Almond Flour Dairy-free Banana Bread

The texture to this bread is the closest I've found to a "normal" quick bread while still remaining gluten & dairy free as well as using a natural sweetener.

2 1/2 cups almond flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup corn starch, if gluten free use arrowroot starch

3 eggs
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup honey
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray or butter a large bread loaf pan. In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients with a whisk. In a medium sized bowl place bananas, mash, then add remaining wet ingredients and whisk together. Pour wet into dry and mix until combined. Bake for 1 hour. Cool for 15 minutes and remove from pan.

Picture and recipe adapted from Live Simply

Creamy Mushroom Soup

Winter Immunity Mushroom Soup (from plantbasedcooking with a few changes)

INGREDIENTS •   1/8 cup water for sautéing •   4 cloves garlic minced •   1 large yellow sweet onion, chopped •   1 medium red onion chopped •   8 oz carton mushrooms, your choice •   ¼ cup dried mushrooms  (something different from the fresh) •   2 15 oz. cans white northern or cannellini beans drained & rinsed •   1 can lite coconut milk •   4 cups vegetables broth •   salt & pepper to taste

1  In a large pot, sauté the onions in water for about 10 minutes until the onions are just starting to caramelize. Add garlic and cook for about a minute until fragrant.


2   Add the mushrooms and simmer for another 10-15 minutes, until mushrooms have about halved in size. 


3   Combine ¾ of the cooked mushroom and onion sauté, dry mushrooms, vegetable stock, and coconut milk in a blender on high speed until creamy. Pour the blended soup back into the pot. This creates a velvety soup broth, but still has some texture to it.


4   Add the white beans and let simmer all together for another 5-10 minutes.


5   Season to taste with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and sea salt and chopped green onions or fresh parsley.

Freezes well.

https://www.plantbasedcooking.com/recipe/creamy-mushroom-bean-soup/

Moroccan-Spiced Roasted Cauliflower and Carrot Salad with Chickpeas and Quinoa (Candace Little)

1-2 cookie sheets of veggies (1 head cauliflower (about 1 lb, trimmed to 1 inch florets; 8 oz carrots (about 1 medium small bunch) peeled and cut into ¼ inch think slices

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup quinoa

1 14.5 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

3 green onions, thinly sliced

½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/3 cup chopped pitted brine-cured green olives
1/3 cup currants or chopped raisins (increase as desired)

1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds (increase as desired)

additional Italian parsley springs

Lemon wedges

Preheat over to 450 degrees. Brush cookie sheets with olive oil or line the pans with parchment paper. In medium bowl, toss the veggies in olive oil. Spread the veggies on cookie sheets and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of salt.  Roast the vegetables in the oven until browned in places and tender, stirring once, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring 1 cup water and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt to a simmer in a heavy small saucepan.  Add quinoa, simmer for 15 minutes covered, let stand 5 minutes.  Fluff the quinoa with a fork.  Transfer the couscous to a large bowl; mix in the cauliflower, carrots, garbanzo beans, green onions, chopped parsley, cilantro, olives and currants.  Whisk the Moroccan-Spiced Dressing to blend; add to the salad and mix well.  Season the salad to taste with salt and pepper.  Salad can be prepared 1 day ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.

When ready to serve sprinkle almonds over the salad and garnish with parsley springs. Serve with lemon wedges.

Moroccan-Spiced Dressing

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

½ teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

2 garlic cloves, pressed

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Whisk together.