Bread doesn’t have to be boring

WHITE bread, on its own, is certainly one of the most boring things you can eat. However, that can be easily remedied by adding any sort of fresh, zingy ingredient you’d like to a homemade bread.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to what you could add – olives or dried tomatoes lend a nice Mediterranean touch, but there’s also oregano, rosemary, basil, mint, parsley, red onion slices or garlic, just to name a few, according to the German Centre for Nutrition.

If you want things a little spicier, mustard, cayenne pepper or chili flakes are also an option, while walnuts or pistachios give the bread a “pleasant crunch.” Most cheeses work well when baked into bread, as do certain vegetables, such as red bell pepper or courgette slices.

Serve the bread with a light salad and grilled vegetables or meat, and you have a pleasing meal that’s light but still full of flavour.

A yeasted dough using regular flour serves as the bread basis. Take a packet of yeast and dissolve it in lukewarm water with sugar, then add it to some flour mixed with salt. Knead everything together, add olive oil, and then continue kneading until the dough is smooth.

Add the ingredients of your choosing, then knead the dough into a ball and cover it with a clean cloth. Allow it to rise until it’s doubled in size, which can take up to an hour depending on your room temperature.

Put the bread in a springform pan and bake at 200°C for about 50 minutes until it’s crispy and golden. – dpa