Zucchini Oats | Zoats!

Ok – I REFUSE to let circa 2016 diet culture steal zoats from me. Zucchini oats are the BEST and just because I’m anti diet-culture, doesn’t mean I’m anti-veggie. I love vegetables, and zucchini oatmeal is an amazing way to get some early morning greens in a huge bowl of comforting oatmeal.

(Also to clarify, I’m anti-diet culture but pro-body autonomy – which you’ll find is the stance a lot of health advocates have. It’s all about how YOU want to treat your body, and not being influenced by biased marketing. But it’s v nuanced and tbh we are just here to talk about oats, so I’ll save it for another blog post!)

Now Justine in college was all hyped up on zoatmeal, but then when I was working on my relationship with food I had to take a step back from it and be like – ok do I really like this? And it took a few years to return to it, but now in the summer, zucchini oatmeal is my favorite way to use up any zucchinis that are about to go bad!

What you’ll need for the zucchini oatmeal:

Ingredients are short and sweet – and of course you can feel free to add on and make it your own! It’s all about adding more not less <3

• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 2 cups water
• 250 grams zucchini about 1 medium one
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• pinch of salt

How to make the zoats!

Now it’s all about patience for this one – you can do it either on the stove or in the microwave, but since zucchini has a lot of moisture, you want to give the oats enough time to cook, absorb the moisture and expand!

Here’s how to do it both ways:

If using a microwave:

• Slice the ends of your zucchini and use a microplane grater to finely grate the entire vegetable. Set that aside
• Add the 2/3 cup oats and 2 cups water to a very large bowl. Microwave this for 1-2 minutes (depending on the strength of your microwave)
• Add 1/2 of the zucchini to the oats, stir and put in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, or until the oatmeal starts to expand and puff up (stop microwaving when it looks like the bowl is about to overflow).
• Stir and add the remaining zucchini, stir to full incorporate. Microwave again for 2-3 minutes, or until the oatmeal begins to expand again. The key to thick oatmeal is letting is bubble and look like it might overflow, then stopping it right beforehand.
• When the oatmeal has thickened, remove from the microwave and add in the maple syrup and salt (the salt will help the sweetness!)
• And go crazy with the toppings – I like chocolate granola or any nut butter, but it’s really up to you!

If using the stovetop:

• Slice the ends of your zucchini and use a microplane grater to finely grate the entire vegetable. Set that aside.
• Add the 2/3 cup oats and 2 cups water to a large pot, bring to a simmer.
• Add in 1/2 of the shredded zucchini and cook on medium heat (simmering, almost a soft boil) for 2-3 minutes or until the oats start to thicken.
• Add in the rest of the zucchini and continue to cook until the oats have expanded and thickened (about 3-4 more minutes).
• Remove the oats from the heat, add the maple syrup and salt and stir to combine.
• Transfer to another bowl and add your favorite toppings!

https://youtu.be/aFlSEBNFhKE

And that’s it for this breakfast oatmeal recipe! If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making <3

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you!