Mixed Bean and Veggie Cobbler Baked Oatmeal

Long name. I know. But oh well. It was rather good.

I had my heart set on creating a savory baked oatmeal. And I did it.

I tried this before, attempting a 'Spicy Bean and Veg Cobbler' weeks ago, but it failed. The base was dry and the 'Cobbler' tasted of nothing but baking powder. I didn't revisit the recipe, because after tasting it I decided it wasn't worth another try. Instead I went on to this recipe. Which I loved a lot more.

This is based of a recipe for a proper sized cobbler which I found in one of my books that I abandoned when I changed my diet. So I thought it a great idea to use it, even just as inspiration. If your interested, its from Marks and Spencer 'Crumbles and Cobblers' book.

Mixed Bean and Veggie Cobbler Baked Oatmeal

There are a few things you must know about this recipe.

First, that I only used a 1/4 of my filling for my finished cobbler. This is because I really didn't want to only use 1/4 of my tin of tomatoes, so I had to adjust. When I made it, I mixed up all the ingredients, and halved it. Saving half for my dinner the next day, which I had on top of quinoa and veggies, and cooked the remaining half to make my final oatmeal. Now this half I cooked in a larger dish than poured as much as I could into my ramekin, eating the rest as a mid cooking snack. If you don't want all this hassle than you could just 1.4 all the ingredients OR double the amount of topping and make TWO individual baked oatmeal's or times by four and make FOUR. Its up to you.

Second, the method of cooking the filling. I mixed all my ingredients, put them in a dish and cooked in the oven, stirring it every few minutes to stop it from drying out. This method worked fine. BUT I would say the veg was still quite solid so I would offer another method. Cooking it in a saucepan first by starting with the onions and adding the rest, cooking till almost done. With this method I would say there might be a lot of liquid, so you might want to drain a bit of it off so it doesn't make your topping all soggy and spill over the sides of your dish.

And finally, the cheese element. The original recipe was made was just breadcrumbs, chopped hazelnuts, parsley and cheddar cheese. After my first failed attempt at a cobbler I realized you need to add some sort of flavoring to the oats. Cheesy, being the best. Now I used a cheddar Babybel, because of the great portion control. But you can use any cheese you wish, veganize it by experimenting with nutritional yeast or simply just omit it. But I will say it needs flavor.

Ingredients:

Filling:

1/2 an Onion, white or red (I used and prefer red)

1/2 (240g) tin of Kidney Beans (meaning 120g)

1/2 (240g) tin of Chickpeas (120g)

1/2 a Zucchini

2 small carrots or 1 large

1 (400g) tin of plum tomatoes

1 stalk of celery

1 tsp tomato puree

Salt and Pepper to season

Oats:

1/2 Cup/45g Rolled Oats

1/3 Cup/80ml milk of choice

Pinch of salt and pepper

1/2 tsp Parsley, or to taste (You can use fresh or dried, I used dried)

'Cheesy' ingredient

Instructions:

1. Chop up all them veggies. Either use the first method, mix up all filling ingredients together, seasoning to taste, put into a dish and put in the oven for 15 mins at 180C/350F/Gas mark 4, mixing it up every few minutes to stop it from drying out. Or method 2, cook the onions till soft and add the rest, simmering till its all nearly cooked through.

2. For the oats, simply mix up all the ingredients to a wet but not sloppy consistency.

3. Pour the filling into a prepared dish, or leave in the dish and cover with the oats. Bake at 180C/350F/Gas mark 4 till the top is set and cooked solid. It should be lightly golden. I saved 1/3 of my cheese and used it to top my cobbler so it was nice and melty.