Orange Poppyseed Zucchini Bread

Okay, so I know I said I couldn't make zucchini bread anymore this year because I used all the zucchini. I had frozen some, but I figured when I thawed it, it would be too juicy for bread. Turns out, it works amazingly well. I had chopped it finely in my food processor before freezing, so when I thawed it, all I had to do was let it sit and drain a while, pressing it every now and then. It actually might have worked a bit better than fresh zucchini, because I was able to squeeze most of the liquid out.

This bread is from Eat Cake For Dinner blog, and it was pretty good. I didn't follow her recipe exactly, of course, mostly because I wanted to use a whole orange. It turned out really well, but next time, I might add a bit more sugar since I didn't add glaze, and DEFINITELY a bit of almond extract, as it seemed like it would have been really good with the addition (like lemon poppyseed bread, but orangey). Also, if you have orange extract, you  might add a few drops, as the orange was a bit hard to taste in this.

Ingredients:
1.5 c. whole wheat pastry flour
.5 c. all purpose flour
 2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder  
1 1/2 Tbl. poppy seeds
2 large eggs  
1/2 c. coconut oil, in liquid form (if it's solid, melt in the oven while it heats up)  
1/3 c. sugar (I'd use 1/2 c. next time)  
1 whole organic orange with the peel on
1/3 c. plain yogurt  
1 c. grated zucchini, squeeze some liquid out if possible

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  
Oil one loaf pan and set aside. 
Leaving the skin on, cut the orange in quarters and remove seeds. In a food processor or blender (or Ninja), blend until pulpy and finely chopped.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder, and poppy seeds
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with a hand mixer until thick and lemon colored.  
Add the coconut oil and sugar and mix briefly with mixer to combine.  
Beat in the shredded orange, yogurt, and zucchini. 
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together just until combined.  Do not overmix.  
Pour into loaf pan & bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (It took 1 hr in my oven and cooked perfectly, but my oven is a bit slow).
Remove from oven and cool in pan 10 minutes. Invert to a wire rack and cool further. We like our bread warm, so I never cool it completely as the directions say. We ate this with cream cheese for breakfast and it was a big hit. It would have made excellent muffins as well. Just a hint of sweetness and orange flavor. Not at all overpowering, and definitely not a dessert. Some of the zucchini breads I've made have been cake, but this was not. Would be good with glaze (see original recipe for a glaze recipe) or frosting (I made an orange-cream cheese frosting for it so we could use it as dessert the second time).

My improvised Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 block cream cheese
2 tbsp. honey
1/4 tsp. almond extract
2 tbsp. orange juice

Soften cream cheese and mix all ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth.

Slow Cooker/Crockpot Bean and Kale Soup

This past fall, my mom had grown Jacob's Cattle Beans, and we made them several times. They are the most delicious beans ever! Our favorite recipe was one for a bean soup. Over Christmas, she gave me a jar of the uncooked beans, and I've been waiting to use them. I wanted to make a meal in the crock pot, so I threw the same ingredients together and cooked it all together. I used frozen peppers, tomatoes and kale that I'd put up from my garden this summer.

• 2 cups dry beans of your choice (Jacob's Cattle Beans are the best!) soaked overnight & drained.
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, chopped 
• 1 green pepper, chopped 
• 2-3 cups chopped tomatoes (canned, fresh or frozen)
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 cup brown rice
• 8 cups water 
• 1 bunch of kale leaves, chopped or sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

Red and Green Tomato Salad

I made this recipe 3 or 4 times this year, since I had a lot of green tomatoes to use up. I really enjoyed it, although a few people I served it to were less than enthusiastic. It is a bit on the tart side, but a good way to use green tomatoes and very pretty!

Ingredients:
2 large very ripe red tomatoes
2 large green tomatoes
1 small red onion
1 red pepper, chopped (optional)
1 recipe French dressing

Instructions:
Slice or chop red and green tomatoes
Thinly slice red onion and add to tomatoes (I sliced it once and chopped finely the next time)
Add French dressing and chill for several hours before serving
I added orange bell peppers because I had them the last time I made it, and they looked really pretty in it.

