Beer Bread - My Way

I admit it, I LOVE to eat bread and I HATE to buy bread.

Every time I have to buy bread and check the label I am grossed out

by all the chemicals and unpronounceable ingredients.

Yes, the fresh bakery bread usually uses less ingredients, but the possibility of

cross-contamination with allergens is far greater.

The good news though, it really only takes a few ingredients to make delicious,

healthy bread. This recipe does not take long at all

as the dough does not need to be kneaded and left to rise.

Inspiration for it came from Marions Kochbuch website and

I marked the changes with an * again.

Bread Dough:

2 c. white flour*

2 c. whole wheat flour*

1 Tbsp. baking powder

3 Tbsp. David's Roasted & Salted sunflower seeds*

2 Tbsp. flaxseeds*

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar*

2 c. beer (I used Amber O'Douls)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In a bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients until well combined. Slowly add the beer, it will foam quite a bit. Stir with a wire whisk until everything is incorporated and make sure not to over mix. This dough will have the texture of very thick cake dough. Pour the dough into a greased glass loaf pan. Bake for 60 minutes and check for doneness with a wooden toothpick. Turn the oven off. Release the bread from the pan and put it back into the warm oven for anther ten minutes. This will give it a nice crust.

Finally, let it cool on a wire rack.

Pea-Sunflower Seed Pesto

I realized that I'm a food geek when I came up with this dairy,

egg and nut-free pesto recipe.

I used to love pesto pasta salad and thought I'd never be able to eat pesto again, but I was up for the challenge. I used familiar flavors of basil, garlic and lemon, but added peas and sunflower seeds to give it the texture of a traditional pesto. The secret ingredient is flat leaf parsley, that adds a nice underlying flavor. The result is a thick pesto that can be used as a spread, dip or served over hot pasta with a little pasta water added to thin it out.

Pesto:

2 c. frozen peas

1 handful basil leaves (about 12 leaves)

1 handful of flat leaf parsley (about 5 stems)

2 Tbsp. David's roasted & salted sunflower seeds

1 small garlic clove, sliced

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

about 3 Tbsp. olive oil

Steam the peas for about 8 minutes, so they are soft, but still bright green. Cool under running cold water and let drain.

In a food processor combine peas, basil, parsley, sunflower seeds, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt.

Pulse until it everything is coarsely chopped.

With the blade running add the olive oil through the opening on the lid, one tablespoon at a time until the pesto has a creamy texture.

Voila!