In the Kitchen: Spiced Gluten-free Beetroot Loaf

Hub got me an amazing Phillips juicer for Xmas and lately, I've been obsessed with beetroot. So there always this brightly colored beetroot mush splattered about in the juicer and as I do, I tasted it. I thought it was going to be bland and boring, but to my surprise it was tasty, moist and still sweet. Inspired by my gluten-free baking course and compulsiveness to never throw things out, I thought I'd use the pulp and make a healthy gluten-free beetroot loaf.

I found this Spiced Beetroot & Chocolate recipe from Wholesome Cook and modified it to match what I had in my cupboard. I wanted to make more of a bread loaf then cake, so I eliminated the cocoa powder.

Dry ingredients:

• 1½ cups self-raising gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp regular baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarb soda
• A shake each of ground cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg
• ½ cup leftover juiced beetroot mush (4 beetroots)

Wet ingredients:

• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 40ml dark agave nectar (I actually put half of 1/3 cup which is 40ml)
• ⅔ cup water water
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

I preheated the oven to 170C and then followed the instructions. Combine the dry with the beetroot, whisk the wet separately then fold into the dry. I lined a 1L loaf tin with baking paper and cooked it longer than 35 minutes, 38 to be exact.

The loaf was perfect...pink, really most center and a lovely bit of crust which I like. It was probably fully cooked at 25 minutes and if you don't like a pronounced crust then I would take it out sooner. There was just a hint of beetroot, nice spices running through it and slightly sweet. Hub loved it, we ate it with peanut butter and surprise, surprise it's gluten, dairy, and sugar free.