Irish Lamb Stew

First of all, I must apologize for these and all future pictures. I only have an old iPhone for most of them, and the pictures are not very pretty. But this stew was quite tasty, so here goes.

You will need:

2 lbs. boneless shoulder of lamb (I'm not sure I used shoulder, but it was mutton and it turned out fine).
2 tbsp. butter
2 c. boiling water
1-2 c. sliced carrots
1-2 c. cubed turnips
1-2 c. cubed potatoes (I used my little purple ones, so I only had to slice them in half of throw them in whole)
1 onion, sliced
salt & pepper as desired


Instructions:
Melt butter in hot skillet
Add lamb and brown on all sides
Stand back some as you add boiling water
Cover and simmer 1 hr.
Add vegetables and simmer 30 minutes more.
Add salt & pepper to taste and serve.

I wasn't sure I'd like this, since it doesn't have much seasoning and I'm not a huge fan of lamb. But it was actually really tasty and everyone liked it. 
 

Apple Carrot Zucchini Bread

 I am officially out of zucchini, but I had one small summer squash left, so I managed to squeeze out one more zucchini bread recipe!

 

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 c. organic sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c. whole wheat pastry flour 
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour  
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1-2 tsp cinnmamon
• pinch of ground cloves
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2-1 cup shredded zucchini or yellow squash
• 1/2 cup diced, peeled apple
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour an 8x4 inch loaf pan.
3. Blend butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together.
4. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg together.
5. Fold dry ingredients into wet along with carrots, squash, apples, and pecans.
6. Pour into prepared pans.
7. Bake until golden brown, approximately 1 hour, or until toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Red Beans and Rice--Slow Cooker Vegetarian Meal

Now that it's winter, I've finally dusted off the crockpot. I love soups and stews, but for some reason, I never use a crockpot in the summer. This is the second time I used it in the past 2 weeks, and I love it!

The recipe I found for beans and rice used sausage, but I didn't have any, so I made it vegetarian this time.

Here's what I did.

Ingredients:
1 lb bag dry small red beans
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
2 bay leaves

2 tsp Creole seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s)
2 tsp original Tabasco sauce
2 tsp salt
1 cup dry brown rice

Instructions:

1. The night before, add the beans to the crockpot and cover with water to about 2 inches above the beans, and let it sit overnight.
2. Drain beans in morning, cover with water to cover about 2 inches above the beans, and turn the crockpot on low. If you won't be around all day, add the other ingredients. I was home, so I left the beans on for about 4 hours before adding the other ingredients, b/c I like my vegetables a little firm.
3. If you'll be around, after 4 hours, open the crockpot and add all ingredients EXCEPT salt & seasoning. You'll also need to add 2-3 more cups of water.
4. Cook 4 more hours or until rice is soft. 
5. Add salt & seasoning and serve hot.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

 Today I made my very last zucchini bread of the year *sob.* I had a cup of leftover zucchini from the lemon blueberry bread I made, so I used it to make The Charm of Home's chocolate zucchini bread, since my last one was such an epic failure. Somehow, I hadn't made a chocolate one all summer after that, even though I love chocolate zucchini cake. Now that it's winter, I'm in more of a chocolate mood, so I chose this recipe out of all the delicious looking ones left on the list of 50. Below is the recipe for a whole loaf (I made a half-sized mini loaf).

Ingredients

2 large eggs

1/4 c honey
1/2 c coconut oil, in liquid form
1/2 c organic sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
1/3 c cocoa powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark b/c it's more chocolatey)

1 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c. whole wheat flour
2 c shredded zucchini
1 c chocolate chips, save 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top of bread

Instructions:
Prepare a loaf pan & preheat oven to 350.
Combine in a mixing bowl eggs, honey, oil, sugar, vanilla
Add flours, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder and stir to combine
Add zucchini and chocolate chips and mix well.
Pour into loaf pan and spread 1/4 chocolate chips on top
Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes
Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack. I like the chocolate chips still melty, so I always eat it warm. 


