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?
My favorite meatless meal is broccoli and cheese casserole 🙂 Yum!
My favorite meat-free meal is angel hair pasta cooked in vegetable broth with chick peas, almond slivers and nutritional yeast. It’s so simple and yet SO delicious! Love it!
Spinach and mushroom quiche!
Hi Katie… How cute are you?!! I just discovered your blog today while looking for a healthy pumpkin pie recipe! I will certainly be back! And I’ll let you know how that pie turns out!
My favorite meatless meals are things I throw together with tons of veggies (roasted is good), then some kind of beans or lentils and either brown rice or whole wheat pasta, veggie broth and whatever spices strike my fancy! I collect cookbooks and lately have been pescatarian so this would be a good one for my collection!
I love Tosca Reno! The “eat-clean diet” changed my life. My favorite is sweet potatoes with black bean-corn salsa
My favorite meatless meal would have to be my tofu vegetable stir fry
Sooo many to choose from but I gotta go with angel hair pasta with broccoli, garlic, and oil. Love it way to much. Thanks for the recipe!!!!
I love making big, hearty, grain-based salads when I want something meatless. I usually cook some rice or barley, toss in some beans, roasted veggies, and nuts!
My favourite meatless meal is crispy tofu cakes with sesame dipping sauce!! Yummmy 🙂
My favorite meatless meal is an amazing Quinoa Stir Fry with tons of veggies and drizzled with Olive Oil and Himalayan Sea Salt….oh man…it’s only 9:30am and I really want that right now 🙂
Favorite meatless meal is so hard to choose– I only eat meatless meals! So it’s probably a recipe of my mother’s, a pasta with olive oil, roasted pine nuts, raisins, croutons, garlic, and red pepper. Simple but so good.
Black bean enchiladas.
I love tacos! I use textured soy protein instead of ground meat. Lots of black beans and corn, mushrooms, peppers, onions and garlic. In a crunchy shell, soft shell or a lettuce wrap!
I also really like Indian curried chickpeas or lentils.
I love oyster mushrooms so tonight i fried up a batch with olive oil and a little earth balance. Whole Foods gave me almost a pound free because they rung them up wrong.Yay- I was excited about that. I made some steamed brocolli and sauteed it in a little tamari and sesame oil and made a delicious sweet potatoe, black bean, quinoa patti with a cashew chipolte sauce.
my favorite meatless meal? that is a tough one! maple buffalo seitan with sweet potato fries or garlic roasted brussel sprouts and lentil loaf.
I’ve got three kids and we’re on a student budget, so we eat a lot of meatless meals 🙂 One of my current favorites is black bean-jalapeno soup with corn bread. Mmmm.