Healthy Vegetarian Tacos

Tacos are a great favourite in my home and I am very experimental with the filling I make for for them. Here's a version of some yummy healthy vegetarian tacos that I made last weekend.

Rustic Savoury Crostata: A Daring Baker's November

As always a winner from the Daring Bakers. I tweaked the recipe for the crust quite a bit to avoid eggs!! As for the filling - well it just had to be savoury:) This Crostata came out lip-smacking yummy!! The use of multiple flours in the crust gave a really nutty flavour and the filling was delicious. Don't be scared off by the darker crust - the colour comes from the Ragi or Finger Millet flour!! All I can say is that this recipe is a keeper and I am delighted that I decided to fiddle with it to suit our tastes!!

Multi-Grain Banana Bread

I am always on a lookout for healthier alternatives to everyday treats. So when I saw Manasi's announcement for Healthy Cooking - A Cookbook Giveaway Event, I decided to go right ahead and try a new recipe that I put together last week, while considering a healthier approach to Banana Bread. Now, Banana Bread is a great favourite in my home and we adore it warm with hazelnut-cinnamon coffee!! But as we all know, Banana Bread is addictive and can become an adorably sinful if delicious treat.

I had, in fact, been toying with the idea of turning my favourite recipe for this yum cake around for a while and I have to thank the Healthy Cooking challenge for giving me the push that I needed to venture forth!!!! So, this is how I went about it: Firstly, I decided to substitute all-purpose flour with whole wheat, and a combination of grains including cornmeal and triticale. Next I dropped the white sugar and replaced it with soft brown sugar and some molasses. And finally, I replaced the butter in the recipe with canola oil. The result was a highly textured, dense, and moist banana bread with a rich malty-banana flavour. Absolutely and utterly delicious.


While this is also know in our home as the disappearing cake, I find that this cake stay best when stored in a refrigerator in an airtight storage box. Cut only as much as you are serving and enjoy it with your favourite beverage or with a lite soft cream cheese spread. Yummmm, and without further ado here's my recipe for Annarasa's Multi-Grain Banana Bread.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup mixed grains (cornmeal, soy, rye, triticale, rolled oats, wheatgerm, flax meal)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Canola Oil
3/4 cup soft brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups mashed very ripe bananas

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. As I like to make smaller loafs, I used 2 samll loaf pans. But a larger pan will work just as well. Grease the pans well.
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour and the grains. Blend in the salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, eggs, vanilla extract, molasses, and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Now add the flour-grain mixture, and the mashed bananas, and mix well using a spatula.
5. Pour the prepared batter into the loaf pans. Bake for around an hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pans for around ten minutes.
6. Turn out and allow the loafs to cool on the wire rack.

Enjoy :)

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