Oh, nostalgia…
As a child, there was absolutely nothing I looked forward to more than a Shirley Temple. Wedding coming up? SHIRLEY TEMPLES! Going out to eat at the local bar and grill with my granny? SHIRLEY TEMPLES! Eating at the golf clubhouse for lunch? SHIRLEY TEMPLES!
One? No. How about two? Or three? Extra cherries, pleeeeeease. And don’t forget the plastic sword.
I probably consumed enough sugar from Shirley Temples alone that I could fill an entire brownstone in Park Slope, including the unfinished basement.
If you’re not familiar (gasp), a Shirley Temple is a “kiddie cocktail” (aka mocktail) made from a lemon-lime soda like Sprite, grenadine, and a maraschino cherry. In my adult retrospect, it’s actually a disgustingly sweet concoction…but that’s coming from someone who eats 85% dark chocolate and drinks straight espresso.
I have wanted to recreate this drink as oatmeal for a while, but I was not about to put high fructose corn syrup (which is found in both the conventional grenadine and maraschino cherries) in my porridge. Then, on my 25th birthday, a coworker bought some ~fancy~ maraschino cherries so I could make a certain favorite cocktail at home. That gave me the motivation to make this porridge a reality.
Instead of grenadine, which is often just a mixture of artificial colors and HFCS, I used POM pomegranate juice. Instead of lemon-lime soda, I used fresh lime juice. To bulk up the oatmeal and make it creamy, I added chia seeds and pureed zucchini–both of which could technically be omitted.
No maraschino cherries? Fresh or frozen cherries (thawed) will do. 🙂
Did you drink Shirley Temples as a child?
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What you'll need:
- 1/3 a zucchini or yellow squash*
- 1/4 cup fresh or frozen cherries
- 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
- juice from one lime
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1/4 cup quick cook steel cut oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
- 1 tsp chia seeds
- pinch of salt
- sweetener (optional)
- cherries for topping (preferably maraschino)
How to make it:
- Puree squash, cherries, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, and lime juice together.
- Combine all ingredients except maraschino cherries with the pureed mixture in a mason jar or another container with a lid. Stir (or cover with lid and shake vigorously) until everything is thoroughly mixed.
- Place in the fridge overnight (or several hours). In the morning, top with maraschino cherries and any other additional toppings (pomegranate arils, coconut, nuts, etc.) and eat cold (recommended) or warm up for 1-2 minutes in the microwave.
Just an FYI:
*I use yellow squash so my oatmeal doesn't have green streaks.
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