Summer Bounty Zucchini Loaf

To me, Summer means getting out into the garden, back into the gym, playing golf and going for my regular Farmer's Market crawls with Mom. This also means, though, that I'm in the kitchen a lot less - unless I'm canning! Since I had made a double batch of my Watermelon Curd, I found myself with more than I could get through as a simple spread and started looking at my options to use it before it turned. I had dreams of bar cookies (like lemon bars) but never seemed to have the time or energy to make a crust, then the filling (I'm a whiner, I know), plus I still had a ton of leftover ingredients from school I wanted to at least make a dent in. Instead, I went for the universal "catch-all" recipe for almost anything baking - a quickbread.

Actually, my impetus (aside from the random "school ingredients" and excess Watermelon Curd) was the fact that our garden's zucchini are starting to come in... and in... and in... We do eat a lot of it anyways, but as any gardener knows, you never have just one zucchini at a time! Zucchini breads are nothing new, but I decided to try a twist on one from my mom's recipe box... which effectively changed the whole thing (except the zucchini!). I made the loaf vegan, slashed the sugar, nixed the nuts, added ground cookies for some of the flour, changed the cinnamon to cardamom and added some flaxseed for kicks. The curd helped me replace a good portion of the oil in the original, and I swirled a little extra in on top for a more distinctive flavour. In fact, the only things that didn't change were the zucchini, whole wheat flour, ginger, vanilla, salt and leavening!

It all worked beautifully, though - in fact, much better than I thought! The interior was moist (but not soggy or gummy like most low-fat baking), the watermelon was there but not overpowering, the cookies added a light sweetness and texture and the cardamom added a bit of interest. Nobody who didn't know beforehand could pick out the "random" combination I tossed in, but somebody who tasted it told me it "tasted like Summer". Who knew "seasoning" had another meaning?

Summer Bounty Zucchini Loaf
Serves 10
1 1/2 tbsp Homemade Egg Replacer
3/4 cup warm water
1 tbsp ground flax
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup Watermelon Curd + 2 tbsp (for topping)
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups crushed arrowroot cookies (or vanilla wafers)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 large, finely grated zucchini

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan well.
2. In a bowl beat together egg replacer, water, sugar, watermelon curd, oil, lemon juice and vanilla until well mixed.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom and ginger, mixing until just combined.
4. Fold in the zucchini.
5. Bake for 1 hour, until tests done.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 176.2
Total Fat: 4.9 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 74.7 mg
Total Carbs: 31.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.8 g
Protein: 2.6 g