Monday, April 2, 2007

I thought I would share one of my recipes from my site:
Banana Oat Nut Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup raw rolled oats
1 and a 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups mashed banana (about 4 bananas)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Additional rolled oats, wheat germ & chopped walnuts for topping
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
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In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, 1/2 cup oats, baking soda, 1/4 cup wheat germ, ground flaxseed, sugar, and salt. Mix it all together with a fork until it is well blended. In another bowl combine the banana, oil, eggs and water. Whisk together with a fork until well blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir together until it is thoroughly mixed. Fold in the 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
Pour the batter into 1 large loaf pan or 2 smaller pans. Fill the pans about 2/3 full. Generously sprinkle the tops first with wheat germ, then with raw rolled oats and then with a few chopped walnuts. Bake a large loaf for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Bake 2 small loaves for about 50 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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I love this bread. The topping makes it look really pretty, and adds a nice nutty crunch to the bread. The addition of wheat germ and ground flaxseed lend it a nice nutritional boost. Flaxseed in particular is very good for you. One of its most important traits is that it has a high level of omega-3. If you are a vegetarian or vegan it can be hard to get enough omega-3 in your diet. For that reason I try to add it to most of my baked goods, pancakes, waffles, cereals, and anywhere else it will blend nicely. The walnuts also provide omega-3.
Just remember that both wheat germ and flaxseed can turn rancid easily at room temperature. You should store both in a sealed container in the fridge. Flaxseeds should be stored whole and ground as they are needed. You can easily grind them in a coffee grinder or food mill. Flaxseeds must be ground before you eat them, otherwise they pass through your body undigested. This is because their shells are too tough for your digestive system. If you don't grind them first you won't get the nutritional benefits. Ground flaxseed goes rancid even easier than whole flaxseeds, so if you have any ground left over store it in the freezer and use it quickly. Walnuts also store better in the fridge...it helps them retain more of their nutrients longer.
If you are vegan you can try converting this recipe by replacing the eggs with flaxseed and water. Mix 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed with 6 tbsp of water. Whisk it or put it in the blender until it gets thick and a bit gooey. Use it in the recipe in place of the eggs. I haven't yet tried the vegan conversion on this one myself, but I have done so on some of my other quick bread recipes. It works pretty well. However, you may want to add 1 or 2 tsp of baking powder to the recipe as well, because I find that my eggless quick breads don't always rise as high. If you try the vegan conversion before I do let me know how it works out.
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Enjoy!
If you want to try more of my recipes you can find them at www.compassionatecooking.com.

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