Egg-free cornbread with zucchini tomato salad

Cornbread is easy to make and quick to cook. Recipes often use butter, milk and eggs but this plant-based version is great for vegans, vegetarians or those with food intolerances. It's got that crisp edge and tender cender, and is perfect served with a fresh salad.

Cornbread with zucchini tomato salad. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey

• serves

  6

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Cornbread

• 2½ cups cornmeal or polenta
• 1¾ cup oat milk
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bi-carbonate
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 4 tbsp water and allowed to stand for a few minutes
• ½ cup + 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 tbsp cultured oat butter, softened

Zucchini tomato salad

• 1-2 yellow or green zucchini
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch salt
• 1 punnet ripe cherry tomatoes (different colours if possible)
• 1 bunch basil
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1 bunch dill
• 2 tsp fennel seeds

Dressing

• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp each salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C.
2. Place a 25 cm (10 inch) or 30 cm (12 inch) cast iron pan into the pre-heated oven. It is important that this is searing hot as it will create an amazing crunch on the bottom and sides. If you don’t have a cast-iron then a heavy-based oven-proof frypan will work well enough.
3. Place all cornbread ingredients (reserving the extra two tablespoons of oil) into a bowl and mix until combined. Don’t work it too hard – mix until just combined. Pull the pan out of the oven and place onto your stovetop, with an element on high to keep the temperature of the pan. Add the reserved oil to the pan and let it start smoking.
4. Pour in the mixture (please be gentle not to splash yourself here) and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon or spatula. Let it cook for 1 minute or so in the pan. Place it in the oven and cook for 12 minutes, then check with a skewer. If it comes out clean, it’s done.
5. When cooked, take the cornbread out of the oven and let it cool in the pan. By letting the mixture cool, you are letting the bread set and become solid. This will mean the bread won’t break or crack when transferred to a chopping board.
6. Meanwhile, roughly chop the zucchini, toss with some olive oil and salt and pour into a hot pan. Cook for a minute or so, or until the zucchini has coloured but hasn’t cooked through. Cut the tomatoes into different shapes and add to a bowl. Season with a pinch of salt, add the fennel seeds and warm zucchini and toss to combine.
7. Use a stick blender in a jar to combine the golden syrup, lemon juice and salt. Slowly add the olive oil and continue to blitz until the dressing has combined.
8. Pick the leaves from the basil, parsley and dill and run a knife through them to break up lightly but keep them chunky. Add them to the bowl and combine.
9. Pour some of dressing into the salad (remember that cornbread is thirsty and will soak up the moisture and flavour from the salad) and mix it all together.
10. Serve cornbread with salad.

 

Note

This may seem like a lot of fat used for the cornbread, but it’s the secret to stopping the batter from sticking to the pan, and creating a moist, puffed cornbread.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.