Enchilada Sauce

Homemade Enchilada Sauce-the best enchilada sauce and it’s incredibly easy to make, plus, it freezes beautifully! You will never buy store bought enchilada sauce again! Enchiladas are one of my all-time favorite meals…and I am glad my boys love t…

Homemade Enchilada Sauce-the best enchilada sauce and it’s incredibly easy to make, plus, it freezes beautifully! You will never buy store bought enchilada sauce again! Enchiladas are one of my all-time favorite meals…and I am glad my boys love them too! They are a regular at our dinner table. Enchilada night is always a good…

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread-perfectly spiced homemade pumpkin bread with chocolate chips. Everyone’s favorite fall quick bread recipe!  I love fall for many reasons, but Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread is at the top of the list, along with Pumpkin C…

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread-perfectly spiced homemade pumpkin bread with chocolate chips. Everyone’s favorite fall quick bread recipe!  I love fall for many reasons, but Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread is at the top of the list, along with Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars. There is nothing better than pumpkin AND chocolate!  This…

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Pear Bread with Almond Streusel Topping

Pear Bread-this easy pear quick bread has a sweet almond streusel topping and simple almond glaze. It is great for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.  Pear Bread What do you do when your nice neighbors bring you over a huge bag of pears from their tre…

Pear Bread-this easy pear quick bread has a sweet almond streusel topping and simple almond glaze. It is great for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.  Pear Bread What do you do when your nice neighbors bring you over a huge bag of pears from their tree? First, you say thank you and then you make Easy Pear Sauce and…

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Grilled Watermelon Halloumi Skewers with Minted Basil Oil.

My new favorite meal is watermelon halloumi skewers! If you think watermelon and feta is a good combo, just WAIT until your try watermelon and halloumi! Oh my goodness – it’s wonderful. And yes, I could totally eat this as a meal. Now Eddie? He might look at me like I have ten heads. It’s […]

The post Grilled Watermelon Halloumi Skewers with Minted Basil Oil. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

My new favorite meal is watermelon halloumi skewers!

grilled watermelon halloumi skewers with mint basil oil

If you think watermelon and feta is a good combo, just WAIT until your try watermelon and halloumi!

Oh my goodness – it’s wonderful. And yes, I could totally eat this as a meal. Now Eddie? He might look at me like I have ten heads.

watermelon halloumi skewers ready for the grill

It’s been a very watermelony week around here. On instagram, I shared one of my favorite watermelon salads – a savory wedge salad. It has blue cheese and orange zest and tomatoes and it’s deeeelish. 

It’s just so darn out hot right now that it’s like my body NEEDS all the watermelon to keep my hydrated. The kids love, it’s refreshing and delicious and you pretty much can’t go wrong.

Especially when you skewer it with CHEESE.

fresh basil leaves

Last summer I made these grilled vegetable and halloumi skewers regularly. They were a staple! I figured let’s try it with fruit and it turned out fantastic. 

Now, I’ve grilled watermelon before. With cheese too. Years ago I also made these grilled watermelon caprese salads. The combo of savory, smoky grilled watermelon with the caprese vibe is incredible.

grilled watermelon halloumi skewers right off the grill

And these skewers sort of remind me of that. We grill the halloumi and watermelon together – I like to do one piece of halloumi for every three or even four pieces of watermelon. The halloumi is so rich that you don’t need much. A little goes a long way.

And all that you need to flavor these skewers? A little olive oil, salt and pepper.

That’s it. 

grilled watermelon halloumi skewers with mint basil oil

But! We also make a mint basil oil. Last year I also made this basil oil all the time – it’s delicious on pasta, on vegetables, drizzled on salads – everything. 

So I decided to throw a few mint leaves into the bunch. Again, they are an ingredient that makes everything taste super fresh.

The oil is a little high maintenance, but worth it. Store it in the fridge and serve it with summer lunches and dinner! 

drizzling mint basil oil on grilled watermelon halloumi skewers

Sure, this whole plate is a little mix of things that I’ve made before, in a whole new way. These are really fun to make on the weekend or a nice change to make for a dinner side dish. Especially if you have something else to throw on the grill. 

