Garlic & Mozzarella Quick Bread

I really like making quick breads because... well, because they're quick. I love to eat my carbs in the form of bread, but I rarely have time to deal with the rising and kneading that goes along with yeast breads. After my recent love affair with one of the dessert breads from Don't eat Off the Sidewalk #2, I decided to make a savory version of the loaf-style quick bread. It turned out mighty good, too. I do believe I'll make this one again. my version is a garlic bread with shredded mozzarella Teese and fresh basil. I topped it with a few Roma tomato slices, but I may go further next time and add some chopped sun dried tomatoes right into the bread.

This recipe turns out two loaves (we ate one, and sent one to my dad), and the recipe here is adapted from the Cranberry Chocolate Almond Bread recipe from Don't Eat off the Sidewalk #2.



Garlic & Mozzarella Quick Bread

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup plain soy milk
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp non dairy yogurt (I used plain coconut milk yogurt)
4-5 cloves worth of minced garlic

1/2 cup shredded vegan mozzarella (I used Teese)
8-10 fresh basil leaves, cleaned and chopped into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two loaf pans with canola oil spray.

In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients including the minced garlic. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Sift or stir until well mixed. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a spoon or whisk. Mix until incorporated, but be careful not to overmix.

Fold in the shredded mozzarella and chopped basil. Pour batter into each loaf pan, filing each pan equally. Top the loaves with some sliced tomatoes for decoration, if you would like. I recommend using a less juicy type of tomato, like Roma.

Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. let cool before slicing.

Atlanta Vegan Bake Sale!

Atlanta is participating in the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale! If you are in metro Atlanta, please bookmark our blog here for updates on the sale. If you are in another city, how about putting one of these together yourself? Yay! Baked goods!

holiday baking.

Ken and I both did a little bit of baking yesterday! We wanted to take something nice with us to Ken's folk's house. Ken whipped up a batch of Dreena Burton's Peanut Better Cookies, from Vive Le Vegan. He subbed the maple syrup with a maple & agave blend that we found at Trader Joe's. They were still nice and sweet, and slightly chewy. Don't you just love his fork marks?



I've been meaning to try the Raspberry Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars from Vegan with a Vengeance, and I finally did! These were really pretty, and of course they tasted great, too. In place of the called-for raspberries, I used a blend of raspberries, cherries and blueberries.



The couple who bakes together, stays together ya'll.

more pizza.

We usually make pizza at home once a week. Pizza is one of those foods that I could probably eat every day, given the chance. Here's one of my favorite topping combinations. Fresh spinach, onions, tomatoes, seasoned Soy Curls, and mozzarella Teese:



Man, I love pizza. And our new camera.

Ouch, and yum.

Even though I'm feeling much better, I still have a slight cough. And while this slight cough is way better than the hacking, nasty cough of a few weeks ago, I have managed to pull all kinds of muscles in my rib area from coughing. Man, it hurts! I sneezed earlier, and it felt like I was in a collision or something. I can barely lift my arms up, which is no good for many reasons. So I ask you, dear readers: Has this happened to you before? What should I do for the soreness, besides whine and complain? The W&C method doesn't seem to be working for me.

Okay, food! I took advantage of some spare time (!) yesterday, and whipped up a few things. Like this yummy Cherry Chocolate Almond bread.



The recipe for this bread is from Don't Eat Off the Sidewalk #2, with only a minor adjustment. The recipe called for dried cranberries, and I subbed dried cherries. This bread is epic. In fact, it stirs so many emotions that it should be called PMS bread. So there you go. Also, it's pretty!



I also made another tester recipe from the upcoming Vegan Latina, Sweet Basil & Corn Pot Pie (Pastel de Choclo). I can't think of a better way to kill 2 hours then to make this lovely dish.





After all that cooking yesterday, I think I might just have a sandwich for dinner tonight. After I call the waaambulance* about my sore ribs.


*Thanks, Christy. This made me laugh. But the laughing hurt my ribs, so...