Eat food you love that loves you back
It’s nearly a year since the Covid19 Pandemic forced us into a series of lockdowns. With many of our normal every day activities taken away, there’s been a surge in home activities. Ranging from gardening, home exercise classes, learning a language to an increase in baking. One of the most prominent ones – certainly on social media – has been bread making. Continue reading “Your daily bread”
If you struggle with eating ‘normal’ bread (by that I mean the supermarket offerings!), then this oat and buckwheat bread might just be the thing for you. This was last weeks live cooking session on Facebook – in case you missed it or would like the whole recipe without having to watch me jabber on for 20 minutes, here it is.
If you haven’t got buckwheat flour, then you can make your own but toasting buckwheat groats and then blending it into a flour using a high-speed blender or food processor. Alternatively, you could try quinoa, millet, spelt flour (if you don’t want to be gluten-free) or even just all oats. Be mindful about the amount of ground flaxseed you use if you are using a wheat-based flour (and therefore one with gluten) as this will help hold the bread together more. Reduce the flaxseed by 1 tablespoon otherwise your loaf will be rather dense. Plus if you need to be super-careful with gluten, then make sure use use gluten-free oats.
The seeds add extra flavour, texture and nutrients to this bread; if you haven’t got everything I’ve listed then improvise with whatever is in your cupboard, or leave them out. Baking in current times is a challenge whether it’s due to lack of stock or even just getting out to the shops. Fortunately, this recipe is very flexible, so go with what you’ve got.
Storage wise, this loaf keeps for 4-5 days, but if you know it’s not all going to be eaten then cut into slices and freeze. Then you can pull out the amount you want whenever you want it. Just defrost and use plain or pop in the toaster to perk it up.
I hope you enjoy making this bread – don’t forget to let me know how you get on!
Some people find changing to a whole-food plant-based diet easy, for others its more challenging. One area that seems to be a big stumbling block is breakfast. On the surface it seems easy – cereal or toast are most peoples go-to options. Continue reading “Breakfast inspiration”
The internet is a wonderful thing – quick access to information about any topic under the sun. Sometimes it’s prudent to be careful and question where this information is coming from, particularly controversial points of view; for recipes though it’s like having one massive cookery book at your finger tips with so much variety, abounding inspiration is available at every moment.
I can spend hours browsing websites and blogs, googling random ingredients and following a path of ingenuity and creativity. There’s so many different options on offer, I tend to forget where I’ve been, and take ages finding that fascinating fact or idea that’s tantalising the edge of my subconscious. Now I try to bookmark everything that I want to return to; that list is getting pretty long and unmanageable!
Recently I found an article featuring marvellous things to do with chickpeas (that old obsession returns once more!); this led me to a recipe for ‘Eggy Breakfast Bread’, a chickpea based bread, similar to cornbread but sweet http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/10/11/eggy-breakfast-bread/. Made with chickpea flour, it looked great, but I’m not so keen on sweet bread, so decided to omit the sugar and add in some savoury flavours.
I have to say, not only is it incredibly easy, the flavour and texture is fabulous. And totally moreish! Not being able to eat bread other than wraps and the occasional soda bread (home made version) due to my yeast intolerance, it was exciting to create something that was so tasty and felt so right in the mouth.
This recipe calls for flaxseed. If you’ve not come across it before, you’re missing out. Nutritionally it’s a brilliant plant source of omega 3, absolutely packed full of fibre, lignans (anti-oxidant phytonutrients) and other anti-oxidants. When mixed with water, flaxseed swells and can be used as an egg replacement in plant based cooking. When you see how it swells in a cup with a little water, you realise how it’s going to swell in your gut. So it’s not only good for healthy bowels, it will help you stay full for longer if you’re trying to lose weight. Adding it to cereal in the morning is a wise thing to do!
Here is my savoury version of this bread. The herbs and spices can be played around with to create different flavours. I’m planning on experimenting with pesto (dairy free of course!) by omitting some of the oil and adding the equivalent pesto. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Savoury chickpea bread
1 cup/140g chickpea flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 cup/240ml of dairy free milk
1 teaspoon fennel seeds or spice/herbs/seed of choice
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Black pepper
Pre heat oven to 180oC and lightly grease a round metal pie tin or line a square baking tin.
Combine flaxseed with all the wet ingredients and whisk together really well. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients together, then pour the wet into the dry and stir until well mixed.Pour batter into prepared tin and bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until firm and slightly browned on top. Remove from oven and leave to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes. Cut into triangles in the tin before removing.Best eaten warm, it’s still delicious cold – that’s if you can leave it to get cold before gobbling it up!