This turned out really well! I would definitely  make it again. It tasted like my mom's from when I was a kid...not all dry and gross like the one I made earlier in the summer.

Roasted Kale and Butternut Squash with Heirloom Jacob's Cattle Beans, Adobo Sauce and Feta Cheese

While researching the book I'm doing for NaNoWrimo, I looked for Puerto Rican recipes on Pinterest. This one, for kale salad, looked really interesting. However, I don't really like raw kale (I know, I know, I'm a freak of nature). I like the health benefits, though, so I thought I'd just cook the kale. The recipe was sort of strange, anyway, as it called for hot squash in a salad.

I have to say, making this was pretty time-consuming. I don't usually do 'fancy.' I do basic. So this made me feel quite accomplished. And it was sooo pretty (hence the photo overload) that I almost didn't want to eat it. It was really good though--and VERY filling. Even my husband couldn't finish a bowl full. It's a very fancy, filling vegetarian meal. The adobo sauce I made was good--I liked it heated up, although I guess it is supposed to be kind of the dressing for the salad. But it was a good seasoning for the dish, and I enjoyed it. I did sort of wing the adobo sauce, so if you're picky about that kind of thing, use canned stuff, or you can follow the link for my basic recipe.


Anyway, I adapted the recipe to make a vegetarian meal instead of a salad. Here's the full meal version.


Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (1/2-inch pieces)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp red wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1-2 tbsp adobo sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 cups cooked Jacob's cattle beans (any other kind would do just as well)
• 1 large bunch kale, stemmed and torn into small pieces
• 1/2 c. feta cheese

Instructions:

Wash, stem and tear up kale and place in a large casserole pan (mine was the big pyrex pan, about 9x14 I think.

Seed butternut squash, peel if desired, and cut into approx 1/2 inch cubes. Mine weren't too exact. Also, I don't peel mine because I grew them and they're organic. But if you're unsure, peel. The skins are very soft and edible, so feel free to skip this step. Spread over kale in the pan. Drizzle olive oil over the squash and kale, as evenly as possible.

Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes, until squash is very tender. If you're like me and your pieces aren't uniform, test the largest pieces. When they're done, so is everything else.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together 1/2 tsp. salt, vinegar, mustard, honey, adobo sauce, garlic slices, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.

When squash is done, pour sauce over it and toss in the casserole pan. Some of the kale may be crispy, and that's fine!

Add beans and mix well. Return pan to the oven for a couple minutes until heated through.

Serve topped with feta or other crumbled goat cheese.

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

This soup was not the most exciting bean soup I've had, but it was a fine meal and we ended up eating it all, so I guess I'd call it a success.

For this you will need,
4 c. cooked black beans (or 2 cans)
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
In a cast iron skillet, melt butter.
Add onion and celery and cook until onion is translucent, stirring often.
Put black beans and onion and celery through a food processor.
Return to skillet and heat, stirring occasionally, until simmering.
Add mustard, lemon juice, salt & a lot of black pepper.

Serve in soup bowls with sour cream, cilantro, cheese, or whatever topping you like.

You could also add a ham bone and/or chopped ham to this.

Green Bean Casserole (aka, Green Beans Au Gratin)

I made this to go with lamb chops. I've never made green bean casserole, but this was good, pretty much the classic recipe. I liked that the green beans were whole, but they were a little crisp still, so next time I may cook them a few more minutes beforehand.

Ingredients:
1 lb. raw green beans
1/2-1 c. bread crumbs
1 recipe cream sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400

Remove stems from green beans and boil or steam for 3-5 minutes
 
Butter a casserole and toss green beans with cream sauce, making sure they're well coated.
 
Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top
 
Bake about 20 minutes until sauce is bubbly

Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread

I've been wanting to make lemon poppyseed cake for ages. It's my all-time favorite cake, and I've never made it. So when I found this recipe on the long list of zucchini bread recipes, I immediately went out and bought a lemon. I stuck it in the door of the refrigerator and promptly forgot about it for about a month. Sadly, when I went to make this, the lemon was a bit dry. So I had to grate the 'zest' on the largest setting of my grater to make anything come off. So, it was more like lemon rind slices than zest, but of course I did not let that deter me.

