Have You Tried Savoury Porridge Yet?

 

Apparently, the latest health food trend is savoury porridge. Yep, that’s porridge with veg in. Weird, huh? Except that it’s not that weird. The Scots have been making their porridge with water and salt rather than milk and sugar since I don’t know when and I quite like it for a change. So when I saw Blogger of the Year Healthy and Psyched post a photo of her Zoats or Zucchini Oats, I decided to give it a go. We used her recipe as a template for the first try then we made another two recipes of my own. My husband wasn’t impressed! But he is a traditionalist and is very hard to shift when it comes to new culinary ideas. I liked them. They are extremely filling and satisfying, I didn’t need to eat again until halfway through the afternoon. Plus, you’re eating a portion of your day’s veg with your breakfast which gets your day off to a great start.

So don’t turn your nose up and click onto the next post. Give it a try at least once and stir up your breakfast routine a little! You don’t have to have it just for breakfast of course. It makes great comfort food on a chilly day. I promise you you can’t taste the courgette, it just adds a little texture and extra nutrients. It would be good for a weaning child, without all the extras of course!

Here’s the first effort:

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Oats

1/2 Cup Almond Milk (try making your own recipe here)

1/4 Cup Water

1/2 Courgette/Zucchini, grated

1 Tbsp Chia Seeds (optional)*

Optional Flavourings – Choose your own combination:

2 Medjool Dates, chopped

1 Tbsp Cacao Powder*

1 Dsp Lucuma Powder (it has a mild malted flavour)*

1 Dsp Açaí Powder*

1 Tbsp Coconut Palm Sugar*

1 Tsp Wheatgrass Powder if you want to go hardcore!

Dried coconut to sprinkle on top

Extra milk if liked

Method

Warm the oats, milk, water and grated courgette in a pan, stirring

Cook for about 5 minutes until it starts to soften and thicken.

We then added a chopped Medjool date for sweetness, saving the other to put on the finished porridge, and cooked for a couple more minutes.

In went some chia seeds to thicken it up, for healthy fats and protein and because I like them, but you don’t need them. Add a little more milk or water if necesary.

Next was cacao powder – the original recipe uses a lot more than here, but I found it too much, especially first thing in the morning.

Pour into a bowl and top with your favourite fruit. We used Blueberries and Red Grapes.

Sprinkle with coconut and extra date, add a little more milk if liked.

….

I’ll post the next 2 recipes separately: you’ll never guess what’s in the first one!

To sweeten the pudding, here’s a classic sketch from the BBC series ‘Porridge’ with the late Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. (If you’re reading via email, you need to click onto the blog).

*http://www.therawchocolatecompany.com/

Copyright: Chris McGowan