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.

Pumpkin Butter

At the Mount Pleasant Farmers' Market Jes picked up some Apple Butter, which is delectable- a little sweet, a little spicy, a little tart... At Trader Joe's I ran into pumpkin butter, which I've heard much about but never sampled. Since I had pumpkin at home already, I whipped some up with stellar results. Most recipes I found online called for traditional ground ginger, but I prefer the fresh flavor the grated root imparts. My new favorite breakfast is oatmeal with fresh chopped apple, a swirl of this tastiness on top, an extra dash of cinnamon and a few chopped almonds.

If you're using canned pumpkin, and want to use the whole can, go ahead and double the recipe.

Pumpkin Butter

1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup mashed, steamed pumpkin
1/4 cup water, apple juice, or apple cider
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine the maple syrup and the fresh ginger in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Simmer gently about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir to combine, bringing the heat up to boil the butter. Once it boils, reduce the heat and simmer another 10 minutes, or until it reaches your favorite consistency.

Makes four 1/4 cup servings.

Nutrition Estimate per 1/4 cup serving: Calories 69. Total fat .1g. Total Carbohydrates 17.7g. Dietary Fiber 1g. Sugars 12.8g. Protein .5g.

Note to Grammy: See, I'm getting my cinnamon in :) Now if only I could find a way to integrate flax seed into this...

Bicycle Bars

This morning I had to do a fasting breath test at the doctor’s office. By 10:30AM I was on my bike dragging myself uphill toward home and was downright hungry. Then I remembered… my bar. I reached back into my bag at a red light, and managed even to take a photo before devouring my breakfast on the road.



During September I schlepped back to California after adventures in Nepal. While there, my mother pulled out a recipe for protein bars from Sunset, and since I was on a health-baking kick I was enticed. “Ooh, these look tasty. But 240 calories?!”

“You don’t have to eat the whole thing, Phoebe.” She’s right, of course.

Protein bars are everywhere. The other day on a break at work I ran into CVS looking for a snack- an apple, banana, or jug of soymilk would have sufficed, but of course CVS didn’t have any of these luxury items. However, they do carry more “energy” “protein” and “health” bars than they do laxatives. Curious, considering the correlation... In general, protein bars are a bit frightening because they contain more ingredients than candy bars, often have similar nutritional value, and sit inside me like a brick. I passed on the bars and stole a pear used in one of our frou-frou specialty drinks from the bartender instead.

With some minor substitutions, and a few improvements (mostly chocolate), I think I have created a tastier, lower fat, higher omega bar for an on-the-bicycle-breakfast. Lactose intolerant friendly, of course.

Lactose Free Bicycle Bars Recipe

Cooking spray
Dry Ingredients
½ cup granola or cereal (I used Kashi Almond Flax GoLean)
½ cup oats
1/3 cup oat bran
2 tablespoons brewers yeast
4 tablespoons flax meal
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped roasted almonds
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup raisins
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped (about ½ cup)

Wet Ingredients
¼ cup tofu, processed or whipped into a smooth yogurt-like consistency
¼ cup low fat soy milk
1 egg
½ cup honey
minced zest and juice from ½ of a lemon

Line a sided cookie sheet or jellyroll pan with greased wax paper.

Mix together your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients. Add the dry to the wet ingredients.

Spray your hands with cooking oil (this will get sticky). Pour the batter into the lined pan and spread it out evenly using your greased hands. Stick it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.

After it’s chilled, preheat the oven to 300 degrees, pull the pan out, and cut your bars with a knife into either into 16 or 24 bars. For 16 cut once lengthwise and 8 across, or for 24 cut into thirds lengthwise. Distribute the bars onto two greased cookie sheets. They can be close together as they won’t rise or spread through cooking.

Bake 15-20 minutes, or until the bars are lightly browned. Let them cool completely, then freeze or store in an airtight container. I like to wrap mine individually so they’re ready to grab at the drop of a helmet.


Nutrition Estimate for 16 Bars (Does not include brewer's yeast): Calories 164. Total fat 5.4g. Carbohydrates 27.7g. Dietary fiber 3.4g. Sugars 13.6g. Protein 4.7g.

Nutrition Estimate for 24 Bars (Does not include brewer's yeast): Calories 110. Total fat 3.6g. Carbohydrates 18.5g. Fiber 2.2g. Sugars 9g. Protein 3.2g.

Pumpkin Apple Breakfast Muffins

Santa Cruz is a pretty friendly place for dietary restrictions- vegan, vegetarian, raw, gluten-free, no nuts... you can find it all. However, locating a tasty dairy-free muffin was pretty much impossible; oh how I tried. DC has undeniably less options, and I haven't really located a vegan bakery that I love. That said, I got to meet one of the owners from Free For All Cupcakes, but haven't sampled yet. I've resorted instead of continuing the search to making my own, and while I'm sure these are delectable smeared with a pat of butter, they're also moist, crumbly, and complex all on their own. Grab one with an autumn comice pear for a quick breakfast.



Like my other pumpkin recipes, I peeled, chopped, and steamed the flesh before mashing it for these muffins.

Pumpkin Apple Breakfast Muffins Recipe

I made 12 minimuffins from this recipe, but if you're looking for heady, voluptuous muffins, go for making 9 instead.

1 large apple (I used a New York Macintosh), peeled, and finely chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup whipped light silken tofu
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon soy milk


After dicing the apple, add the sugar and let the juices accumulate while you get the rest of the recipe together.

In a large bowl mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda.

Add the pumpkin, tofu, canola oil, egg, vanilla, and soymilk to the apples and sugar.

Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients and mix just to combine. Don't over stir, lumps are good.

Grease a muffin tin with cooking spray, distribute your batter, and bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes. If you make 9 muffins, you'll probably need to cook them closer to 20, but be careful not to overcook.

Enjoy your muffins! These keep well sealed in the fridge, or you can freeze them and warm them up in the microwave.

Nutrition Estimate for 12 muffins: Calories 85.2. Total Fat 1.5g. Carbohydrates 16.7. Fiber 1.8g. Sugars .1g. Protein 2.5g.

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.