Zucchini Pumpkin Bread

For the first time I took a ride today down to Eastern Market and vow to go back to pick up my leg of lamb for Thanksgiving roasting. I feel like I've discovered a new gem in the city, even though it's no secret that Eastern Market is a trendy spot. Since I moved to DC about a year ago I've mostly stuck around NW, what with the Dupont and Mount Pleasant Farmers' Markets so close; but one that's open daily? I'm sold.

On my bike ride home I joyously giggled in my toe straps at the changing leaves and warm sun on my cheeks. Knowing this is one of the last of the warm days, and prepared for the chill ahead, I thought of the contents of my fridge...

Stuck with a leftover zucchini and more pumpkin than I can wrap my head around, I needed something tasty, that would make the rest of the house smell good. Between my recent squash fetish, the changing of the leaves, my influx of tea consumption, and the newly-bought bag of whole wheat flour, how could I resist an afternoon with floury hands?

In pulling out my mixing bowl and bread pan, I realized, "ah crap, I don't have a cheese grater." But why would I have one? When was the last time I bought cheese? Man, depressing chain of thoughts there... To make this recipe I diced some zucchini and pumpkin and julienned a bit to add a different texture component. Turned out grate! Ouch.

This is a recipe adapted from epicurious but is pretty heavily toyed with. The bread turned out crusty on top, deliciously moist in the center, and an overall delight. Not bad for a graterless neo-baker.



Zucchini Pumpkin Bread

1 cup zucchini, minced (1/8")
1/2 cup zucchini, julienned
7/8 cup raw sweet pumpkin, minced (1/8")
1/8 cup raw sweet pumpkin, julienned


Dry
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Wet
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup pumpkin butter (applesauce works too)
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup light silken tofu, blended into yogurt-like consistency
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Grease a bread pan.

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. (Now's a good time to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F) Beat together the wet ingredients and sugar in a large bowl. Add the zucchini and pumpkin to the wet ingredients and mix. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl of wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Pour everything into the greased bread pan, and bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until your tester comes out mostly clean. It took 1:10 in my oven, which is notoriously inconsistent. Careful not to over bake.

Nutrition Estimate Per Serving (12 slices): Calories 245.5. Total fat 6.6g. Saturated fat 3.8g. Total Carbohydrates 44.3g. Dietary Fiber 3.5g. Sugars 2.7g. Protein 4.9g.

Rustic Pumpkin Hummus

Since my adventures with the jarrahdale from the Mt. Pleasant Farmers' Market has left me with a few extra cups of fleshy orange tastiness, I decided to engage the mounting autumn with some savory pumpkin hummus. Most people throw their garbanzos into a food processor to get a smooth, creamy hummus, but I like some lumps in my mashed potatoes and some texture to my bean dips. Instead of blending everything into a consistent paste, I used a potato masher to pulverize my beans and let the pumpkin puree play the 'creamy' role. Leaving a few semi-whole beans brings out the chickpeas' nuttiness, thus the "rustic" component of this recipe. If you like smooth hummus, by all means puree away.

To prep the pumpkin for this recipe, I peeled it, skinned it, and steamed for about 8 minutes (until it was fork tender), then dropped the chunks into a food processor until smooth. I haven't tried any of my pumpkin recipes with canned pumpkin puree, but I imagine they'd be equally tasty.

I use dried garbanzo beans, cooked on the stove rather than canned. If you're using canned, go ahead and double the recipe to use your whole can of chickpeas.

Rustic Pumpkin Hummus Recipe

1 cup garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon tahini
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
dash of ginger powder
salt to taste

Using a potato masher, or in the bowl of a food processor, mash the garbanzo beans to desired consistency. Add the pumpkin puree, tahini, and extra virgin olive oil, and mix well. Add seasoning and let stand a few hours to let the flavors blend. I topped mine with a bit of chopped parsley that I had on hand.

Makes about 6 servings (1/4 cup each).

Nutrition estimate per serving: Calories 76.6. Total fat 3g. Saturated fat .4g. Total carbohydrates 10.6g. Dietary fiber 2.2g. Protein 2.6g.

Lactose Intolerant

I'm Phoebe: a creative, a cyclist, a Californian, and a cook. Unfortunately I'm also a lactard - a term appropriated from Dan - or a lactose retard. Hold on there offended guy, retarded means "delayed," "slower," or "held back."

While searching for recipes sans dairy I found there aren't really food blogs dedicated to serving the lactose intolerant some tasty treats: vegan, vegetarian, raw, gluten free, low sugar, low calorie, low fat, nutless... I found all of them had an abundance of literature online, but could source next to nothing about lactose intolerance other than searching for specific recipes. I'm an omnivore that likes good food; why isn't there a blog for just being lactose intolerant? Deprived of the joys of cheese, butter, milk, ice cream, and dairy in general, (did I mention cheese or butter?) is quite enough. Whether you, your children, or your spouse is lactose intolerant, you still deserve to have tasty food and enjoy all your recreational eating.

This blog is brand new, so keep checking back for more lactoseless recipes for all you other lactards out there.