Best Zucchini Bread or Muffins

Yield: 1 loaf or 12 muffins

This is not necessarily "good for you" but I would consider it "less bad" for you than other zucchini bread recipes. It does have sugar in it but I cut out most of the fat and replaced it with nut cream instead. Every once in a while we indulge in a little sugar, but not all the time.

I've found that one large zucchini can produce anywhere from 4 to 6 cups of shredded zucchini. I like to double or triple this recipe to make more loaves as this recipe will yield one loaf. Any leftover shredded zucchini can be frozen and added to soups in the fall.

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or you can do half white flour if desired)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more)
1 teaspoon allspice

Other Ingredients:

2 egg replacers (For each egg I used 1 tablespoon ground flax meal + 3 tablespoons water, blended & placed in refrigerator for 15 minutes to set up. I have also just mixed flax seed and water with the rest of the wet ingredients and it turns out just fine)
1/4 cup pecans or walnuts
1/3 cup water
1-1/2 cups shredded fresh zucchini
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chunks (or chips)

Preheat oven to 350 for bread loaf or 375 for muffins. Place dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together with a wire whisk. Set aside.

In high speed blender place the egg replacers, nuts, water, zucchini, sugar, lemon juice, coconut oil & vanilla. Blend until smooth. Pour into bowl with dry ingredients and mix in the chocolate chunks.

Pour into loaf pans lined with parchment paper or greased with coconut oil or lined muffin pans and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes for bread loaf or 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes for muffins. Cool and then remove from pans. This bread freezes well and can be placed in freezer bags after completely cooled.

Variations:
Lemon Poppyseed - eliminate the cinnamon, allspice & chocolate chips and add the zest of 1 lemon and the juice of one lemon, change the vanilla to almond extract and add 2 tablespoons of poppyseeds after mixing the dry & wet ingredients.

Lemon Strawberry - eliminate the cinnamon, allspice & chocolate chips and add the zest of 1 lemon and the juice of one lemon, add one small package of freeze dried strawberries smashed up a bit.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip - substitute one 15 oz. can of canned pumpkin or 1-1/2 cups of butternut or other cooked winter squash for the zucchini.

Layered Greek Dip

I have seen a few versions of this dip on Pinterest. This is my recipe derived from a few different recipes and made to be non-dairy.

hummus recipe - doubled (I mixed in a couple of slices of roasted bell pepper and some oregano)
ranch dressing recipe - I added a little more water to the recipe to make it thinner for spreading.
1 teaspoon dill
1 medium sized cucumber, chopped
1 cup chopped tomato (I used grape tomatoes, sliced in half)
1 cup kalamata olives, chopped
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Layer all ingredients in order listed above and serve with pita chips (1 package whole wheat pitas, cut into triangles, sprinkled with garlic salt and placed under broiler until browned)

Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, keeping half of the liquid from the can or 1-1/2 cups cooked beans + 1/2 cup water
2-3 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed butter)
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Optional Flavor Additions:

-one or two slices of roasted red pepper or fresh bell pepper
-sun dried tomato
-one teaspoon of ground cumin or cumin seed
-one teaspoon oregano

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Makes a great base for sandwiches or dip for veggies.

Broiled Artichokes w/ Lemon Garlic Fennel Dipping Sauce

This dish makes a great lunch or snack. Add a side salad and some bread to turn it into a dinner.

ARTICHOKES

4 artichokes
cold water
juice of 1/2 lemon

Cut bottom stem off artichokes and cut in half lengthwise. Place in bowl of cold water mixed with lemon juice. One at a time use a sharp-edged spoon to scoop out hairy choke and center leaves and discard. Rinse artichoke if necessary. Place in a steaming pan over boiling water for 15 minutes. Place face up in baking dish and broil in bottom of oven for 10 minutes. Serve warm with sauce below:


LEMON GARLIC FENNEL DIPPING SAUCE

1 cup raw pecans
juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons nama shoyu (raw soy sauce)
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1/2 cup water (amount may vary for consistency)

Place all ingredients except water in food processor or high speed blender. Mix for a minute or so and scrape down the sides. Then drizzle in water and blend until a smooth sauce develops. Adjust water amount as needed to get the desired consistency. This might depend on how juicy the lemon is. Make this sauce thick for dipping or thinner to use as a salad dressing on green or pasta salad.