Easy Zucchini Bread or Muffins

Zucchini bread sounds so unappetizing, but really, it is delicious. This recipe is moist, light, and doesn't taste at all like zucchini. It is not too sweet and is a great way to pack in more vegetables to picky kids (or adults!). I'm able to make a fairly healthy homemade snack for my toddler and her friends, and the kids always love it.

I also like that this recipe is flexible and utilizes an inexpensive and common vegetable found easily in Kathmandu. Plus, you don't need a mixer!

The below recipe makes 6 muffins and 2 mini-loaves with my baking equipment, but you can make full sized loaves, muffins or even a cake.

Zucchini Muffin and Loaf with Chocolate

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 2/3 cup melted butter, preferably unsalted (can be substituted with vegetable oil, but trust me butter tastes better!)
• 1 cup sugar (I use brown)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla (*optional)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 3 cups flour (I use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white but any combination will do)
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground clove (can be omitted but tastes nice)
• Optional: 1 cup walnuts, raisins, dried cranberries, or as I like - semi-sweet chocolate chips are fantastic in this recipe

Equipment

• Greased loaf or muffin pans. This should make 2 regular sized loaves or 18 muffins, or any combination.
• Large bowl
• Smaller bowl
• Sturdy spatula or mixing spoon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F or 170C.
2. Combine sugar, eggs and vanilla in a bowl. 
3. Stir in grated zucchini then add the melted butter, slightly cooled as not to cook the eggs.
4. In a separate large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and powder, spices and salt.
5. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring only to combine. Do not over mix.
6. Gently fold in any optional ingredient you are using.
7. Spoon into greased baking pans, filling loaf pans & muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean- about 25 minutes for muffins and 35-45 for loaves, depending on the size and your oven. 

Let stand and cool before removing from the pans and slicing into. 

Quick Korean Soba Noodle Stir Fry

I like to find healthier alternatives to pasta, and buckwheat (or soba) noodles are a good choice. Despite its name, buckwheat does not contain wheat nor is it related to wheat, and it is packed with iron, fibre, amino acids and other vitamins. Most brands are gluten free if you are into that, although Japanese soba noodles also often contain wheat, so check the packaging label.

This dish is quick and easy - perfect for a week night. It has flavour but is not overwhelming, although marinating the chicken makes it quite tasty. My toddler loves these noodles and ate some of the veggies and chicken in sauce but wasn't crazy about it. If you have little ones who are picky, try keeping some of the noodles aside and not mixing them in the sauce.

Tip: You can really use any veggies for this. I used up things that were in season and in my fridge - but other suggestions are green peppers, onions, or cauliflower or broccoli (either cut very thin or blanched or par-steamed first).

You can also easily make this dish vegetarian by removing the chicken - try adding extra mushrooms and marinating them!

Quick Soba Noodle Stir Fry

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 200g buckwheat noodles
• 250g chicken thigh pieces, sliced or cubed about 1 -2 inches
• 1 cup sliced oyster mushrooms
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup sliced cabbage
• 1/2 cup black fungus mushrooms
• 1 cup baby bok choy
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Sauce

• 5 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp or 4 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp gojung paste (korean red chili paste) * an alternative here would be to replace the gojung with siracha sauce (this would also increase the spice a bit) or just omit it altogether
• 3 tbsp water

Directions 

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce.
2. Trim the chicken pieces of fat and put them in a bowl. Pour the sauce over the pieces, stir, and let marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.
3. Cook soba noodles in a large pot of boiling water until cooked or al dente. Drain, run through with cold water to stop the cooking and set aside.
4. In large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat; add chicken and sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink inside, about 3 minutes. Spoon out and set aside.
5. Add the remaining veggies to the pan, except the green onions. Cook until tender-crisp, about 4 minutes.
6. Add noodles to pan; cook, stirring to coat with sauce, for 1 minute. Sprinkle with green onion.