Chocolate Power Porridge
Chocolate Power Porridge
We’ve probably said this somewhere before, but oatmeal is an amazing vessel for putting all kinds of nourishing ingredients into our kiddos. Who doesn’t like chocolate oatmeal? It feels like a treat, tastes like dessert, and packs a ton of nutrition to power our littles through their busy mornings (and us too parents, of course).
You’ll find the usual suspects here: hemp hearts, chia seeds, collagen — but the game changing thing about this recipe is that its base is a mixture of oats and cauliflower. That’s right … C-A-U-L-I-F-L-O-W-E-R! You’d never know it either. It cooks down and becomes soft and creamy just like the oats do. Pure magic.
This is one of those recipes we kind of nailed the first time. Our son had four servings when we first created this recipe, so we knew we were onto something. He helped us make it too. We don’t hide the fact that there are veggies in his bowl of porridge. He helps chop it and pour it in and we talk about why it’s there. It’s important for him to know that he is eating cauliflower for breakfast and hey — it tastes good! This is a great recipe to make with kids. We put the saucepan on the counter and our son dumps all the ingredients in (that we’ve pre-measured). He loves to use the big wooden spoon to mix it all up.
Chocolate Power Porridge
INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup rolled oats, gluten-free if that’s important to you
2/3 cup riced cauliflower
1/4 cup dried cranberries or goji berries
3 tbs. hemp seeds
3 tbs. cocoa or cacao powder
2 tbs. chia seeds
pinch sea salt
2 scoops collagen peptides, optional
1 15oz. can lite coconut milk (or 1 1/2 cups of your favorite milk)
1/2 cup water + possibly more to thin to desired consistency
2-3 tbs. pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla powder or 1 tsp. vanilla extract (almond extract makes a nice sub, too)
TOPPING IDEAS: Dried cranberries, goji berries, banana, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, rawnola, bee pollen, cacao nibs, coconut whipped cream, nut/seed butter, crumbed frozen raspberries, and almost anything else you can imagine!
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, combine oats, cauliflower, 1/4 cup goji berries, hemp seeds, cacao, chia seeds, sea salt, collagen, coconut milk, and water. Stir to incorporate and heat over medium.
Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower has softened. Reduce the heat a bit if necessary to keep from sticking.
Once oats are creamy and cauliflower is soft, add maple syrup and vanilla. Add a little more water now to thin if you like.
Portion into bowls and add whatever toppings you like.
NOTES:
It’s much more affordable to rice a head of cauliflower rather than buying it prepared that way. It only takes a minute to pulse a few florets in the food processor or chopper. A box grater works pretty well too.
