sisters: double the sweet, double the spice: Savory Spinach, Onion, and Olive Oil Bread

I love bread. Especially when it's hot and just out of the oven.

However, I'm kinda weird because of the fact that I like my breads more dough-y. Yeah.. I know.

Except for sandwich bread. That's just gross. Then you have soggy meat, lettuce, vegetables... yuck! Toasted bread is the way to go for lunch!

But homemade bread? Warm, ooey, and gooey! Basically until almost done.

Recently, my sister and I retrieved my mom's bread maker and attempted to make wheat bread and honey wheat bread. Those were delicious!

This time, I saw on pinterest, a picture of a nice golden yellow bread with spinach embedded in it. So. I just had to try this savory quick bread! My dad wanted to help make it and asked how long it takes to bake (35-40 minutes). He was like, "I thought it was quick bread!"

It is! The difference is that this bread doesn't have yeast, so you don't have to wait for the yeast to be activated, for the dough to rise, and then rise again before baking. Since there's no yeast, you just have to wait for the eggs and baking powder to do their job!

I also attempted to lighten this recipe up a bit, since it is an Olive Oil bread.

Spinach, Onion, and Olive Oil Bread: adapted from here

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves (I used baby spinach, but any is fine as long as it's fresh!)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

2 egg whites

1/4 cup butter milk

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 oz. tomato and basil feta cheese

loaf pan

*A Couple of Notes:

- I chose to use two flours to healthify the bread a bit (wheat flour). By doing this however, I'm adding a nuttier flavor. You can use just all purpose flour, but I wouldn't use all whole wheat because that will really change the flavor of the bread.

- Instead of using two eggs, I chose to do one egg and two egg whites to cut calories. And hey, more protein, less fat! haha

- Instead of 3/4 cup milk, I used 1/4 cup buttermilk because I only had buttermilk and I didn't want to buy a carton of milk just for this bread. I don't like milk, so I wouldn't really use it for anything else. The use of buttermilk probably also changed the flavor, so if you have milk, by all means, go ahead and use it! I also cut a few calories by replacing the rest of the 1/2 cup of liquid with water.

- Cheese: The original recipe called for myzithra cheese. I have no idea what kind of cheese this is, and I wasn't about to go look and buy it just for this recipe. I already had the basil and tomato feta, so I decided to be resourceful again and use what I had! Plus the flavors go well with spinach and onions, so why not?! You can use whatever cheese you'd like, but I think crumbly or shredded cheese works best.

Alrighty! So here goes the instructions!

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Then prepare the loaf pan by spraying non-stick spray on the bottom. Then using a napkin, dab some of the spray from the bottom (or just spray the napkin) onto the sides of the pan. Sprinkle a little bit of flour into the pan and spread it around to evenly coat the pan. This prevents sticking and allows the bread to rise a bit more.

Spray a large saute pan with nonstick spray, and saute the onions over medium heat. When golden brown, season with a 1/2 salt. Continue to let the onions cook until brown (about 10 minutes or so).

Next, you can either spray the onions again or add a tsp of olive oil. (the nutritional information is determined without this tsp) Stir in the garlic and spinach leaves. Make sure the burner is on medium low to avoid burning the garlic. Yuck!

When the spinach is wilted and bright green, remove the pan from the heat.

If you have another set of hands, you can prepare the dry ingredients while the spinach mixture is working. If not, then combine the flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together to ensure mixing.

In a large bowl, combine lightly beaten egg, egg whites, buttermilk, water, and extra virgin olive oil. Whisk until well combined.

Then combine the dry and wet ingredients by pouring the flour mixture into the wet ingredients slowly. Stir until well combined, but be careful not to overmix because the bread will be tough and it will not rise as much.