Reaching for Purity: my body as temple
January 5, 2010
OK, so it’s not exactly a New Year’s Resolution, but M. and I are cleansing for January. Throughout pastry school, the pace of life exceeded my willingness to be constantly responsible for healthful meals. We ate more pasta, pizza, and veggie patties than I care to admit. Now, the time is for purity. I’m craving things that are simple, green, and whole. Dairy, wheat, extraneous sugar and coffee are out. Brown rice, sprouts, kale and beans are in.
Of course, I still have cravings for bread and sweets. A pastry cook can’t help it! So, vegan and gluten-free baking is also very de rigueur. This afternoon I adapted a Garden of Vegan recipe. It was called “Pear, Ginger, Pecan Bread,” but it’s become “Wheat-free Curried Coconut, Pepita and Cranberry Loaf.” Once it comes out of the oven I’ll be able to a) photograph it and b) taste it. Then I can pronounce it an excellent idea or an experiment gone wrong.
Photography (and baking) complete. I think it turned out OK. Oven-drying the cranberries a little first would eliminate some of the wetness around the berry. Flavour-wise, I like it, but it wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste. Less sugar would be a good idea too, since it is more of a lunch accompaniment than a breakfast or recess snack, with the curry.
The recipe for Curried Coconut, Cranberry and Pepita Loaf:
2 C flour -to render it GF, substitute brown rice flour, potato flour and amaranth flour. I used 3/4 C brown rice flour, 1/8 C potato flour, and 1 C amaranth flour.
2.5 t baking powder
.5 t baking soda
.25 t salt
.5 t garam masala -increase to 1 t if you love curry
.5 C organic sugar
.5 C shredded, unsweetened coconut
3/4 C soy milk
1/3 C olive oil
1 banana, mashed
approx 1 C frozen cranberries
1/3 C roasted pepitas
Bake at 350 F for 50-60 min.
