Spiced Rhubarb Bread

This lightly scented rhubarb bread is a wonderful alternative to rhubarb pie or crisp. It’s absolutely divine for breakfast with a cup of coffee, as a midday treat, or topped with vegan vanilla ice cream for a scrummy dessert. However you have it, this sweet and tart dessert bread is incredibly easy and sure to please even rhubarb snubbers.  Made with olive oil and banana, it’s a little healthier than other recipes as well.

I really love rhubarb. I know it's not super popular with everyone. However, it's ubiquitous up here in Alaska; almost every house has a giant, lumbering rhubarb plant (or two, or three) loitering outside like sentinels. In the spring, our local paper ran an a story about the blushing stalks; that even though many houses have rhubarb plants, most are inherited when the house was bought. That rhubarb, nowadays, is on the out! It's tart, it's banal, and it's just not that tasty.

To me, that's blasphemous. I adore rhubarb. I love how hardy and stubborn it is; how it'll grow anywhere and be the first plant the shine it's smiling face, welcoming in spring. I love it's giant leaves and remembering my Grandma Nancy showing me how to wear one as a hat when I was a little girl. I love it's sour and pungent aroma, and how it's flavor it makes my lips pucker with delight. I love that it can be savory or sweet and how it's wonderful in pretty much everything from muffins to stewed, on top of ice cream. It's versatile and resilient. Just like Alaskans.

I am lucky enough to have a unique Russian variety, whose leaves are shaped slightly different than the common variety. This makes me feel especially domestic, in a homesteady type of way. It's silly and frivolous, but it makes me happy in a small and odd way. 

Spiced Rhubarb Bread

By Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Published 07/03/2017

This lightly scented rhubarb bread is a wonderful alternative to rhubarb pie or crisp. It’s absolutely divine for breakfast with a cup of coffee, as a midday treat, or topped with vegan vanilla ice cream for a scrummy dessert. However you have it, this sweet and tart dessert bread is incredibly easy and sure to please even rhubarb snubbers. Made with olive oil and banana, it’s a little healthier than other recipes as well.

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsweetened, plain soymilk
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cup brown sugar, divided
• ⅔ cup olive oil
• 1 medium very ripe banana
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp chai spice or pumpkin pie spice
• 2 cups rhubarb, chopped small
• 1 tbsp vegan butter
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and coat two 9x5 inch loaf pans with a nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the soymilk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract; let sit for 5 minutes.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1 cup of brown sugar, olive oil, and the banana until very smooth. Whisk in the soymilk mixture.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and chai spice. Stir in the rhubarb until coated. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture until just combined. Divide batter between both the loaf pans. (Can be made into 16 muffins, reduce baking time to about 25 minutes)
5. Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave, about 10 seconds. Stir in the remaining ¼ cup brown sugar and cinnamon. Drizzle/scoop the mixture evenly on the top of each loaf.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes, until slightly browned on top and springs back when gently poked. Allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire cooling rack before serving.

Yield: 2 loaves / 16 servings

Anouk loves rhubarb almost as much as Todd and I :)

Broccoli & Squash Quiche + We Had a Baby!

Flaky puff pastry envelops a fluffy, cheesy, vegan quiche that’s loaded with nutritious broccoli, squash, and spinach. Kala namak salt gives this savory dish that eggy quality and tofu provides healthy protein. It’s a super easy meal that’s perfect for breakfast or dinner.

Hi everyone! Wow, what a whirlwind it's been lately. I feel like I'm living a different life! Five days after the last post, I was surprise induced due to gestational hypertension following an OB appointment. After exactly 36 hours of labor, Oliver was born!

If you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram you've been bumping along with us on our exciting journey. Todd, Oliver, and I want thank you all for such a tremendous outpouring of love and kindness, especially during those really rough days when we were repeatedly readmitted to the hospital after we got back home. Reading your comments, especially regarding the light therapy, was really special and honestly made me feel so much better. 

Tiny Oliver is the beat in my heart and the sweetest darn thing I've ever laid eyes upon; he's quite the character too. Here he is taking his first a bath, eyes a fury. 

Now that he's a month old, I've been able to get around to cooking on occasion. I thought I'd share with you this spring-approriate broccoli, spinach, and summer squash quiche I made. It's super easy and pretty hands off, which is essential when you have a cluster-feeder! If a new mom with a newborn can make this, then anyone can! 

