No, this isn’t meatloaf. But it kind of looks like meatloaf though, doesn’t it? Haha! All it needs is a side of mash potatoes and a ketchup bottle next to it. Sheesh. Lordy. I’m pretending not to worry, but it kind of worries me a little. Just a little.

I’m basically borrowing from two recipes here, this one muffin recipe from White On Rice Couple, for the roasted strawberry part, and the other recipe is a quick bread from King Arthur Flour. The only thing I added differently to the recipe for the quick bread was to use rye flour, because I still want to explore rye flour in non-yeast breads.

I used a combination of 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon with 1/2 a teaspoon of cardamom, but you can use all cinnamon or all cardamom. I love cardamom, but because it already had a couple of unusual things in it–rye flour and balsamic vinegar and honey, I didn’t want the cardamom to overpower those ingredients. But use whatever you want, in whatever amounts you desire.

One more thing, I also reduced the sugar somewhat, but feel free to add more to your tastes. It is only a slightly sweet bread, but more on the sweet side. I wanted it to straddle between sweet and savory, but in the end, land squarely on the sweet side. The balsamic vinegar threw Ben off, but he insists he likes it now. (Probably not to hurt my feelings, LOL)

Enjoy!

roasted strawberry rye bread

ingredients

for roasted strawberries:

20 ounces strawberries, washed and dried

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

for quick bread:

1 cup rye flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon (or cardamom, or a combination)

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup canola oil (or olive oil)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

method

For roasted strawberries, first wash and carefully dry strawberries. Start with 20 ounces, but after cutting off the tops, you should have about  a pound. Cut small strawberries in half, larger ones can be quartered. In a bowl, combine the honey, balsamic vinegar, oil, and salt and stir with a whisk several times. Pour over strawberries and carefully stir with a clean hand or wooden spoon before spreading out onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and roasting in an oven set to 350 degrees F. After about an hour, remove from oven and separate and save the liquid and cool strawberries to room temperature before using. If not using right away, can store in refrigerator for up to a week.

Prepare a 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan by lining the bottom with a piece of parchment paper that overhangs on two sides for easy removal. Grease and flour or use baking spray on paper and all sides. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flours, sugar, cinnamon or cardamom, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl and stir with a whisk several times until thoroughly combined and integrated.

In another bowl, whisk thoroughly together the oil, eggs, and almond extract. Pour over the flour mixture. Reserving about a cup of the strawberries for topping, also add the strawberries and toasted pecans, then fold slightly until dry ingredients are moistened. Try not to overmix which makes the bread too tough, just make sure there are no pockets of dry areas.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for about an hour, until center isn’t wet and toothpick stuck into the middle comes out clean or with few crumbs at the most. Brush top with reserved liquid from roasting the strawberries, if desired.

Cool before slicing.