Sunday 21 July 2013

Banana and hemp seed bread




It is cold! Bone freezing, toes going numb kind of cold. And on cold days nothing makes a better Sunday afternoon treat than something cozy from the oven. This recipe is adapted from one of my all time favorite cookbooks "Wholefood" which has a wonderful range of vegetarian, vegan, gluten free recipes and the occasional meat based recipe. One of the things I love about this book and in fact all books by Jude Blereau is that the recipes are easily modified to suit different dietary needs or if not she will let you know not to bother trying. I have pretty much cooked my way from one end of Wholefood to the other and everything has come out perfectly and deliciously. I cant recommend this book more. 
This version of Jude's banana bread came about in two ways. Firstly I wanted to try making a vegan version of her cake and also I had run out of walnuts but had a fresh bag of delicious hemp seeds sitting on my bench. 
Apart from tasting great this cake/ bread will make your house smell incredible. Defiantly one to make if you want to get your family or guests excited before it even leaves the oven.


Banana and hemp bread- based on the banana cake recipe from "Whole food" by Jude Blereau 

1 cup white spelt flour
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried ginger 
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup dates chopped
1/2 cup hemp seeds
3 very ripe bananas mashed
1 banana sliced
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
6 tbsp coconut oil + a little extra to grease your tin
1/2 cup non dairy yogurt (I used coconut)
1 cup non dairy milk (I used almond) 


Lightly grease a loaf pan and set aside, preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Mix the flours, baking powder and spices together. Add the chopped dates and hemp seeds and make sure they are well combined. Add the mashed bananas, molasses, coconut oil, yogurt and milk and milk gently until just combined. Carefully fold through the sliced bananas.
Pop in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes. Carefully check, and if it requires it pop it back in for another 10 minutes of so. Allow to cool for about 10 before you tuck in. It is perfect still warm from the oven and freezes really well.

Friday 5 July 2013

Spiced cauliflower soup

A quick wintery soup for a cold and wet weekend. This soup is mildly spiced and creamy. The kind of soup that is perfect on its own but also great with some fresh crunchy bread. If you are a plan ahead kind of person I recommend making this soup the day before you serve it and let it sit over night the spices will come together more and the soup will thicken a little.

Ingredients
1 large head of cauliflower chopped
1 onion diced
1 carrot diced
2 sticks of celery diced
1-2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1-2 tsp sea salt
1 can coconut milk
1 cup yellow split peas

To finish
olive oil
spring onions
chilli flakes

Process
Put split peas in a large saucepan with 4 cups of water. Bring to the boil and cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes or until soft and set aside. In another saucepan heat some olive oil. Add the onions and cook over low heat until soft. Add the carrot, celery and spices and cook on low for another 5 minutes. If begins to stick add a little water. Add the chopped cauliflower and salt and 2 cups of water. Cook until cauliflower is tender. Add the cooked split peas and coconut milk and blend with a stick blender adding a little extra water if required. Finish with olive oil, diced spring onions and chilli flakes.


**Please excuse the poor photos, running out of light is becoming an issue in taking photos for this blog- come back summer!!