Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Archives for March 2020

One bowl vegan whole wheat banana bread.

by Filed Under: Breads, Brunch, Quick Bread, Snacks, Vegan

I have an abundance of bananas in my house since quarantining. They are our go-to’s and we’ve been hoarding while others hoard toilet paper. So my weekly treats always have some bananas in them. Today, I morphed this recipe into a vegan and to work what I had on hand. It came out perfectly so I wanted to share. Would be lovely with some chocolate chips and/or chopped nuts. Because my husband is allergic to chocolate I omitted it.

Ingredients:

3 tbl flax meal
5 tbl of water
2 large, overripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1/3 cup of melted coconut oil (I used refined)
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1/4 cup of coconut sugar
1/4 cup of nut based milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbl of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour
Optional: 1/3 cup of nuts or chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Spray your loaf pan with oil and set aside.

Into you stand mixer, add your flax and water. Mix to combine and allow to thicken for about 5 minutes. Then proceed to add the remaining ingredients in order from wet to dry. Blend until just combined. If adding mix-in’s … blend by hand. Pour your batter into your prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove and allow to cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Sending all my love, ~ox

— Knead to Cook

Easy Crusty Vegan Herbed Bread.

by Filed Under: Breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Vegan

I’ve been on a bread making kick lately. Let’s face it… I have plenty of time recovering from knee surgery and with the COVID isolation. Honestly, homemade bread is super easy and tastes incredible but it was the one thing I thought I never had time to do before. The fact is it takes just a few minutes to create but a few hours of resting where you can do a ton of other things without worrying about it.

You can bake bread in a loaf pan or on a pizza stone but I opted to bake my bread in a Dutch oven to yield a perfectly crusty loaf. Honestly, this recipe is quite fail-proof. I hope you give this one a try! Tonight we’ll pair this up with some marinara and vegan meatballs. A simple plate of good olive oil and balsamic for dipping… basically heaven.

Ingredients:

3.75 to 4 cups of organic all purpose flour
1.5 cups of 100-105 degree water (you must gauge the temp to ensure you don’t kill the yeast)
2 tbl of instant yeast
1.5 tsp of sea salt
2 tbl dried oregano or 2 tbl of Italian seasonings
1 tsp of garlic powder or you can chop up fresh garlic and add that instead

Method:

Into your stand mixer, with the dough hook attached, add your flour (start with 3.75 cups), warm water, yeast, salt and spices. Stir to combine for about 2 minutes.

In the meantime, oil a large bowl and set aside. Once the dough is blended, should be slightly sticky but easy to handle. If the dough is super sticky add the additional flour and mix. Turn the dough out and place into your prepared oiled bowl. Cover with a towel and place in a warm spot in your kitchen. Allow the dough to rise for 1.5 to 2 hours. It will double in size.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 450 degrees with your Dutch oven inside.

Once the dough has risen, turn it out on a floured surface and turn the dough onto itself basically like pulling the edges up and pushing into the center. Repeat until you have a lovely smooth ball of dough.

Carefully remove your Dutch oven. Again, carefully place the seam side of the dough ball into your pot and cover. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove and take the bread out and allow to cool properly. It should be crusty and sound hollow when tapped.

Slice and enjoy once you can safely handle it.


~ox

— Knead to Cook

Hearty Lentil Stew. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: Gluten Free, Lentils, Soups, Stews, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free

Right now, I’m finding using up pantry essentials for our dinners quite cathartic. I feel like I’m hoarding my fresh veggies for my salads and focusing on beans and lentils with quinoa or rice as our main meal. Plus saving money where we can, during this unsure time, is necessary.

I’ve been off from work recovering from yet another knee surgery. My husband is still going into work daily. Both of our daughters are still doing classes online and working outside of the home as well. In fact our oldest remained at school in her apartment to remain at work. Such a weird time. I’m hoping you are getting into the kitchen to whip up some good comfort food even if you aren’t a cooking fan. This dish is very easy and forgiving. A great place to start 🙂 I served it with some fresh homemade dinner rolls which everyone loved.

Ingredients:

Olive oil to coat your pan
1 yellow or red onion, diced
3 large carrots, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped (keep the leaves and add them as well)
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large potato, I used a purple sweet potato but a white potato will work as well*
2.5 cups of green lentils, washed and drained
1 tsp of dried oregano
1-2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of smoked or regular salt
A few cracks of fresh pepper
1 tsp of liquid smoke
8 cups of vegetable broth
2 tbl of tomato paste
1 tbl of apple cider vinegar
1 cup of frozen kale

Method:

Into a large stock pot, add a drizzle of olive oil to the bottom of the pan over medium heat. Add your onions, carrots and celery to cook for 6-8 minutes stirring often. Add your garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add your potato, lentils, seasonings, smoke, broth and paste. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a low simmer and cover your pot. Cook until the lentils are softened throughout. Prior to serving add your acv and frozen kale. Stir to combine. Taste and add additional s&p as desired.

*When choosing your potato the sweet version will add a slight sweetness to the dish. The purple potato also makes the stew dark. A white or Yukon will not add sweetness and will keep the stew more red/tomato colored.

I hope you enjoy this dish. It’s better the day after as the flavors will develop more. We served over basmati rice along with some fresh dinner rolls.

Sending you all of my love~

— Knead to Cook