A delicious bread made from red lentils – good for your gut and healthy
Do you love eating bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or do you take it with you as a snack to work, university, or school? If so, I have a whole new version of your favorite baked good for you.
It’s lentil bread with spinach and dill. In contrast to normal bread made from grains, seeds, and cereals, this one offers a delicious change. Believe me, it’s a wonderful taste experience. Moreover, this healthy lentil bread is gut-friendly and rich in protein. You can make it vegan or vegetarian with eggs.
Why is lentil bread so healthy?
Before I reveal the recipe, I’d like to explain why I chose the individual ingredients. As a matter of fact, I’m a bit of a food nerd – or maybe even a big one. 🙂
Lentils
This legume is one of the oldest cultivated plants known to humankind. It comes in many colors: red lentils, black beluga lentils, and brown lentils. This legume is very diverse in both color and taste. It consists of 24% protein and 17% fiber. Lentils also contain a little fat and are rich in potassium.
To make lentil bread, it is best to soak the red lentils overnight. This makes them easier to digest. In my case, they started to sprout after only 5 hours of soaking. This makes them even easier for your body to digest because the sprouting process activates enzymes that break down the complex nutrients. This makes them available to your body in a simpler form, so it can use them more effectively. 🙂
Personally, I always enjoy lentils and love to prepare them in different ways.
That’s why you’ll find more delicious lentil recipes here:
Pasta – vegan and high in protein | Quick and delicious | Lentil pasta with cauliflower sauce
The ultimate vegan Burger – lentil cranberry
Easy Beluga Lentil Salad with Dates | to take away
Cranberry Lentil Balls with Mayo and Pita
Exotic Rice- Lentil Burger |Grilled
Soy skyr
In addition to lentils, you need soy skyr to make gut-friendly lentil bread. This consists of soybeans, among other ingredients. Wow, that’s certainly nothing new to you. 🙂 I just find it so impressive that soybeans contain 36% protein, making them one of the most protein-rich foods. They are also rich in phytoestrogens, which are are plant compounds with a similar effect to hormones. The main phytoestrogens found in soybeans are the isoflavones genistein and daidzein. These are said to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. Apparently, this is because the aforementioned conditions occur less frequently in countries where people eat above-average amounts of soy, such as in East Asia.
Eggs
If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know my story about chicken eggs. I don’t want to go into too much detail now. In short: I had egg cravings. By that I mean that I often dreamed about wanting to eat eggs. Although I found it difficult to eat eggs from an ethical point of view, I now regularly include them in my diet. In my podcast, I explain how I came to eat eggs after 10 years of veganism.
Personally, I try to eat eggs from organic free-range farms or from my friends’ chickens. That makes me feel better and I think it’s the right decision. Because I want to work with my body, listen to it, and give it what it needs. Eggs are also very valuable from a nutritional point of view. They contain vitamins A, B2, and B12, as well as iron and potassium. Moreover, they also have a high content of essential amino acids, which our bodies cannot produce themselves and therefore must be supplied.
Flaxseed
Don’t worry if you don’t want to use eggs, there is of course an alternative. For a vegan version, simply use 2 flaxseed eggs. This means mixing 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water and leaving to soak for approx. 10 minutes.
By the way, flaxseed is considered a natural remedy. It is said to help with digestive problems and contains valuable omega-3 fatty acids. To make the latter more available to your body, you should grind the flaxseed beforehand. However, be careful: I recommend that you don’t buy ground flaxseed, as omega-3 fatty acids are very sensitive to oxidation. This means that if you want to get as much omega-3 as possible, it is better to buy whole seeds and grind them in a blender or coffee grinder before use.
Spinach
Next, let’s move on to the green leafy vegetable that you probably didn’t like eating as a child. But you can probably already guess that spinach is super healthy, like everything green in nature. 🙂 Spinach is rich in beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A. Furthermore, it also provides vitamin K, vitamin C, and vitamin B2. In addition, it contains iron, magnesium, and potassium. So it’s a perfect ingredient for our lentil bread.
Dill
Did you know that dill is said to have antibacterial, appetite-stimulating, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and antibacterial properties? In folk medicine, dill is also used to stimulate the flow of breast milk. It is also said to help relieve stomach discomfort and menstrual pain. Furthermore, dill fruits have a similar effect to caraway seeds. They aid digestion, reduce flatulence and are said to relieve cramps.
Chewing the seeds can help get rid of bad breath. However, I prefer to use my tongue scraper and oil pulling for fresh breath.
Here is finally the recipe.
- Serving size: 10 (1 slice)
- Calories: 111
- Fat: 1,6
- Carbohydrates: 13,6
- Fiber: 4
- Protein: 9,3
- 200 g red lentils* (soaked for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight; optionally, allow to sprout briefly)
- 150 g soy skyr
- 2 eggs or 2 flaxseed eggs (mix 2 tbsp ground flaxseed* with 6 tbsp water and let soak for about 10 minutes)
- 3 tbsp yeast flakes*
- 80 g fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- 25 g fresh dill, finely chopped
- 1 pinch of salt
- Some sesame seeds for sprinkling
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C top/bottom heat.
- Rinse the soaked (or sprouted) lentils well. Purée them finely in a blender or food processor with soy skyr, eggs (or flaxseed eggs), yeast flakes, and salt.
- Finely chop the dill and roughly chop the spinach. Fold both into the lentil mixture.
- Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, pour in the batter, and smooth the surface. Sprinkle with sesame seeds as desired.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes until the bread has risen nicely and is lightly browned. Test with a skewer - if it comes out clean, the bread is done.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting so that the structure remains stable.
*Use my code "Annelina" to get a 10% discount for vilgain products.
Here you can find my favorite products from Vilgain*.
Have you tried the delicious lentil bread with spinach and dill?
Let me know how you liked it in the comments below. If you’ve made your own creation, I’d love for you to share it below.
Don’t forget to tag me @annelinawaller when you post your results on Instagram. Feel free to add the hashtag #annelinawaller as well. We collect all your beautiful pictures and videos under this hashtag.
I hope you had fun baking.
Hugs and kisses, and be sure to check back on my blog!
Yours, Annelina <3
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