Meyer Lemon Bread Loaf

Lemon Bread

I love lemon anything, and this meyer lemon bread is one of my favorite things ever! In fact, one of my favorite breakfast items is the lemon loaf from Starbucks and that’s what I had in mind when I made this. Not a copy-cat recipe, because I punched up the lemon a little with extra lemon juice and lemon zest.

Meyer lemons are thinner skinned, brighter yellow orange and slightly sweeter than standard lemons. Peak season for runs from November and runs through March. Meyer lemons are said to be a cross between a conventional lemon and a mandarin orange.

Don’t have Meyer lemons? Use regular ones. But, try to buy organic, un-waxed fruit since you will be using the zest in your bread and glaze. You could even substitute another citrus like lime, orange, sour orange or grapefruit; adjusting the sugar in the glaze as needed.

Lemon Loaf

Meyer Lemon Bread

You’ll need 2-3 meyer lemons for this recipe for this Meyer lemon bread, glaze and garnish. If you can’t find meyer lemons you can always substitute traditional lemons.

3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup olive oil
zest of 1 meyer lemon
2 tbsp lemon extract
Juice of 1 meyer lemon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Lemon Glaze: 
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tbsp meyer lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with floured no-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, add the eggs, sugar, sour cream, oil and whisk vigorously until smooth and combined. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract and stir well to combine.
Stir in flour, baking powder and salt until just combined. It’s okay if it’s a bit lumpy. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes until risen and golden brown. Allow loaf to cool in pan on top of a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before turning out onto cooling rack to finish cooling before glazing.

For the glaze:  In a medium bowl combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth and combined. Adjust as needed for desired consistency and flavor. Drizzle over bread, slice and serve.

Notes: This bread freezes well if you don’t eat it right away. Slice and store in the freezer for an easy snack. If your bread starts to brown too much (with a jiggly, undone center), remove from the oven, tent with some loosely placed foil and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

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Chocolate Raspberry Granola

Chocolate + raspberries (plus coconut and oats) = Valentine granola

Are you making breakfast in bed?  Or maybe you need something sweet for your sweetheart. Chocolate granola is a light breakfast or makes a nice little snack. Swap out the raspberries for freeze dried strawberries, for a chocolate- strawberry version.

Chocolate Raspberry Granola

2 cups oats
1 cup slivered, raw almonds
1 cup chocolate, chopped (bittersweet or semi-sweet)
1 cup coconut chips
1 cup freeze-dried raspberries
1/3 cup chia seeds, scant
1/3 cup agave
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tbs coconut oil, melted and divided
2 tbs vanilla extract
1 tbs cinnamon
pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together oats, almonds, coconut, chia seeds and cocoa in a large bowl. Add agave, vanilla and one tablespoon of coconut oil.  Stir together until evenly coated. Add a large pinch of salt and fold in.  Press lightly into an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, set aside to cool. Melt chocolate and remaining coconut oil and drizzle over granola, as it cools. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Once granola is room temperature, break into clumps and mix in raspberries. Store in an air tight jar for up to two weeks.

Notes: Freeze dried strawberries or other dried fruit like cranberries, raisins or apricots would be excellent substitutes for raspberries. Honey is an acceptable swap for agave.

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Salad Ideas: The BIG Salad + a basic jar dressing

Salad Ideas

Let’s talk about healthy eating, let’s talk about salad ideas and let’s talk about leftovers. Now, let’s talk about this salad. The BIG salad.

It’s a few weeks into January and hopefully you’re sticking to those resolutions. If not, here’s some inspiration in the form of a salad. A really big salad.  This is a favorite meal in my mom’s house and I’ve adopted it. It’s a throw-together with what you got kind of meal, and there for more of a ‘salad-idea’ than a real recipe. So I’m going to include my favorite, basic vinaigrette at the bottom of this post to make it up to you. But don’t be fooled by that either, you can swap and sub in what ever you got or what ever you like in that, too.

So here’s your salad idea: layers in rows. Start with a bed of mixed greens and layer in rows all your toppings. Everyone can build their salad with the things they like and leave out the things they hate. Serve this alongside a pot of soup and fresh bread for an easy dinner.