They can feed a group too – if you have a few people over for dinner, I usually make one skewer per person. You can also slide everything off the skewer into a salad bowl!

Super versatile and fun too. Let it be fancy summer.

grilled watermelon halloumi skewers with mint basil oil

Watermelon Halloumi Skewers

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Watermelon Halloumi Skewers

These grilled watermelon halloumi skewers are loaded with savory, slightly sweet flavor and drizzle with a fresh mint and basil oil. Delish!
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author How Sweet Eats

Ingredients

  • 2 cups 1-inch cubed watermelon
  • 1 8-ounce block halloumi cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil for drizzling or spraying
  • a few fresh mint and basil leaves for skewering

minted basil oil

  • 1 cup tightly packed sweet basil leaves
  • ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat the grill to medium-high. I like to keep mine around 400 degrees F.
  • Skewer the watermelon and halloumi. I like to do about 3 pieces of watermelon to every 1 piece of halloumi. The halloumi is rich enough that you don’t need a lot! Spritz or brush the watermelon skewers with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Place the skewers on the grill (you can use a grill pan if you wish! But directly on the grates is fine too) and grill for 1 to 2 minutes per side, rotating the skewers, Once they cheese and melon is golden and caramely, it’s good to go!
  • Remove and drizzle the skewers with the mint basil oil. Garnish with a few chopped leaves.

minted basil oil

  • Bring a pot of water to a boil to blanch the basil and mint. Prepare a bowl of ice water next to it. Once boiling, add the basil to the pot and cook for 10 seconds. Remove it and immediately place it in the ice bath. Leave it in there for a few minutes to make sure it is cold, then remove it and squeeze excess liquid from the leaves. Chop the basil into pieces.
  • Place the basil in a high powered blender or food processor. Add the olive oil and salt and puree until the oil is smooth and green. It may be frothy, so let the oil sit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, strain it through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove the basil bits. Ues a spoon to push any oil through the sieve.
  • At this point you can use the oil right away or store it in the fridge for a week!

grilled watermelon halloumi skewers with mint basil oil

I mean, I also live for pink food.

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Garlic Sauce Bucatini with Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli.

Definitely ready to dive into this plate of garlic sauce pasta.  There’s roasted broccoli (of course), juicy shrimp (even better), some parsley, crushed red pepper and alllll the garlic you can imagine. Toasty and golden and wonderful and delicious. SIGN ME UP.  This meal is SO GOOD. You roast the broccoli and shrimp on a […]

The post Garlic Sauce Bucatini with Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Definitely ready to dive into this plate of garlic sauce pasta. 

This garlic sauce pasta is incredible! Roasted shrimp and broccoli twirled with garlic oil noodles and crushed red pepper. Divine!

There’s roasted broccoli (of course), juicy shrimp (even better), some parsley, crushed red pepper and alllll the garlic you can imagine. Toasty and golden and wonderful and delicious. SIGN ME UP. 

garlic pasta sauce

This meal is SO GOOD. You roast the broccoli and shrimp on a sheet pan while you cook the pasta and garlic oil. It all comes together in 30 minutes to create a sophisticated little meal that definitely seems sort of fancy.

And um hello, can we talk about how good this would be with a bottle of white wine? And how the recipe only really has ten ingredients? For so much major flavor? I’m in love!

roasted shrimp and broccoli

The garlic oil sauce alone is unreal. Honestly I could eat a bowl of noodles swimming in this. With nothing else.

Okay, maybe with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Of course.

But really, the garlic sauce is life changing. I make it often for Eddie – he loves it too. It can go in so many dishes if you don’t want to use marinara. An it makes for great leftovers! 

This garlic sauce pasta is incredible! Roasted shrimp and broccoli twirled with garlic oil noodles and crushed red pepper. Divine!

I’ve been cooking like a crazy person the last few weeks – it is great stress relief for me. Not just cooking for us to eat, but cooking and giving meals to family and friends. It’s one of the only things that is making me feel better right now. I’ve spent more time in the kitchen just being creative and throwing together comforting meals than I do in my everyday work life.

