, Ricki! And it sounds like a lovely breakfast, too.
WOW, great idea! YUM!
Just to let you know I am still having this everyday – I just love it – http://spatulasatdawn.blogspot.com/2009/10/have-courgettes-will-bake-and-make.html
I found your site by doing a search for some new anti candida recipes. I’m so glad I found this site. I just finished Zucchini Bread Oatmeal for breakfast. It’s amazing! This is definately a keeper.
Fantastic! I made this recipe using rolled oats this morning and was stunned by how much I enjoyed it (I’ve never been much of a zucchini person)! I posted about your recipe on my blog (and linked to your recipe). Thanks!
Thanks so much, Lauren! I’m heading over to check it out. 😀