No frills and nothing fancy: just a perfectly moist, classic vegan pumpkin bread!

Pumpkin season kicked off last month. I kept trying to think of cool and creative things to do with my cans of pumpkin purée. But the first thing I really craved was a thick slice of pumpkin bread—no glaze, no add-ins, no frills—to be served with a cup of coffee. It’s a classic for a reason, right?

Components of a classic pumpkin bread

The right amount of sweetness

Unlike banana bread or banana muffins, pumpkin bread doesn’t contain a sweet fruit. And I don’t use applesauce as a liquid ingredient, as I do in a lot of baking recipes. The sugar here provides most of the sweetness, along with some natural sweetness from the pumpkin. For me and my taste buds, this loaf is perfectly sweet.

The right amount of moisture

Speaking of sugar, I use brown sugar in the recipe, which helps to keep the pumpkin bread extra moist. (If you’re out of brown sugar, cane sugar and coconut sugar are fine to substitute.) But the main reason that this loaf has such a lovely, tender texture is of course the pumpkin itself, which keeps the bread moist as it bakes. I used an entire cup of pumpkin purée in the bread, which makes it possible to only use 1/3 cup of oil.

No frills, no fuss

I like loading up my quick breads with fun add-ins as much as the next person. I’ve dumped dark chocolate chips, every type of chopped nut, chopped dates, and raisins into my muffins and quick breads. I’ve done pumpkin bread with chocolate swirl.

Honestly, though? I like an unadorned pumpkin bread best. I’ve seen glazed pumpkin bread and pumpkin bread with walnuts or pumpkin seeds. But when I set out to make this classic vegan pumpkin bread, I wanted it to be as simple. I wanted the pumpkin to shine through, and nothing else.

I guess this is a reflection of what I need and want from food lately: the comforting, familiar, and un-fussy.

Using pumpkin pie spice

I usually stock up on pumpkin pie spice at this time of year (King Arthur’s is my go-to). It’s perfect for so many fall baking recipes, from crisps and crumbles to scones and quick breads. Admittedly, I usually have its component spices in my pantry, but it’s an easy way to season recipes without having to open up lots of different jars.

With that said, you can easily substitute pumpkin pie spice in the recipe as directed. Or, if you’d like to make a big batch of your own and keep it in your pantry through baking season, here’s a good DIY tutorial from Sally.

Storing and serving classic vegan pumpkin bread

Once baked, this bread needs some time to cool: about fifteen minutes in the loaf pan, and another few hours on a cooling rack. As tempting as it is to eat the bread while it’s warm and freshly made, I think the cooling time is important. It helps the bread to hold its shape, so that you can slice it into perfect pieces later on.

If you don’t plan to eat your pumpkin bread right away, you can go ahead and freeze as many slices as you need to for up to six weeks. If you think it’ll disappear quickly (mine sure did), then you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four or five days. I usually freeze half of any quick bread—banana bread, zucchini bread, citrus bread, and so on—as soon as I’ve baked it. The other half becomes my snacking treats for the week ahead.

Making this pumpkin bread, more than any equinox or change in the weather, makes it truly feel like fall. I’m happy to have a recipe that feels like my forever pumpkin bread recipe. Hope that some of you will feel the same way.

And hey: if pumpkin bread isn’t really your thing, there are other options, and I’ll enjoy them with you. Now that I’m stocked up on pumpkin purée, I see pumpkin cranberry walnut muffins, pumpkin oat scones, and pumpkin carrot cake in the not-too-distant future.

Sending you wishes of coziness and comfort today, both of which feel more needed than ever.

xo

The post Classic Vegan Pumpkin Bread appeared first on The Full Helping.

We’re going back to Sicily! Pasta alla Norma is a delicious Sicilian pasta dish with eggplant, marinara and basil. I’m excited to introduce you to this dish because it is a completely satisfying vegetarian dinner. I’m craving a bowl as I type.

Most pasta alla Norma recipes are made with fried eggplant, but this recipe features roasted eggplant. Eggplant really absorbs oil like a sponge, so this lightens up the dish. Another plus? Roasting eggplant is easier and less messy.

I further lightened this classic recipe by using more eggplant and less pasta, so this dish won’t put you to sleep. It’s nice and saucy, just the way I like it.