I've been getting up on Saturday or Sunday morning every week and making one of the zucchini bread recipes for breakfast (although it's usually more like brunch time when we eat it). While I always use whole wheat when baking, this time, I went for the decadent cake I remembered loving so much, so I used only organic white flour. So it was definitely more like dessert than breakfast this time around.

Ingredients 
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2-3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 teaspoons poppy seeds

 
Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
2. Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in zucchini and next remaining ingredients. Spoon batter into a buttered loaf pan.
3. Bake at 325° for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (I had to bake it for 1.5 hrs). Cool in pans on rack 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool for 30 minutes more.

This bread was probably my favorite of the zucchini bread recipes I've tried so far. It's way better than the ones I've made before. I'm going to add more poppy seeds next time, but other than that, this was sooo good. We just ate it plain, without frosting or cream cheese or butter. It didn't need anything.

Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread

Okay, so you know  how I got all obsessed with putting zucchini in every bread possible after I found the post with 50 zucchini bread recipes? Well, the same blog also has a collection of 50 pumpkin bread recipes. So guess what's coming soon? That's right--I'm testing some of them out!

Of course I failed to use my bananas in time again, so the first recipe I made was Banana Pumpkin Bread.

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup organic sugar

2 tablespoons honey

2 large eggs

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1 cup ripe mashed banana (about 2 bananas)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 c, whole wheat flour

1/2 cups white flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
 

  1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a loaf pan.

2)  In a large bowl, beat together the oil, yogurt, sugar, honey, eggs, pumpkin, banana, orange juice, and vanilla.

3)  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Sprinkle the walnuts over the top, if using.  Fold the dry ingredients into the banana pumpkin mixture, and mix just until combined.

4)  Spoon the mixture into the prepared bread pan and Bake for 53 - 58 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  (I think there's something wrong with my oven, because I baked it for 1 hour and 40 minutes and a toothpick never came out clean so I finally just took it out)  Remove from the oven and cool on rack in pan for 10 - 15 minutes.  Remove from the pan and continue cooling on rack.  When completely cooled, slice and enjoy, or wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge overnight. The original says it is better after sitting overnight, but I always like my bread warm. 

 

This one was still gummy even after the crazy amount of baking time, so I think my oven is wrong or I need to drain the bananas after mashing or something! It tasted okay, but I don't think I'm very crazy about pumpkin bread. I may make a few of the recipes on the list, but definitely not as many as the zucchini bread list. My husband and son really like this one, though, and it ended up being eaten up before I got around to making frosting for it, which I'd tentatively planned.

Three Bean Salad with Mustardy French Dressing

Okay, so the other day (Thursday) is the first day I've missed a post. I was so busy this week with work, family, car trouble, etc, etc, and any spare moment I had (spare moment--haha, what's that!?), I spent working on my novel. So I apologize. I was really hoping I'd get a post done every day for a year, but life happens.

To make up for the missed day, I'm posting two recipes that go together today. Although of course you can use the French Dressing recipe for salads and other things, I used it on this, so I'm posting both recipes to catch up.

This three-bean salad is actually an adaptation of a recipe called "Kidney and Green Bean Salad." But I wanted three-bean salad, and I happened to have both kidneys and garbanzo beans in the closet at once (miracles happen) so I went ahead and made it a three-bean salad.

For this, you will need:
1 c. red kidney beans, cooked and drained
1 c. garbanzo beans, cooked and drained
1 c. green beans, cut into pieces roughly the length of a kidney bean, cooked and drained
1/2 small red onion, minced
1/3 c. mustardy French dressing (recipe below).

Toss ingredients together in a bowl and let sit at least an hour, preferably overnight or make in the morning and serve at dinner.

Mustardy French Dressing:
Combine in small jar and shake well: 
2 tbsp. vinegar (I used apple cider)
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (or throw a crushed clove in the jar if you're going to let it sit a while...I made mine at the same time as the salad, so I used garlic powder)
1 tsp. ground mustard (or 1.5 tsp. Dijon if you don't have dried mustard in your spice cabinet)