Superpower Loaf

Imagine, if you will, the richest, moistest, fudgiest brownie ever. Then, shape it into a loaf and add all sorts of other stuff, including a banana, a block of tofu, two zucchini, dried cherries and California walnuts. Oh yes. That's precisely what this quickbread is - a lightly cocoa-ed, semi sweet, rich concoction packed with fruit, vegetables, nuts and chocolate chips. Oh, did I mention that it's also 100% vegan and wheat free?

If you've been listening to my whining / desperate marketing on Twitter lately, you know I'm doing some nutrition seminars and workshops at a local wellness centre. The first one (IBS... joy of joys!) was Monday night, and it was pretty lackluster in attendance so I didn't get the chance to demonstrate my "safe" banana-tofu pudding and therefore wound up with very ripe bananas and a full block of soft silken tofu back at my place. Throw in the two zucchini that I bought on a whim last grocery trip and a generous gift of walnut halves from the California Walnuts marketing board and I had a veritable plethora of goodies to play with (and use up, in the case of the produce!). I decided to shred one zucchini and puree the other one with the tofu and banana, which meant a lot less oil and a lot more moisture than the standard zucchini loaf. I used a mixture of dark brown sugar (I love it's flavour with cocoa desserts) and a stevia baking blend to sweeten, and let the concentrated sugars of the dried cherries pop on its own.

This super-food laden quickbread does contain gluten (from whole grain barley flour), but it also has tons of essential fatty acids and fibre from the chopped walnuts and the ground chia and flax seeds. This beast of a bread is also super rich in iron, calcium, magnesium and manganese, and a decent source of protein and B vitamins too. This is one breakfast / snack / dessert  that earns it's label as a "superpower" bread.

And to think - I did the whole shebang in the food processor (and one cereal bowl for the shredded zucchini)! Why dirty a mixing bowl, I say!

Superpower Loaf
Makes 10 thick slices (1 9x5" pan)

2 medium zucchini

300 g soft or silken tofu

1 small banana

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp stevia baking blend (I used Krisda)

1 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 tsp sea salt

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1 cup barley flour

1 cup oat flour

2 tbsp ground chia (salba) seed

3 tbsp ground flax seed

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350F, grease a 9x5" pan.
2. Shred one of the zucchini and set aside.
3. In a food processor, puree the second zucchini, tofu, banana, brown sugar, stevia, oil, vanilla and salt until smooth.
4. Add the cocoa and puree in.
5. Add the flours, chia, flax, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg, and run the machine just to combine.
6. Pulse in the shredded zucchini, walnuts, chocolate chips and cherries.
7. Spread evenly in the pan.
8. Bake for 45 minutes on the middle rack, then move to the bottom rack and bake a further 20-25 minutes, until tests done.
9. Cool in the pan for 40 minutes before turning out.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 386.4

Total Fat: 18.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 16.6 mg
Total Carbs: 63.5 g

Dietary Fiber: 15.2 g

Protein: 12.7 g