CHILLI CORN BREAD
Who’d have thought cornbread would work so well made in a slow cooker, but it comes out surprisingly light and airy in texture. A slice is delicious served plain but tastes even better with the Avocado & Black Bean Salsa. The cornbread is given a nutrient boost with the addition of ground flaxseeds/linseeds, which are one of the few vegetarian sources of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.
Ingredients
Makes 1 loaf
High: 2–3 hours
100 g/31/2 oz./1 stick butter, ghee or coconut oil, melted, plus extra for greasing the slow cooker pot
200 g/7 oz./1 cup coarse polenta
100 g/3½ oz./2/3 cup spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¾ tsp sea salt
1 tsp English mustard powder
2 tbsp ground flaxseeds/linseeds
1 medium-sized red chilli/chili, deseeded and diced
3 eggs, lightly beaten
300 ml/10 fl oz./1¼ cups live plain yogurt
juice of ½ lemon
55 g/2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled, and toasted pumpkin seeds, to serve
Line the base of the slow cooker pot with baking parchment. To make the cornbread easier to lift out, roll two long pieces of baking parchment into 2.5 cm/1 inch wide strips to form two handles. Place the strips under the base lining and up the sides so they hang over the top of the pot. (If you have a light slow cooker pot, this step may not be necessary as the cornbread can simply be turned out onto a wire rack.) Liberally grease the sides of the pot.
Mix together all the dry ingredients and chilli/chili in a mixing bowl, then make a well in the centre.
Whisk together the melted butter, ghee or coconut oil, eggs, yogurt and lemon juice until smooth. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix gently and thoroughly to make a thick batter.
Pour the batter into the slow cooker pot and smooth and level the top with the back of a spoon. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours – the cornbread is ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the edge is slightly golden. If it isn’t quite ready, cover and cook on low for another 30 minutes– 1 hour and check again. When ready, leave the cornbread to sit in the slow cooker for 5 minutes with the lid off then transfer to a wire rack.
