We had the children’s day celebration at our apartment complex for which they organised a drawing and colouring contest. Sounds good, right? But no. Parents were breathing down the necks of the little ones (read 8 to 10 year olds!) giving them detailed instructions on what they need to draw or the colour they need to use. My daughter made those sad puppy dog eyes making me feel like an ignorant negligent parent in contrast. I have been ranting ever since to all and sundry about how parents need to leave their kids alone to take their own decisions and make their own mistakes so that they can learn their own lessons. Then I found out that the kid whose mom gave the maximum instructions actually won the contest. Now I am in two minds – maybe I should have helped her afterall. She would not have been heartbroken about not winning. But then maybe this will help her deal with life better in the long run. Parenting is tough! Rant complete and I am feeling better already.
Now on to the dish of the day. I luckily found zucchinis at the local supermarket much to my surprise. I grabbed it and simply had to make a zucchini bread. It turned out fabulous especially with all that cheese in it. Since it is a quick bread, I could eat some before the daughter was back from school and became competition. Yay!
I have begun to replace all purpose flour with wheat flour in most recipes except yeast bread where I think they make a significant difference to the airiness of the bread. In muffins, quick breads, etc. I can manage a reasonable amount of lightness to the dish with whole wheat flour. You could use all purpose flour in this dish just as the original recipe.
Adapted from here
Makes one 7″ loaf
WHAT WE NEED
Zucchini, grated 3/4 cup
Whole wheat flour 1 cup
Baking powder 1 tsp
Baking soda 1/4 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Milk 1/2 cup
Apple cider vinegar 1 1/2 tsp
Egg 1
Olive Oil 1 1/2 tbsp
Cheddar cheese, grated 1/2 cup heaped
Mixed herbs 2 tsp
WHAT TO DO
- Preheat the oven to 180C
- Grease and line a loaf tin with parchment paper
- Squeeze the grated zucchini gently to release some liquid. I did not do it because I used whole wheat flour which absorbs more water and I did not want the bread to be dry. Squeeze out some liquid (around 2 tsp or so) if you are using all purpose flour.
- In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together
- In another bowl, combine the milk and vinegar. Any vinegar will do. I used apple cider vinegar
- The milk will curdle a bit. Then add the egg and oil and mix well
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to combine ensuring no dry flour is left
- Add the zucchini, cheese and mixed herbs and mix lightly
- Pour the batter into the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour
- If the toothpick inserted comes clean, the bread is done
- Cool it for 10-15 minutes in the loaf tin and then unmould it on to the wire rack to cool further
- Once it is completely cooled, (around an hour) slice and serve
- Enjoy!
This is my post for the Blogging Marathon under the theme, Cuisine of the USA.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM
You are so right Sowmya , we should let the kids do on their own , they will definitely fair better . And that bread , it looks fantastic ! Zucchini makes it healthy too .
Sowmya, there have been days when I felt down that I couldn’t spend so much time like the other moms who literally study their kids books and many days when I felt I should let them learn on their own. Its been a month since I started sitting with my boys for their studies and I feel sad that I haven’t spent much time before. Because the way they are taught is surely not how I would teach but I limit it to the studies only..doing crafts or these drawings, I have long decided will never butt in..thats not how one learns is what I feel…so don’t worry..:)…the bread looks so yum!
Bread looks soo moist and yummy. Definitely a healthy one.
Bread looks stunning. I have been looking for an eggless version and haven’t yet found a perfect one. I am surprised that you have added apple cider vinegar and egg. I thought they were mutually exclusive. Please clarify.
Any vinegar would do in this recipe. I had apple cider vinegar at hand and used it. The bread turned out just fine. I wasn’t aware they are mutually exclusive. Will check that out.
This is on my todo list for quite sometime. Need to get my hands of it. This is such a great bake. Love the crust.
The zucchini bread looks perfectly baked.
That super golden color really tempts me to give a try.. Perfect..
Its been a while,i baked bread with zucchini and this quick bread rocks, love the crumb of this bread.
This quick bread looks absolutely delicious…I love quick breads
Sowmya help when your Do not smother its creativity, this child who won the competition will rebel as it grows up or will expect everything spoon fed.
The bread is delicious. I must ask you to bake it when I visit Bangalore.
** help when the child asks. Making puppy face was definitely the time to give suggestions.