broccoli salad

Lighter than most broccoli salad recipes, with a tangy buttermilk dressing and lots of crunch with toasted sliced almonds, red onion, and sweet dried cranberries. I am embarrassed to tell you how much of this salad I can eat in one sitting. 

Broccoli Salad with Cranberries and Almonds

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 heads of broccoli, sliced into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (it will NOT taste as good if you don't toast the nuts!)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup sliced red onion

Buttermilk Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
 
Mix the dressing ingredients together, pour over the broccoli, almonds, cranberries and onion in a large bowl, and toss well.

pumpkin bread

I wish I had a picture of this bread but I don't. Every time I think of it, it's too late. Nothing left but crumbs.

But just trust me - this recipe makes two super-moist loaves of amazing bread. It freezes really well. I've also used this recipe to make muffins and the results are just as good.

Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups dark brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

2 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

2/3 cup coconut milk

3 eggs

1 cup veg oil

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree with the coconut milk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

Line two loaf pans with parchment paper. Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 mins or till a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in pans for 15 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a rack. Keeps well, tightly wrapped, for about a week.

To make muffins: Follow recipe directions and then line a muffin pan with paper muffin cups. Fill about 3/4 full. Bake 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a rack. You should get at least 24 muffins.

Note: I always freeze one loaf and it freezes really well. I haven't tried freezing muffins so I'm not sure how well they will keep in the freezer.

Also: Asian grocery stores often sell smaller cans of coconut milk. If you can only find the regular soup-can size, you can freeze the rest of the coconut milk till the next time you make this recipe!