The Big Salad

What to include? For us, it’s some combination of shredded chicken (either leftovers or store bought rotisserie), bacon, cucumbers, carrots, grape tomatoes, onion, hard boiled eggs, celery, sweet bell peppers or olives. Other ideas? Try cheese (like feta!), sliced steak, avocado, raw broccoli, cauliflower or radishes. Add fruit, like fresh berries, apples or mandarin oranges. Add a row of croutons or crunchy won-ton noodles. Endless combinations. Scroll down for that dressing I promised you.

Salad Ideas: Giant Leftover Salad

Because homemade dressing is easy and better, I say make your own always. But since you’re likely feeding a group, set out a variety of dressings along side a homemade version to spoon on your salad and make everyone happy. I make a version of this easy jar-dressing recipe with whatever I have on hand, just like this salad. If you want my recommendations for herbs are basil, oregano and rosemary since I have those growing most often. Use at least three different herbs to give you the most impact.

Salad Ideas: Basic Jar Vinaigrette

Your standard dressing ratio is one part oil to one half part acid, adjust accordingly to make a larger quantity. Use dried herbs in place of fresh if necessary. Anchovy paste sound gross? Fine, use miso paste. 

1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs (at least 3 herbs)
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 tbs salt
1 tbs pepper
1 tbs anchovy paste

Start with Mason jar to build your dressing. Dump everything in, cover and shake well. Shake again before serving. Will keep in the fridge for a week. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Fresh salad ideas
Make a big fresh salad

A week with DeliverLean

DeliverLean Breakfast
Savory Chickpea Pancakes with Cashew Cream and Avocado Salsa

This past week I had the opportunity to work with DeliverLean, a meal delivery service delivering healthy ready-made-meals to South Florida. I elected my delivery to start the week after Thanksgiving, a great time to refresh a little after all the cooking and overeating. And as someone who is a big believer in a packed lunch for work, this was a game changer.

Deliver Lean Tofu Steak

Deliver Lean Tofu Dinner

 

The DeliverLean plan I chose was their vegan menu, which included some really creative items and has definitely inspired me to incorporate more tofu in my diet. Not into vegan? They have Paleo, vegetarian, classic and kids plans to chose from. Each delivery came to my door in a thermal bag on ice, with 6 meals intended for two days. Delivery was 3 times a week, so everything came fresh. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. No shopping, no cooking. No meal prep, no meal planning. Boom. Done.

DeliverLean Breakfast Oatmeal
Coconut Breakfast Porridge with Cinnamon Peaches and Crunchy Cinnamon Granola

So let’s talk about the food. 
DeliverLean is all about healthy, so everything was made with healthy oils and fats in mind and high protein. Calorie counts and nutrition is right on the box so you know what you’re getting. Breakfast was light but filling, things like blueberry lemon bread, sweetened with applesauce or coconut porridge with cinnamon peaches and crunchy toasted cinnamon granola. Lunch included a really delicious chick pea “tuna” salad wrap (vegan, remember?),  falafel wrap (another favorite) mango spring rolls, or a gorgeous fennel and citrus salad, studded with pistachios. And for dinner, more filling options like curry tofu steak (so good!) or —- tofu steak, both excellent and served with veggies. Also a mushroom stew and creamy polenta, gluten free pasta with a tomato sauce and savory chickpea pancakes.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner. No shopping, no cooking. No meal prep, no meal planning. Boom. Done.

Start your New Year right with healthy eating goals.
While you can chose your meals by logging into their menu portal once you’ve signed up with DeliverLean, I left mine to “chefs choice” and I was not disappointed. All the items I received were fresh, healthy and filling options that I was excited to eat every day. Because it’s hard to eat well when you’re not excited about the food, right? And since I wasn’t putting in any extra effort, it was so easy to stay on track all week with eating right. No excuses. Like the night everyone in my house was eating pizza? I had dinner all ready to go and no reason to cheat. Think about what an amazing New Year’s resolution this would be!

Deliver Lean Lunch
Mango Cilantro Vegan Spring Rolls
DeliverLean Lunch
Shaved Fennel Salad with Grapefruit and Pistachios

Getting started with DeliverLean
Get started with DeliverLean for your New Year, you can try it with by using discount code citysupper10 for a 10% discount!
Just go to their website www.deliverlean.com to get started!

DeliverLean New Year's Resolution

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