Carrot and Quinoa Seed Loaf
Many months ago a lovely girlfriend shared this recipe for a seed loaf, called ‘The life-changing loaf of Bread‘. To be honest, I thought it looked really dry, dense and heavy. Memories of my childhood school sandwiches made with my mother’s homemade brick bread came flooding back. It wasn’t pretty.
So I thanked her and quickly pushed the recipe aside.
the ‘life-changing loaf’ – trust me, it tastes better than it looks!
Since then, there seems to have been a love affair with seed loaves on the interwebby.
Everywhere I look people are popping up with their version of a seed loaf. I started to feel like I was missing out. What better thing to do when this happens, than to join them! I started by making that life-changing loaf and OMG-blimey it was good. Like surprisingly good. Perhaps not life-changing, but it was goooood!
that ‘life-changing loaf’ really is surprisingly gooooood!
Then low and behold this month’s Recipe Redux asked us for some lunch inspiration.
Since I’d recently been inspired by, and have been eating this loaf for my lunch ever since, it was too good an opportunity to miss. I decided to make this healthy, life-changing loaf healthier (if that was at all possible). The only thing I could think of was to add a vegetable. After a quick look in the veggie drawer, carrot it was.
my carrot and quinoa seed loaf
I also wanted to ‘lighten’ things up a bit, so added some quinoa as well. It’s always a gamble when doing this sort of thing, but thankfully it worked first go!
My favourite ways to serve it (either toasted or untoasted when it’s still fresh) is topped with hommus and dukkah…
okay, so I over-toasted it, but it still tasted darn good!
Or with avocado and dukkah….
now that’s a better colour when toasted…and it seems I have an obsession with dukkah 🙂
Perhaps it won’t change your life, but I hope at least you try it, cause it’s pretty damn good!
nom nom nom
for those who think bread is unhealthy (which if it’s white bread, that is true!) – there’s just goodness inside this loaf!
Oh and don’t be surprised if you poop lots after eating this. All the fibre in there will do that to you!!
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup sunflower seeds
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
- ¼ cup linseeds
- ¼ cup cashews, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoon psyllium husks
- 1½ tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 medium (90 grams) carrot, grated (approx ½ cup)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
- 1½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1¾ cups water
- Line a loaf tin with 2 layers of greaseproof paper
- Place the rolled oats, sunflower seeds, cooked quinoa, linseeds, cashews, psyllium husks, chia seeds, carrot and salt in a large bowl and mix together
- Pour in maple syrup, olive oil and water and mix well until combined and all the liquid is absorbed
- Transfer to prepared loaf tin and smooth the top
- Allow to stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours; or overnight (this is what I did) if you can
- Preheat oven to 175 degrees and bake the bread for 40 minutes
- Then carefully remove the loaf from the tin and place on an oven tray
- Return it to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes
- Place on cooling rack and allow to cool completely before slicing
- Store bread in a tightly sealed container
- If you live in a warm environment, store it in the fridge after 1 day
- This loaf freezes well too – but slice before freezing
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I’ve never heard of seed loaf; it sounds awesome! Healthy and filling and nothing to feel guilty about. Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Jenny. Thanks for your message. I really hope you do try it as I’m sure you will really enjoy it. I see it as the perfect vegan loaf of bread too due to all those seeds and nuts, so it provides you with a lot more nutrients (protein, iron, zinc just to name a few) than regular bread! 🙂
Oh my goodness! This might just change my life. I’ve been looking for a quick bread to pack in my kids lunches that’s not the squishy white bread. This looks so easy and quicker than yeast bread – yet is practically a meal in itself! 2 question: What can I sub for psyllium husks? I don’t have onhand…and honestly can’t see myself buying them. Would whole wheat flour or flax seed work? 2) What’s the purpose of the husks in the bread? Thanks SO MUCH!
Hi Serena. Thanks so much for your query. This is a fabulous ‘quick’ bread, but unfortunately you do need those psyllium husks. They perform the ‘magic’ in this bread so it doesn’t need any yeast, plus they absorb all the moisture and hold the bread together. There really is no substituting them as nothing else can do their job!
Here In Australia we can easily buy them in supermarkets or health food stores. They aren’t cheap, but they go a long way.
I also made nut and seed crackers recently which also uses them and I’m sure your kids would love them. My ‘big kid'(husband) does!
By the way, if your schools are ‘nut free’ like most of the ones here in Australia, just substitute the nuts with pumpkin seeds or any other combo of seeds!
I hope that helps. All the best, Caroline 🙂