Serranos Have the Blues

I got the inspiration for this recipe from Bob's Red Mill Baking Book's Blue Cornbread recipe. Since there's no extra flour, the cornbread came out very dense and plain. I decided to try something that the women of Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny Meals You Can Make in Minutes taught me and Jessica Seinfeld proved mastery of with Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food--sneaking vegetables into dishes.

This works well for baked goods and desserts, since the vegetables provide nutrients, moisture, flavor, and density. They can give more to a baked good and don't have empty calories. Zucchini is great for this--but it does give the cornbread an odd color. If the color bothers you, you can try peeling the zucchini before you chop it up. The serrano will make it somewhat green, however.

One serrano pepper is enough to give this cornbread just enough flavor, but if you want more you can always add another pepper or include the seeds. If you like chunks in your cornbread, add the chopped serrano pieces to the wet mixture before combining it with the dry. This will give you little bursts of heat.





Serrano Blue Cornbread
2 cups Blue Cornmeal
2 tsp. Arrowroot Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 Eggs
3/4 cup Soy Milk
4 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Serrano Chili, de-seeded and finely chopped
2 small Zucchinis, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8 by 8 baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine blue cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder.

Place eggs, soymilk, and olive oil in a blender. Cut off top of Serrano chili, cut into quarters, and scrape out seeds with a spoon. Chop into small pieces and place in the blender. Cut the ends of the zucchini off, then chop into small pieces. Put all of the zucchini pieces into the blend, and blend all of the ingredients together until they are fully pureed and combined. It should be a light green color. Pour the blended mixture into the dry ingredients.

Stir ingredients together until fully combined, then pour into the baking dish. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick or knife comes out clean. Cool with dish on a wire rack, then cut into smaller pieces. Enjoy.