It’s caused me to slow down a little in the kitchen too… and I actually love it. Even if I still want mostly 30-minute meals.

This garlic sauce pasta is incredible! Roasted shrimp and broccoli twirled with garlic oil noodles and crushed red pepper. Divine!

There’s something about the golden, caramely garlic sprinkled throughout the pasta that is so comforting to me. I don’t know if it’s because I remember my mom making linguine and clam sauce in the 90s (which is a totally different dish!) but it just feels nostalgic right now.

And don’t worry – toasting the garlic in the oil reduces a lot of the garlicky bite and sting. This makes it so much more manageable! Plus, we can’t go anywhere so who cares if we consume six cloves of garlic in one sitting?

This garlic sauce pasta is incredible! Roasted shrimp and broccoli twirled with garlic oil noodles and crushed red pepper. Divine!

I’m in and I’d like a plate of this for breakfast, please and thank you.

This garlic sauce pasta is incredible! Roasted shrimp and broccoli twirled with garlic oil noodles and crushed red pepper. Divine!

Garlic Sauce Pasta with Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

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Garlic Sauce Bucatini with Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

This garlic sauce pasta is incredible! Roasted shrimp and broccoli twirled with garlic oil noodles and crushed red pepper. Divine!
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author How Sweet Eats

Ingredients

  • 1 pound bucatini
  • 3 cups broccoli florets
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1 pound raw, peeled and deveined shrimp
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • parmesan cheese, for serving
  • lemon wedges, for spritzing

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the bucatini according to package directions.
  • Place the broccoli on the baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes.
  • While the broccoli is roasting, heat a large skillet over medium-low heat and add the 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add in the sliced garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is just golden. Turn off the heat or keep it very low.
  • Remove the sheet from the oven and push the broccoli to one side. Place the shrimp in a single layer on the sheet and drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Roast the shrimp for 6 to 8 minutes, until just opaque and pink.
  • Toss the bucatini into the garlic oil, coating all the noodles well. Toss the shrimp and broccoli in with the pasta. Toss in the parsley. Spritz on some fresh lemon. Serve with parmesan cheese and extra crushed red pepper flakes!

This garlic sauce pasta is incredible! Roasted shrimp and broccoli twirled with garlic oil noodles and crushed red pepper. Divine!

Dinner is served!

The post Garlic Sauce Bucatini with Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Best Vegan Zucchini Bread

This perfectly moist vegan zucchini bread recipe is so darn good, everyone will be hooked — and no one will believe it’s vegan. Here are all our secrets. A little confident over here, but we think this is the best vegan zucchini bread recipe you’ll find. Yep, we said it! This zucchini bread is moist, cinnamon-scented, and the perfect sweetness. It’s got just the right texture: it’s not too oily or dense. And, it’s really easy to put together! Alex and I have been on a zucchini baking spree over here, capitalizing on zucchini season. And this vegan zucchini bread has stolen our hearts! (And our 2-year-old Larson’s heart, too.) Keep reading for the recipe! Related: Best Zucchini Bread | Healthy Zucchini Bread How to make vegan zucchini bread This vegan zucchini bread is made in the method of a traditional zucchini bread. It’s a quick bread, meaning that it’s leavened using baking powder and baking soda instead of yeast. Yeast breads are a little more complex to put together, like sourdough bread or artisan bread. But quick breads? Well, as the name implies, they’re quick to whip up and require little technique. Many quick breads are more similar to […]

A Couple Cooks – Healthy, Whole Food, Vegetarian Recipes

This perfectly moist vegan zucchini bread recipe is so darn good, everyone will be hooked — and no one will believe it’s vegan. Here are all our secrets.

Best vegan zucchini bread

A little confident over here, but we think this is the best vegan zucchini bread recipe you’ll find. Yep, we said it! This zucchini bread is moist, cinnamon-scented, and the perfect sweetness. It’s got just the right texture: it’s not too oily or dense. And, it’s really easy to put together! Alex and I have been on a zucchini baking spree over here, capitalizing on zucchini season. And this vegan zucchini bread has stolen our hearts! (And our 2-year-old Larson’s heart, too.) Keep reading for the recipe!