I don’t speak Italian, so I first assumed that “norma” meant eggplant. Not the case! Norma is capitalized because she’s a lady. Or an opera, depending on how you look at it.

Here’s the backstory: Pasta alla Norma comes from Catania, a city on the eastern coast of Sicily. Catania is the hometown of Vincenzo Bellini, an Italian opera composer who lived in the early 1800s. One of Bellini’s most famous operas, Norma, is named after its lead character.

Folklore has it that playwright Nino Martoglio, after his first bite of this pasta dish, exclaimed, “Chista è ‘na vera Norma!” (“This is a true Norma!”) That’s quite a compliment.

Continue to the recipe...

The post Pasta alla Norma appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Because I am happiest when I let cakes be cakes, and cookies be cookies in all of their real-butter-and-refined sugar bliss, I rarely swap whole wheat or other ingredients in desserts in an effort to put a health halo on them, with two exceptions. The first is morning baked goods, usually muffins like these I’d make for the kids on a weekday, which just feel more breakfast when they least resemble, say, a birthday cake, not that there aren’t days that require that, too. The second is when I think the baked good is improved by the ingredient swap — more crisp/craggy, dynamic or flavorful. I just never expected it to happen to what we call our House Cookie — a one-bowl oatmeal cookie I’ve probably made many times a year for well over a decade, always putting extra scoops in the freezer, so we can have freshly baked cookies when life demands them.

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This classy spinach salad is a salad to impress! Smoky pecans and a creamy balsamic vinaigrette make the best counterpoint to this leafy green.

Here’s a salad to impress. It’s everything a classy spinach salad should be, full of texture and flavor contrasts. You’ll barely notice you’re eating this healthy leafy green when it’s covered tangy balsamic vinaigrette. There’s crunchy smoky pecans, almost bacon-like glazed with maple syrup and soy sauce. Add hard boiled eggs or a crisp-tart apple, and you’ve got a stunning side salad that will make everyone ooo and ahhh. (It happens every time we serve it…really.) It’s almost like the little black dress of salads: it’s brilliant for any occasion.

Ingredients in the best spinach salad

You may notice this salad has a vague retro vibe. In fact, it’s a spin on my Grandma’s 1970’s spinach salad…with a few tweaks! For the dressing we went with a classic balsamic vinaigrette, which complements the flavors perfectly. Instead of bacon, smoky glazed pecans create the illusion of meat but make the salad vegetarian. (For a fully plant based salad, we’ve got options too!) Here’s what you’ll need for this classic spinach salad:

• Hard boiled eggs or apple: Hard boiled eggs require forethought, so to whip this up in a flash substitute a crisp-tart apple. It’s just as good!
• Smoky pecans: The secret to bacon flavor without meat! Glaze whole pecans in a mixture of soy sauce, maple syrup and smoked paprika.
• Spinach: Baby spinach is more tender with a sweeter flavor; or, use chopped standard spinach.
• Shallot: Thinly sliced shallot is the best trick for green salads. Its delicate oniony flavor is gentler than red onion.
• Feta (optional): A sprinkle of feta cheese looks like confetti and brings a salty pop.
• Balsamic vinaigrette: Tie it all together with this incredible homemade dressing.

How to make smoky pecans (or use plain!)

One of the best parts of this salad is the pecans masquerading as bacon. Of course, if you’re running short on time: you can skip this step and just use plain pecans! But to make a truly magnificent spinach salad, it’s worth the time. Here are a few notes about the process:

• You’ll need a skillet and 6 to 8 minutes. This is the time it takes to heat the glaze to cover the nuts.
• They may come out soft or crunchy: either works! Making glazed nuts requires hitting the perfect sugar caramelization step to get them to dry into a crunchy glaze. If they come out soft: that’s ok! In fact, they taste more like bacon that way.

The best spinach salad dressing

What’s the best dressing for a spinach salad? Balsamic vinaigrette. Why? Spinach can have a bitter flavor undertone, so the tangy and subtly sweet notes of the dressing are the perfect pairing. Our favorite balsamic vinaigrette is very easy to whip up at home. All you need is 4 ingredients:

• Balsamic vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Maple syrup
• Olive oil

The only other thing to note is to add the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time and whisk vigorously. This is the key to getting a perfectly creamy emulsion. The Djion mustard also helps to make a fantastically creamy texture.

