Zucchini-Lime Cheesecake Oatmeal

After trying to come up with an original zucchini recipe all week for the Blogger Secret Ingredient contest, I finally decided that simple was better and I might as well get the week’s breakfasts taken care of at the same time. Initially, I was planning to make dark chocolate zucchini oatmeal loosely based on a dark chocolate zucchini pudding cake I made last summer (but forgot to write down how!). But this lime thing just happened out of nowhere, and I went with it :-).

Ingredients

– 4 small zucchini

– 4 small apples

– 2 medium bananas, mashed

– zest and juice of 1/5 limes

– 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

– 1 tsp vanilla extract

– 1 tbsp cinnamon

– 1 tbsp coriander

– 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt

– 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta

– 1 cup old-fashioned oats, dry

– 1/2 cup milk or water (I used unsweetened Silk soy milk)

– 1 egg

Procedure

1.  Shred zucchini and apples into a large bowl.

2. Mix in all ingredients except for egg and liquid. Taste and add more spices if desired.

3. Beat egg into mixture, and pour into large pot.

4. Add liquid.

5. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until completely heated through and bubbly (don’t forget there’s an egg in there, so you need to be thorough with your cooking!).

6. Serve with desired toppings. I made a coconut cream cheese frosting by mixing equal parts part-skim ricotta and Greek yogurt with cinnamon, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp maple syrup, and a sprinkle of sweetened shredded coconut.

** This recipe made just over four cups of oatmeal, or four servings. Nutrition info per serving (not including toppings): 278.9 calories, 6.3 grams fat, 50.5 grams carbohydrates (7.7 grams fiber, 2.5 grams sugar), 9.7 grams protein **