Broccoli & Squash Quiche

By Kathleen Henry

Published 03/04/2017

Flaky puff pastry envelops a fluffy, cheesy, vegan quiche that’s loaded with nutritious broccoli, squash, and spinach. Kala namak salt gives this savory dish that eggy quality and tofu provides healthy protein. It’s a super easy meal that’s perfect for breakfast or dinner.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
• 2 small heads of broccoli, chopped small
• 2 medium summer squash, diced small
• 2 handfuls of fresh spinach, torn
• ½ cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese
• 2 12 oz packages of firm, silken tofu
• ½ cup chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour
• ¼ cup large nutritional yeast flakes (plus extra for garnish)
• ¼ cup plain, unsweetened soymilk
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp stone-ground mustard (or regular - optional)
• 1 tsp kala namak salt
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• Dash of freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Thaw the puff pastry according to the package, if frozen. Place the broccoli in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes; set aside.
2. Grease a 9 inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. When the pastry is thawed, roll it out just thin enough to cover the top edges of the pan; arrange in the pan and prick all over with a fork. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. In a blender, combine the tofu through the pepper; using a tamper blend on high until smooth. Pour just enough of the egg mixture into the pan to cover the bottom of the pastry. Top with half the cheese, half the broccoli, half the squash, and all of the spinach followed by half the egg mixture. Repeat with remainder of cheese, broccoli, and squash. Press down to compact the quiche, then top with the remaining egg mixture; garnish the top with a dusting of nutritional yeast.
4. Bake on the middle rack in the oven for about 50 minutes, until the pastry and top of the quiche are golden brown. Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes before serving; serve warm or cold.

Yield: 6-8

Enjoy! Wishing you all a fabulous week, from our entire family... Bob and Anouk included :)

Easy Breakfast Cookies

These are my go-to breakfast cookies! They are healthy enough to munch on a couple for breakfast, but  tasty enough for dessert too. Nobody wants to eat cardboard cookies, no matter how healthy! These are made mostly with nuts, oats, and flaxseed, and are sweetened with agave nectar, banana, and a touch of brown sugar. Each cookie is studded with dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and pumpkin seeds for a nutritious and scrumptious bite!

Hi everyone! I know it's been a super long time since we've chatted and I truely am sorry for that. Please forgive me as I've been a little preoccupied of late. The last several months haven't found me cooking a whole lot; mostly just eating fruit which is pretty boring and I confess would make an absolutely terrible blog post, but I've missed you all! If you happen to be at all curious as to what is seriously going on with me that I could have abandoned you for so long, there might be a little confession on my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds, so be sure to check it out. Eeek! 

However, things will be picking up here again I hope and I'll be getting back into the cooking/blogging world a little more. One of the things I have been making are these breakfast cookies. Each time I whip up a batch they are different and lend beautifully to substitutions. I use different flours, seeds, nuts, and fruit depending on what I have on hand. I love them so much I figured it was about time I put them up here to share with you all as well! These cookies are so super scrumptious and embarrassingly easy to make. I hope you enjoy them as much as this cookie monster! 

Easy Breakfast Cookies

By Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Published 01/04/2017

These are my go-to breakfast cookies! They are healthy enough to munch on a couple for breakfast, but tasty enough for dessert too. Nobody wants to eat cardboard cookies, no matter how healthy! These are made mostly with nuts, oats, and flaxseed, and are sweetened with agave nectar, banana, and a touch of brown sugar. Each cookie is studded with dried cranberries, chocolate chips, and pumpkin seeds for a nutritious and scrumptious bite! NOTES: *If your peanut butter is a bit runny, you may need to add more flour as necessary.

Ingredients

• ½ cup raw walnuts
• ½ cup raw pecans
• 1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not the quick-cooking kind)
• ⅓ cup whole wheat flour (or flour of choice)
• ½ cup ground flax seed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ cup peanut or almond butter*
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, room temperature
• 1 medium ripe banana
• ¼ cup agave nectar or maple syrup
• ¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp maple extract (optional)
• ½ cup dried cranberries (or blueberries, cherries, etc.)
• ½ cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds (or seeds of choice)

Instructions

1. In a food processor, process the walnuts and pecans until very fine; transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in the oats through the salt with a wooden spoon.
2. Add the peanut butter through the maple extract to the food processor and pulse until smooth; transfer to the mixing bowl along with the cranberries, chocolate chips, and pumpkin seeds. Stir until the dough is just combined; the dough should be somewhat sticky.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line two cookie sheets with non-stick silicone mats or parchment paper. Drop 12 cookies on each sheet (they shouldn’t spread much) and bake for about 12-14 minutes on the two middle oven racks, switching the sheets places halfway through. The cookies should be golden brown around the edges, but care not to overbake.
4. Allow the cookies to rest for 5 minutes on the sheets before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Store in an airtight container. I like to put mine in the fridge.

Yield: 24 Cookies