Without a doubt, the best part of publishing a personal post like my Why I Gave Up Running post is reading all of the amazing responses people share.
Seriously, thank you all so much.
I’ll try to make the blog a little more personal in the future, although it’s difficult because most of the personal stuff in my life involves other people. To respect the privacy of my real-world friends, I have a rule to not write about them or post their photos, which is why most of the pictures you see on this blog are of just me.
For today, you get another recipe… with chocolate. Hopefully you won’t mind. 😉
I’m honored to feature a recipe today from Tosca Reno, a New York Times best-selling author and one of the most well-respected and influential figures in the world of healthy food. This bread pudding recipe comes from her Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook, which contains 150 meat-free recipes free of processed ingredients, refined sugars, and anything artificial (note to vegetarians: there is a chapter on fish).
The book, which comes with complete nutritional information for every recipe, is divided into ten chapters from breakfast to dessert. It also covers topics such as how to be a healthy vegetarian, eating vegetarian on a budget, and making fast-food and holiday recipes. Upon receiving the cookbook in the mail, I right away bookmarked at least fifteen things I wanted to make. With bananas, cinnamon, and chocolate chips, this healthy bread pudding was obviously on top of the list!
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Pudding
(Adapted from Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook, reprinted with permission)
- 2 1/2 cups (640ml) milk of choice
- 3 tbsp (45ml) arrowroot or cornstarch
- 1/4 cup (60ml) sucanat or sugar of choice
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 cups day-old bread, torn into 1-to-2-inch pieces, lightly packed
- 2 extra-ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 to 1 cup (120-240ml) chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F (177C). Grease a 1.5 to 2-quart ceramic dish and set aside. Thoroughly whisk together all but last three ingredients in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, and stir to combine, mashing the bananas a little and allowing the bread to absorb most of the liquid. Scrape into the prepared dish, and press down to smooth the top. Let sit 15 minutes so bread absorbs more liquid, then bake uncovered until lightly brown and firm (about 30 minutes). Serve warm. For questions about this recipe or substitutions, please feel free to ask this recipe’s creator, Tosca Reno!
View Bread Pudding Nutrition Facts
Quick Giveaway!
For the chance to win your own copy of Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook, simply leave a comment answering the following question: What is your favorite meatless meal?
I suppose my favourite right now is home-made bean burgers.
Favorite meatless meal– smoothies/”ice-cream” made with almond milk, tofu, spinach, vanilla extract, stevia, maybe some cinnamon, pumkin pie spice, and/or chocolate… yum. 🙂 AND the homemade larabars! I could seriously eat a lifetime supply in one sitting.
My favourite meatless meal varies with the season. In the summer I love zucchini pasta with a garlic- tahini sauce, and in the winter I love a big bowl of lentil soup with lots of veggies and kale.
Anything with pasta! Mac and cheese, spaghetti with tomato sauce…you name it!
My favorite meatless meal comes from Moosewood I call it Hippie Soup but they call it Mushroom-Sesame-Tofu Soup. It’s loaded with vegetarian proteins and can be used as a soup or stew, great over rice or potatoes or any grain. Absolutely a complete meal all to itself and simple to put together, very forgiving with measurements and open to experimentation. You can find it in New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant. Cheers!
My favorite non-meat meal is my protein no bake overnight oats. I don’t use regular whey protein. I use raw Sunwarrior plant base protein, mix it with homemade almond milk, 1/4c of oat, chia seeds (it becomes pudding like) and other ingredients you like put it in the fridge overnight. It’s ready for breakfast when I am in a rush or my post work out snack the next day.
I incorporated some of your recipes with my vegan protein powder to make it a power post work out food.
My favourite meatless dish is Pad Thai with tofu. Not sure if it’s because it tastes great or if it’s because it’s the only dish my husband cooks! I love cooking but it’s always nice when he takes a turn 🙂
I’m really boring so I’ll say a good salad with some edamame.
a blended butternut squash soup and some baked sweet potato fries on the side with a homemade larabar for dessert. does it get better than this? well, some homemade chocolate bars i guess. anywho, that sounds like a great recipe!
My favorite meatless meal would be oatmeal, but sadly I can’t eat it 3 meals a day seven days a week. ^-^ So I would probably have to go with Skinny Eggplant Rollatini.
Definitely Lentil Soup!!
I love black bean soup! If I couldn’t eat solid foods, I would live on a smooth pureed black bean soup.
Meatless meal: buckwheat with garlic and sauteed mushrooms and onions, and a side of baked sweet potatoes and broccoli in any form. Not sure if that’s my FAVORITE, but it’s pretty delicious.
Also, I wanted to say that I find it really admirable that you take such care to ensure your friends’ privacy. 😀
Currently it’s a bowl of yogurt with granola or baked oatmeal with peanut butter.
My favorite meatless meal is not a homemade one–there’s a local restaurant that makes a killer vegan Pad See Ew and Pad Kee Mao that we grab for takeout every Thursday. It’s a delicious ritual 🙂
My favorite is the always versatile rice bowl — on a base of brown rice (or barley or any other grain), I layer beans, just about any kind of vegetables (sauteed mushrooms and onions, steamed broccoli my faves), with salsa and/or guacamole. With the guacamole, even the kids will eat and enjoy!