Weird Recipe Wednesday: Chocolate Sweet Potato Oatmeal

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.


I think you'll agree that this concept is weird, that or creative.  Either way I couldn't resist trying it out for myself.  Sweet potatoes are shredded and stirred into oatmeal.  Oh, and the oatmeal has cocoa powder in it for a chocolaty boost.  Sweet potatoes, oats and chocolate, why not?

This concept came from Angela at Oh She Glows.  I've also tried her carrot cake oatmeal and thought it was a clever way to get some veggies in at breakfast.  (As if I don't eat enough carrots already.)  She also has unique recipes for overnight oats.  Instead of cooking the oatmeal you just stir the ingredients together and leave it in the fridge overnight. This makes for a quick grab and go breakfast if you're short on time in the mornings.  I've got some pumpkin gingerbread overnight oats in the fridge right now.  There are millions of things you can do with oatmeal, you just have to be creative.

The chocolate sweet potato oatmeal requires cooking over the stove top, which is much faster than one would expect.  Growing up the closest I got to cooking oatmeal was from those flavored instant oat packages.  Microwave the water, pour into your bowl and stir.  My brother and I had those super cool oatmeal bowls that change color when you add the hot water.  And we usually fought over who got which bowl.  The funny thing  is we rarely added the hot water anyway.  Yep, that's right, for some reason we liked to eat our oatmeal dry. WEIRD.  Anyway, cooking oatmeal over the stove really doesn't take too long.  Plus it won't boil over like it tends to in the microwave.

Raw sweet potatoes are shredded and then cooked with the oats until softened.  The texture was definitely different than your typical oatmeal.  The sweet potato shreds reminded me of the texture of shredded coconut, it wasn't bad, just different.  I could take or leave the chocolate on this one. (potentially a result of too much cookie dough) If you're in the mood for oatmeal but are bored with the packaged flavors then something like this might be your thing. The recipe is highly adaptable depending on your preferences.  Use more or less liquid depending on how thick you like your oatmeal.    You can make it with milk instead of water for a creamier version.  Adjust the sweetener to taste, you get the idea.

Chocolate Sweet Potato Oatmeal
adapted from Oh She Glows

Ingredients:
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
pinch salt
1 Tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1-1/4 cups water (or milk)
3/4 cup uncooked shredded sweet potato
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp agave or other sweetener, to taste

Instructions:
* In a medium saucepan, combine oats, ground flax seed, salt, baking cocoa and cinnamon.
* Stir in water and bring to a boil.  Reduced to medium and cook several minutes.
* Stir in shredded sweet potato and continue cooking and stirring until mixture has thickened.
* Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and sweetener to taste.


Food for Thought: "A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence."