Oat and carrot bread with hummus, avocado and kale chips

Alright, so this post is really all about my absolute favourite bread in the world; let me present to you my very moist oat and carrot bread packed with nutrients and lots of flavour. Plus it is very easy to make. It’s gluten free, nut free and vegan, so pretty much anyone could enjoy it. I always cut the loaf in slices and put the ones I don't eat straight away in the freezer. That gives me the chance to just take out a slice or two for any occasion I’m craving a healthy slice of bread (which is very often). 

Have a slice for breakfast or the weekend brunch, eat it as a side with you lunch soup or bring as a snack-on-the-go. A couple of slices topped with hummus, avocado and roasted kale + a sprinkle of sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper is one of my favourite ways to have them. And that is just what my dear friend Fanny Hansson, aka talented photographer of my cookbook The new green salad, and I had a couple of months ago during a creative workshop day. I cooked and styled, Fanny took lovely pictures and Sofia Törnqvist did her retouch magic. Not a bad day at work. 

Well, enough writing. I’ll just post the recipe below and let you try the bread for yourself. I’m sure you’ll understad where I’m coming from once you’ve tried it! 

Oat and carrot bread

Makes 1 loaf

4 dl oat flour

3 dl buckwheat flour

1 dl crushed buckwheat groats

1 dl sunflower seeds

1/2 dl pumpkinseeds

1/2 dl flax seeds

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp himalayan salt

1 tbsp chia seeds + 3 tbsp hot water

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 dl finely grated carrot (about 70g) 

4 dl almond milk (or any other plant based milk of your choice)

Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sea salt to sprinkle on top

Serving suggestions

hummus (on p. 102-105 in my book The new green salad you'll find my three favourite hummus recipes!) 

avocado 

kale chips *see instructions below

dried cherry tomatoes, or try my recipe for Semi dried cherry tomatoes

cress

sesame seeds (toast them for an even more intense flavour!)

How to

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Bring 3 tbsp water to a boil. Mix water with chia seeds and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes, until it takes on a texture similar to jelly.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Finely grate the carrot. Add carrots, chia mixture, apple cider vinegar and almond milk to the dry ingredients and mix well.

Grease a bread tin with olive oil and cover the bottom of the tin with baking paper. Put the “dough” in the bread tin, sprinkle with additional seeds and sea salt, and place in the lower part of the oven for about 60-70 minutes, until the inner temperature reaches about 100°C. Let the bread cool completely before slicing it. Preferably wrap it in a kitchen towel and leave on the kitchen counter over night. This will allow the bread to sit and the flavour to develop even more! 

Hope you’ll like it as much as I do!

* Kale chips. Pre heat the oven to 175°C. Tear the leafs in to smaller pieces, massage with some olive oil and flakey salt. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 10 minutes, until crispy, tossing around the kale every now and then. 

Creamy coconut, millet and quinoa porridge

When it comes to the topping it's all up to you! You might want to go for a more fruity topping for breakfast, and more of a savory topping (for example avocado and kale)  I add the quinoa for a nice flavor, but you could also

Best, 

T

Creamy coconut, millet and quinoa porridge

Makes 2 bowls 

Ingredients

2/3 dl millet flakes 

2 tbsp quinoa flakes 

1 tsp chia seeds

3 dl water

1 dl coconut milk 

a pinch each of ground cinnamon and ground cardamom

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt 

Topping

toasted buckwheat groats (*se notes below how to toast buckwheat groats)

apple, thinly sliced 

pomegranate seeds 

lingonberry or blueberry powder (or any berry or fruit powder that you prefer

How to

Mix everything in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 3-4 minutes on medium heat, stirring all the time (this will make the porridge very creamy!), until a creamy texture. Pour in to two bowls and top it with whatever you feel like! 

* Put about 3 dl of dried buckwheat groats in a fine mesh strainer. Bring 1 liter (I normally use about 3 times as much water as groats) of water to a boil. Pour the hot water over the buckwheat and drain well. Toast the groats in a hot, dry frying pan until golden and crisp. Let cool. Store the toasted buckwheat in a glas jar and use as topping on porridge, smoothie bowls, soups, salads etc etc! 

Tips! You could also follow the same "strain procedure" as described above and then toast the buckwheat in the oven (at a baking sheet) at 175 degrees celsius for about 10 minutes.

Toasted bliss balls

Never get tired of nutty bliss balls. These little yummy ones are covered in toasted, finely chopped hazelnuts and toasted coconut flakes. Can be the most delicious covering ever! 

This is a recipe that doesn’t have any exact measurements, I just mix the ingredients until I get the desired consistency and flavor. Therefore they never taste exactly the same, which I like! And I rarely get the exact same number of bliss balls, it all depends on how much I happen to eat before they’re even ready(!), and on how big ones I can bare to roll…If I had any freeze dried raspberries I’d probably put them in here as well. Use your imagination!

I call these ones toasted as I toast the buckwheat and any seeds or nuts I have in them – does a lot for the flavor!

Best,

T

Toasted bliss balls

toasted whole buckwheat groats

toasted sesame seeds

oats (gluten free if gluten intolerant) 

toasted coconut flakes

cacao

a pinch of sea salt

a pinch of cinnamon

dried dates

tiny bit of cold pressed coconut oil

oat milk/almond milk/coconut milk/your choice of any plant based milk (water works just as fine!)

toasted and finely chopped coconut flakes and hazelnuts for rolling

How to

Start with mixing the buckwheat (use dried, whole buckwheat and rinse in boiling water before draining and toasting in a hot, dry frying pan until golden and crisp), add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until a powder-like consistency. 

Add pitted dates (use more for a sweeter taste, fewer for a less sweet bliss ball. Then you just have to use more plant milk instead!) and oil, pulse a few times. Add the plant milk until the right consistency. You may have to add a bit more cacao/salt/cinnamon to fit your preference, or more oats to get the right consistency. 

Form in to balls and roll in toasted finely chopped hazelnuts or toasted, mixed coconut flakes. Store in the freezer or fridge.

 

Oat and almond thumbprint cookies w rhubarb curd

This small cookies are kund of small bites of heaven if you ask me. Easy to make, really pretty and filled with flavor and nutritious ingredients. Containing goodies as oats, almond flour and almond butter, and sweetened with fresh dates they are a really good treat for you and your body. 

As we have the most beautifully tasting rhubarbs in Sweden now (in the beginning of the summer season) I felt like doing something with them. I ended up making the easiest rhubarb curd ever; Wash and chop the rhubarb in to pieces, then just lightly boil the chopped rhubarb in a little bit of water on low heat. When the rhubarb start to get soft I just roughly mash them with a fork, add a pinch of vanilla powder and agave syrup to taste. I really like the kind of sourish taste of the rhubarb though, so I tend to just use a tiny squeeze of agave to only get a sweet touch to it. You could do it without as well, or add more sweetening it you want. 

A few days after this picture was taken I baked the cookies again (yes, the first ones were finished by then…) for my 25-years birthday celebration party. Then I filled them with raspberry curd instead, prepared in the same way as my rhubarb curd but with raspberry instead. Very yummy as well, trust me! 

Tips! Make a bigger batch of the rhubarb curd and use as topping on your morning oats, chia pudding, smoothie bowl or why not as a filling in a sweet crêpe! Will keep in the fridge for about 3 days. 

Retouch of the pictures by Sofia Törnqvist

Oat and almond thumbprint cookies w rhubarb curd

Makes about 20 small cookies

Cookies

2 dl oats (gluten free if gluten intolerant) 

2 dl almond flour

1 tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 pinch sea salt

5 fresh dates

2 tbsp almond butter

2 tbsp oat milk

1/2 dl cold pressed coconut oil, melted

Rhubarb curd

60 g fresh rhubarb

2 tbsp water

1 tsp agave syrup

a pinch pure vanilla powder

How to:

Wash and slice the rhubarb in to pieces, about 1×1 cm. Boil rhubarb pieces in 2 tbsp water until tender. Using a fork. Add the agave syrup and vanilla powder, let simmer for a few more minutes.

Pre heat the oven to 200°C. Mix the oats until a flour in a food processor. Add the rest of the dry ingredients. Pit the dates. Add dates to the dry mixture and pulse until crumbly texture.

Add almond butter, coconut oil and oat milk. Mix until it forms in to a dough. You might have do add a bit more oat milk to get the dough to stick together. Roll dough in to about 20 small balls. Put them on a baking sheet and lightly press them down with your palm, finishing of by making a thumbprint “holes” using you thumb.

Fill in the thumbprint holes w rhubarb curd. Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes, until lightly brown and firm underneath. Don’t be afraid if the cookies seem to loose when taken out of the oven, they will be more firm as they cool down. Store in an air tight container in the fridge.