Related: Best Zucchini Bread | Healthy Zucchini Bread

Best vegan zucchini bread

How to make vegan zucchini bread

This vegan zucchini bread is made in the method of a traditional zucchini bread. It’s a quick bread, meaning that it’s leavened using baking powder and baking soda instead of yeast. Yeast breads are a little more complex to put together, like sourdough bread or artisan bread. But quick breads? Well, as the name implies, they’re quick to whip up and require little technique.

Many quick breads are more similar to cake than bread: zucchini bread and banana bread being the most popular examples. For our version of vegan zucchini bread, we wanted to make it just sweet enough to be zucchini bread but not so oily or overly sweet that it leaves you with a stomach ache.

Here are the ingredients required for this vegan zucchini bread (see below for the full recipe):

  • Flax eggs (more on that below!)
  • Shredded zucchini
  • Neutral oil
  • Applesauce
  • Turbinado sugar
  • Flour
  • Seasonings, baking powder & baking soda

To bake, you simply mix the wet ingredients together, then add the dry ingredients and zucchini. Pop it into a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for about 1 hour. Then cool it and slice into slices!

Read more: Easy Dutch Oven Bread

Flax egg

What’s a flax egg?

Have you baked with flax eggs before? If you’ve done any sort of vegan baking, you’ve probably tried one. A flax egg is a mixture of ground flax seed and water that’s used as a replacement for eggs. It’s typically used in baked goods like quick breads, muffins, pancakes and cookies. All you do to make a flax egg is mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed with 2 1/2 tablespoons water, and wait for 15 minutes until a gel-like substance forms. See Flax Egg Recipe for more.

What is the difference between flax egg and a real egg, in a baked good? Alex and I did a test with this zucchini bread recipe to compare how each worked. The flax egg vegan zucchini bread turned out very similar to the zucchini bread with the real egg! There were only very slight differences: the bread with the real egg tasted a bit richer than the flax egg, which tasted nuttier. The vegan bread also had a very slightly rougher texture, whereas the bread with the real egg was smoother. Overall though, the flax egg worked successfully as an egg substitute.

Vegan zucchini bread

Why use turbinado sugar?

In this vegan zucchini bread recipe we’ve used turbinado sugar. What is it? Turbinado sugar is raw sugar with large, light brown crystals. It’s less processed than refined white sugar, because it’s boiled only once to remove the molasses (refined sugar is boiled multiple times). It has a more complex, caramel-y flavor than refined sugar. Because its crystals are large, they add a nice texture to the top of muffins, cakes and breads.

What is a substitute for turbinado sugar? You can use light brown sugar in place of the turbinado sugar. While it doesn’t have the signature large crystals, it has a similar flavor. We’d omit sprinkling it on the top of the bread in this case.

Baked goods

Looking for vegan recipes?

Looking for more vegan recipes? While we don’t eat fully plant based, it’s often what you’ll find on our table. Outside of this vegan zucchini bread, here are some of our favorites:

Best vegan zucchini bread

This vegan zucchini bread recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free. For gluten free, head to our zucchini muffins recipe.

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Best zucchini bread

Best Vegan Zucchini Bread


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (6 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5)

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 60 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: 12 to 14 slices

Description

This perfectly moist vegan zucchini bread recipe is so darn good, everyone will be hooked — and no one will believe it’s vegan. Here are all our secrets.


Ingredients

  • 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax + 5 tablespoons water)
  • 1/4 cup neutral oil (grapeseed, sunflower, vegetable)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups packed shredded zucchini

Instructions

  1. Start the flax eggs. Allow them to sit while preparing the ingredients.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9-inch bread pan.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, applesauce, sugar, vanilla, and flax eggs with a fork. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
  4. Stir in the dry ingredients to combine into a sticky dough. Gently stir in zucchini. Be careful not to overmix: just stir until the dough comes together.
  5. Pour the dough into the prepared bread pan. Sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar. Bake 60 to 65 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing.

  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: Vegan Zucchini Bread, Best Vegan Zucchini Bread

A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, Vegetarian Recipes