Happy Crazy Ingredient Challenge day! I wasn’t sure I was going to make it this month again. Strange things were happening behind the scenes in the Facebook world where the group votes on ingredients and we keep track of the events. If you’d like to join our fun monthly challenge contact Dawn from Spatulas on Parade at spatulasonparade[at]gmail[dot]com!

I was looking through my planner last week and realized I hadn’t written down the winning ingredients for April’s CIC event. Off to the Facebook page I went desperately searching for the answer. I found it. Parsnips and Cardamom.

I’d only ever had parsnips once before – roasted with carrots, potatoes, and a whole chicken – I recalled liking them. Cardamom was a spice I didn’t have in my collection. I’ve always thought I had it and then every single time realized it was coriander in my pantry instead and would always substitute with a combination of nutmeg and cinnamon.

Thanks to a Kroger gift card I got for Christmas, which I only use for fun ingredients which I’d normally find substitutes, I coughed up the $9 for a bottle of cardamom. And that was the sale price!

I wanted to do a play on carrot cake with today’s ingredients. I decided to go with oatmeal. I whipped together a very quick baked oatmeal recipe, added shredded parsnips, dried blueberries, and of course, cardamom. It can be served warm in a bowl with some milk or eaten as a flour-less oatmeal cookie bar!

Parsnip and Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 C quick oats
• 1/2 C dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 C shredded parsnips (peel the parsnips first)
• 2 tbsp dried blueberries
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C milk
• 1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×9″ cake pan.
2. In a large bowl combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, parsnips, and blueberries.
3. In another bowl whisk together egg and milk. Add in the cooled butter.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and press into the prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until set.
5. Allow oatmeal to cool slightly before cutting into bars. Eat as is or warmed with milk.

*This recipe is adapted from Taste of Home at http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/baked-oatmeal*

To see the other bloggers who participated in this month’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge click on the link below.