Using hard boiled eggs in salad

This spinach salad is absolutely classic with hard boiled eggs, as it harkens back to that 1970’s bacon and egg salad. And, they add a great amount of protein! One egg has 7 grams of protein. This is specifically helpful when you are looking for a side dish with protein to round out a vegetarian dinner.

If you can, make up a batch of hard boiled eggs in advance. This makes the salad quicker to put together. Store the hard boiled eggs refrigerated with the shell on (this keeps them fresher).

Apple makes this spinach salad quick and easy (and vegan)

Often we don’t think ahead enough to have time for hard boiled eggs. So if we’re serving this for an easy weeknight meal side dish, we like to use an apple instead! Using a crisp-tart apple makes a great flavor and texture contrast and fills out the salad. Of course, it doesn’t have the protein that a hard boiled egg does. But it’s a great stand-in! Of course, you can also add apple to salad with the eggs: even better!

You can also use this as a vegan variation. Use a crisp tart apple and omit the feta cheese crumbles: or use a dairy free cheese crumble of your choice.

Other adders to this salad!

Here are a few more ingredients you could add to this salad that make it incredible tasty:

• Mushrooms: Thinly sliced raw mushrooms are common in a classic spinach salad. Add these if you like!
• Bacon: Can’t live without actual bacon? Swap the smoky pecans for bacon.
• Prosciutto: Cured ham like prosciutto or jamón serrano would also work well.
• Croutons: Try these Homemade Garlic Croutons.

Ways to serve this spinach salad

There are so many ways to pair this spinach salad! In fact, it’s one of the most versatile green salad recipes we have. Use it to round out a vegetarian dinner, or it pairs well with seafood and chicken. Here are our top ways to serve it:

• Salmon: Serve it with Quick Broiled Salmon, Pan Seared Salmon, or Pesto Salmon.
• Shrimp or scallops: Add to Creamy Shrimp Pasta, Shrimp Pesto Pasta, Easy Pesto Shrimp, or Pan Seared Scallops.
• Lasagna: Try it with Perfect Zucchini Lasagna or Favorite Vegan Lasagna.
• Eggplant parmesan: Serve it with Baked Eggplant Parmesan.
• Pasta: Add to Cherry Tomato Pasta, Baked Rigatoni Pasta or Pesto Cavatappi.
• Pizza: Try it with Classic Burrata Pizza, Ultimate Spinach Pizza or Perfect Pan Pizza.
• Soup: Add to Creamy Broccoli Potato Soup, Loaded Potato Soup, Wild Rice Soup or Curried Butternut Squash Soup.

A few more spinach salads

Love spinach salad? Us too. Here are a few more variations on this easy side dish for all the seasons:

• Spinach Apple Salad Apples, pears, candied nuts and that beautiful balsamic dressing. This one’s another classic!
• Strawberry Spinach Salad This salad has double the berries: sliced ripe berries and sweet tart strawberry vinaigrette salad dressing!
• Blueberry Spinach Salad This blueberry salad with spinach, feta, and a balsamic dressing is a total crowd pleaser.
• Blackberry Spinach Salad Classic and chic: blackberries, greens, goat cheese, and almonds, tossed with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette.

This spinach salad recipe is…

Vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free. For vegan and plant-based, use the variations listed above.

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A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes

Chicken divan is a creamy chicken casserole recipe topped with crispy buttered breadcrumbs. It’s easy to make, can be prepped ahead of time, and is a classic family favorite.

Complete the meal with some roasted lemon parmesan garlic asparagus and a pot of perfect basmati rice.    

Easy Chicken Divan

Chicken divan is comfort food at its finest. Shredded chicken is wrapped up in a creamy cheese sauce, topped with buttered breadcrumbs, then baked until bubbly and delicious. 

It’s always a winner at our dinner table and there are rarely leftovers. 

But when we can’t finish it all, it’s just as delicious warmed up for lunch the next day. 

How to Make Baked Chicken Divan:

This is a very simple recipe that can be divided into 3 parts:

1. Cooking the chicken: Poach chicken breasts and then shred them, but you can easily use leftover or rotisserie chicken.
2. Making the sauce: After you whisk some butter and flour in a pan, simply add the other sauce ingredients and let the cheese melt. Easy!
3. Buttering the breadcrumbs: Simply mix some panko or breadcrumbs with melted butter. 

Once you have these three parts ready to go, all you have to do is assemble the casserole and pop it into the oven!

What is in the sauce?

Chicken divan sauce is a creamy cheese sauce. There are many different variations, but we love ours best because it’s both easy to make and flavorful. 

1. Butter 
2. Flour
3. Cream of chicken soup
4. Cheese
5. Milk
6. Sour cream
7. Dijon mustard

Can Delicious Chicken Divan be Made Ahead of Time?

Yes! Chicken divan can be prepped and assembled up to 2 days in advance. 

Tip: It is best to prevent the breadcrumbs from becoming soggy. Take the breadcrumbs and store in a separate container. When ready to serve the casserole, add them to the casserole just before you put it into the oven.

Chicken Variations:

This is a flexible recipe. We often add different veggies, rice, or noodles to the dish.

If adding variations, reduce the chicken to 3 chicken breasts and use 2 cups of the variations. Here are a few ideas:

• Peas (thawed)
• Onions (sauteed)
• Broccoli (lightly steamed)
• Rice (cooked)
• Egg noodles (cooked)
• Bacon (cooked crispy)

Make a Complete Meal!

The creamy sauce is delicious spooned over rice or noodles. Try this chicken divan with a side of vegetables.

Here are a few that go well:

• Best Roast Broccoli
• Garlic Butter Parmesan Carrots (The best carrots ever!)
• Sautéed Garlic Asparagus with Bacon
• Focaccia Bread

More Amazing Casserole Recipes:

• Taco Casserole
• Turkey Mediterranean Casserole
• Chicken Parmesan Casserole
• No Peek Chicken and Rice Casserole

 

 

 

 

This post is sponsored by Foodland and the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture as part of Foodland’s Eat Local Today initiative.

It’s an overwhelming time, and one that demands our most focused energy and well-nourished attention: From the chaos of back-to-school during a pandemic to national social justice uprisings to the upcoming election, I need all the support to simplify my life wherever I can. Enter this easy, infinitely customizable salad packed with tons of texture and ingredients fresh from my garden—and the surrounding area. Crunchy celery, sweet apples, salty parmesan, spicy radishes, sticky dates, rich roasted macadamia nuts, tangy lemon, and the unifying force of olive oil make this salad just about perfect.

I’ve spent the past nine months of the year collaborating with with Foodland—my favorite local grocery store—and the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture to explore what it means to me to #EatLocalToday here on Maui. Often, that looks like foraging in my own garden for greens, radishes, herbs, and citrus. But eating local goes way beyond my backyard. It also means discovering ingredients grown in Hawai’i and featured at my local Foodland, where they’re always showcasing new products. Wanting something crunchy and satisfying to add to this salad, macadamia nuts from MacFarms, grown on the Big Island, were a must.

You can mix and match in myriad ways with this salad: No celery leaves? Try parsley. No celery? Maybe fennel, or red cabbage. Try pear instead of apple, or maybe even persimmon. No parmesan? Cheddar would be amazing. And pretty much any nut you can imagine would be truly excellent. As your own personal #EatLocalToday challenge, I encourage you to find some locally grown nuts to try—hazelnuts in Oregon, for example, or walnuts or almonds in California.

The other thing I love about this salad is that it keeps super well, and it’s just as good the next day as it is the first. Truly. We love leftovers, don’t we?

If you decide to make this perfect salad, tag me on Instagram @lilydiamond. And don’t miss the step-by-step video I posted there as well. I’m excited to see what local ingredients you use from where you live.

The post CRUNCHY APPLE, DATE & CELERY SALAD. appeared first on Kale & Caramel.

This easy cauliflower stir fry is an ideal healthy and easy dinner idea! It’s full of nutrients and covered in a punchy sauce.

Hands up if you love cauliflower! (All hands raise, over here.) This vegetable has star status among veggies these days: because there are endless creative ways to use it. Make it into tacos, use it as a plant based stand-in buffalo wings, or hide it in alfredo sauce. Here’s our new favorite way to use these tasty florets: in a cauliflower stir fry! Fry it until lightly charred and tender, then add bell peppers and a punchy stir fry sauce. It’s the best way to make eating your veggies irresistible! Try it as a healthy side dish or an easy plant based dinner (with the protein adders below).

Ingredients in this cauliflower stir fry

This cauliflower stir fry is fast and easy to make! On its own it works as a side dish, but eat it with a plant based protein (see below) and it’s an easy dinner. The main thing to note is that cauliflower requires much more time to stir fry than other veggies, so you’ll need to add it to the pan first. Here are the basic ingredients you’ll need for this stir fry:

• Cauliflower
• Bell peppers
• White onion
• Green onions
• Stir fry sauce: rice vinegar, soy sauce, miso, gochujang (optional), sugar, sesame oil and cornstarch

Nutrition note: This recipe uses 2 bell peppers along with the cauliflower. 1 medium red bell pepper provides 169% of your daily vitamin C, so using 2 knocks this vitamin off the charts (Source)!

Notes on the stir fry sauce

This cauliflower stir fry has an incredible stir fry sauce that brings in lots of savory, salty and sweet flavor! Use the recipe as printed, or another option is our Go To Stir Fry Sauce. It’s just as good and is an oil free option. Here are a few notes on the ingredients in the stir fry sauce:

• Soy sauce: Use regular sodium to get the full seasoning. Tamari is a gluten free soy substitute, or use coconut aminos for a soy free gluten free substitute. You may need to add a pinch more salt in both cases.
• Cornstarch: Arrow root powder is an effective substitute for cornstarch in stir fry sauces!
• Miso: Miso is a Japanese fermented soybean paste that’s full of nutrients and savory flavor. It’s a must in this sauce and can’t be replicated. You can find miso in the international foods aisle near the Japanese ingredients. There are lots of types of miso: we used yellow or light miso here.
• Gochujang (optional): Want to add a little spicy funkiness to your sauce? This Korean chili paste steps it up a notch.

How to make a cauliflower stir fry: some tips!

The overall process for this cauliflower stir fry is easy: but there are a few things to note to make it come out perfectly. Here’s what to know:

• Stir fry the cauliflower about 5 minutes before adding other veggies. Here’s the kicker: cauliflower takes much longer than other veggies to stir fry. If you add them all at once, it will come out too tough. Make sure to follow the instructions exactly.
• Use medium high heat. The point of a stir fry is to cook at high heat: quickly. This will get nice char marks onto your cauliflower.
• Don’t double the recipe. The biggest tip for a stir fry: you can’t crowd the pan! If there are too many veggies, they’ll steam instead of stir fry. If you want to increase quantities, cook the veggies in batches then re-warm everything together.

Add protein to make it a main dish!

Are you serving this cauliflower stir fry as a main dish? It’s a perfect healthy meal or fast and easy dinner idea. Just make sure to serve with a whole grain and consider adding protein to keep it filling. Here are some ideas:

• Serve with Rice: Rice has protein (about 10% of your daily needs in 1 cup cooked) and fiber, which helps to make a filling meal. Try our White Rice, Brown Rice, or Instant Pot Rice.
• Cashews: Throw 3/4 cup cashews into this stir fry when you add the cauliflower. This makes a main dish of about 2 to 3 servings.
• Edamame: Add 1 cup shelled, frozen edamame in the last 2 to 3 minutes of the cook time. Or eat edamame in the shell as a side: try Easy Edamame or Spicy Edamame.
• Tofu: Cook Marinated Tofu or Pan Fried Tofu, then add it once the stir fry is done.
• Shrimp: Make Garlic Shrimp but use sesame oil instead of butter and omit the lemon.

Or serve cauliflower stir fry as a side dish

You also can serve this cauliflower stir fry as a side dish instead! It would be fantastic with the following main dish options:

• Salmon: It would be perfect with teriyaki salmon or pan seared salmon.
• Fried Rice: Add alongside takeout-style fried rice or shrimp fried rice.
• Noodles: Serve with quick soba noodles or this soba noodle bowl.
• Tofu: Serve alongside your favorite tofu recipe.

This cauliflower stir fry recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

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More great cauliflower recipes

There are so many tasty cauliflower recipes to try if you love this healthy veggie! Here are a few of our favorites:

• Buffalo Cauliflower Wings They’re crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and tossed with spicy buffalo sauce.
• Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower No one can resist this roasted cauliflower with Parmesan! It’s as irresistible as French fries, baked in a hot oven until browned and crisp.
• Creamy Cauliflower Sauce Like a healthy alfredo sauce using cauliflower as a base! It has less calories and all the benefits of this healthy veggie.

A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes