The 2 Ingredient Bagel Challenge: Boiled vs. Baked

I’ve recently become fixated on the phenomenon known as Weight Watchers 2 Ingredient Dough. In case you’re feed hasn’t been inundated with pictures of bagels, cinnamon rolls, and pizzas recently and don’t know what it is, 2 Ingredient Dough is a 1:1  mix of self-rising flour and Fage plain 0% yogurt (consistency is important, and Fage is the thickest commercial greek yogurt.) A recipe of 1 cup flour to 1 cup yogurt will yield (for me, anyway) 4 bagels, two pizzas, or several apple turnovers (which I prefer to the afore-mentioned cinnamon buns). For those of us on Weight Watchers, these goodies are a low-point bonanza, letting us eat bagels  & pizza while only eating a couple of points. But I digress. I can share other recipes, but this post is about one thing: how to cook the BEST 2 ingredient bagel.

I’ve seen two cooking methods floating around; one calls for simply baking the bagels, and the other starts with the traditional step of boiling the bagels first and then baking. Now I’m a New Yorker. Bagels are important. If you buy your bagels in a bag from the freezer section in your local supermarket, you might not care about the difference of boiled vs. baked. But for those of us who debate which bagel place is best, grew up going to the bagel place every Sunday morning to pick up a baker’s dozen, and travel down to their home town to pick up ‘real’ bagels because they’re just not as good where you live (ok, yes, that would be me), it’s a question who’s time has come.

I started out with a half-recipe of dough, which I was leftover from my pizza the night before, rolled into a ball  and thrown in the fridge. First, a word about the dough. Although the proportion is 1:1, in my experience, you will need to add a little more flour to get it to the right consistency; otherwise it’s a little too sticky. It shouldn’t stick to your hands when rolled into a ball or on the rolling pin when rolling out to make a pizza. So sprinkle with flour as needed. And, while I left the dough unseasoned this time, the last time I made the bagels, I added Penzey’s Mural of Flavor to the mix , but there’s an infinite variety of flavors you can add to your dough. For pizza, Italian seasoning and garlic are great, and if using for apple turnovers, I like to add cinnamon or Penzey’s Pie Spice.

I cut my dough in half and made two nice-sized bagels. about 4″ in diameter.  I prefer them a little on the flatter side, so I ‘schmush’ gently with my palm after they’re shaped. This makes them more like the flagels (aka flattened bagels), which I’ve made road trips to New City for. Hint; it gives you more of the yummy ‘outside’ of the bagel than a rounder bagel, which has more of the doughy inside. I’m sure you can tell which I prefer.

post-boil bagel

I brushed my first bagel, the baker, with an egg wash, sprinkled on some sunflower seeds  (I’m experimenting with toppings, too), and put in my air fryer for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees.  You can use an oven, of course, but the air fryer is my new toy, and it really gets both sides of the bagel nice and browned. While that was cooking, I boiled up a pot of water and  once it came to a rolling boil, put bagel #2 in and boiled for 2 minutes, turning over after the 1st minute. After that I drained, brushed with the egg wash, sunflowered, and also put in the air fryer. I checked the bagels after 10 minutes and gave them a couple of more minutes to get nicely browned. Total cooking time is between 11-15 minutes. I think this will vary depending upon personal tastes and oven temperature variations. Just check them and pull ’em out when they look good to you.

The Results!

Boiled = Bigger!

Visally, they both look great, but the boiled bagel is definitely larger, and has a ‘puffier’ feel. But what do they look like inside? Sure enough, the boiled bagel is less dense, and has more, and larger air pockets. The interior of the baked only also felt stickier to the touch.

Boiled has more air pockets

 

On to the the taste test. I toasted both of my bagels;  I’ve found that the 2 Ingredient Bagels, while a great way to be able to have my bagels and eat them too, need a light toast; it’s a dense dough, and the gummier inside greatly benefits from it. I toast just enough to dry out the inside just a bit. I like them with eggs (because eggs are free on the new Weight Watchers, and who doesn’t like egg sandwiches?)

And the winner is…Boiled! Those air pockets made the bagel cook a little better, yielding a less sticky interior, and the outer crust was, well…crustier, and packed a more satisfying crunch and chew combination.

It’s boiled for the win!

All in all, it’s a subtle difference, but I’ll be taking the extra few minutes to boil my bagels.     For those of you who aren’t as fanatical, boiled might not be worth the extra time, and just baked might be fine or you. Either way, make a bagel, grab a schmear, and enjoy!

Note about toppings: I really preferred my everything bagel mix to the sunflower seeds. I’ve heard that Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel spice is great, but I didn’t have that, so I mixed my own from what I had on hand: black & white sesame seeds, dried minced garlic, onion flakes, and kosher salt. Yum.

The Food Family Tree – Fruited Chicken

There are two similar dishes in the big black binder of recipes my mother made for me; one is labeled “Delicious – very spicy”  – “Chicken w/olives, prunes, apricots, raisins or canned apricots”, and the other is “Dinner Go Round Chicken”. They’re both riffs on the same theme – a really tasty chicken dish that you prep in advance, stick in the oven and can hang out in the oven until you’re ready to eat without overcooking. In fact, it only gets better the longer it cooks. In other words, perfect for every day, holidays, and company. Indeed, “Dinner Go Round Chicken”  was a recipe that was popular for synagogue progressive dinners, where groups of people rotate houses for different courses – apparently they called these “Dinner Go Rounds” back in Mom-mom’s day. Same as a progressive dinner now, but I’m guessing they served jello molds instead of hummus during the appetizer round.

I serve this combo dish on Jewish holidays, bring it to potlucks, and recently made it for a  meeting that I hosted, prepped in the morning so I didn’t have to do anything later. I like to bring out the mediterranean flavors in the dish and serve it over either couscous or quinoa; I like Nutty Roasted Cauliflower Quinoa (recipe below)

Expand as needed, most people eat one thigh each, but many want seconds. This recipe is for 4-6 thighs. Mine happened to be a combo of bone-in and boneless, skinless thighs, just because that’s what I had.

You’ll need:

4-6 skinless chicken thighs

1 large onion

knob of ginger – about 1-2″, grated

2-3 clove garlic, sliced

1/2 orange juice

1/2 jar apricot preserves

~1/4 cup cooking sherry

~1/2 cup total (or more to taste) coarsely chopped dried apricots & prunes

1/4 capers

dried garlic

salt

pepper

Directions:

1. Slice onions into thin, long strips and scatter on bottom of 9×13 pan.
2. Remove skin (if necessary) from chicken & trim fat. Place on top of the onions.
3. Scatter fruit and capers evenly
4. Combine orange juice, jelly and garlic in saucepan until melted & pour over chicken
5. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, or longer, basting occasionally. Keep covered for the first 20 minutes, then uncover & cook until the chicken is well browned and onions are caramelized. It can hang out in the oven on a low heat for a while & only gets better. If prepping earlier and cooking from cold, it will take longer.

Serve over:

Roasted Cauliflower Quinoa (easy to make ahead and reheat)

1 cup quinoa

1/2 cauliflower, cut into small florets

olive oil

Penny’s Sweet Curry or Turkish Seasoning

1/2 cup slivered almonds

chicken stock

saffron (optional)

1. Combine chicken stock and saffron and cook quinoa in it according to directions. Salt optionally, depending on taste and whether you used salted stock.
2. Toss cauliflower in olive oil & desired spices and put on a parchment or foil lined cookie sheet – roast at 400 degrees until cauliflower begins to caramelize & brown
3. Toast slivered almonds in a small pan, watching carefully so they don’t burn
4. Fold quinoa and cauliflower together, sprinkle almonds on top. You can add a chiffonade of fresh parsley if you have it around for a bright finish.

Invasion of the Crickets (yummy ones!)

Mike G. and I have started a new adventure! I invite you to check out our latest endeavor, PlanetGrub at my new new blog site PLANETGRUB!

 

Cleanin’ out the Fridge

It’s long overdue…bits of this, stalks of that. The bumper crop at the farmer’s market is stuffed into my crisper and it’s bursting at the seams. When you can’t find the eggs, it’s time to Clean Out the Fridge!

What we have in our fridges will vary, but in mine, it’s usually a hodgepodge of veggies in various states of wilt, nubbins of cheese that are too good to waste, and maybe, if I’m lucky, a lone sausage or bit of smoked something-or-other. Individually, they’re poor, lonely ingredients that got left behind like McCauley Culkin in Home Alone (I know, so sad, right!?) And they’re going to be up to no good if you don’t use them soon.

So, here’s a few recipes that will use up the odds & ends…substitute with your overstocks  (they’re sure to be different than mine), and, with a bit of grain here, some eggs there, you’ll have some pretty darn good meals – dare I say new additions to your repertoire (even when you’re not using up wilted kale, not-quite crisp peppers, and almost-old cheese!)

Tonight I have a leftover wilted kale, manchego, and cheddar quiche in the oven, but I don’t know how it’s going to come out yet, so I won’t post the recipe, but I will say 5 eggs plus a cup or so of cheese, a little milk or half and half, and whatever’s been loitering around your fridge too long + a 400 degree oven for ~ 20-25 minutes = quiche. With or without crust, it’s all good. (just grease your pan if you’re not using a crust!)

Show your wilted veggies who’s in charge!

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Delicious Quinoa Pilaf

2 cups cooked quinoa (cooked in chicken stock)

1/2 finely diced red pepper

½ finely diced red onion

5 cloves garlic, minced

~1 cup blanched asparagus, cut into 1” pieces

1 t olive oil

salt

pepper

Cook quinoa in chicken broth as directed (2:1 ratio)

Sauté onion, pepper & garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add blanched asparagus & cooked until all are combined & asparagus is heated through. Toss with cooked quinoa.

 

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Slightly Spicy Hummus with Peppadews &Turkish seasoning 

Ok, so the only thing that was getting old was the peppadews, but hey, I’m trying to use it all up, and why buy hummus when homemade is so easy AND so good! Plus, I always have too many cans of chickpeas in my pantry!

1 can of chickpeas, juice of 1 lemon, 1/8 cup tahini, 1 t Penzey’s Turkish seasoning, 1/4 t Penzey’s Aleppo pepper, about 4 cloves of garlic and 3 peppadew peppers. Oh, and a dash of saffron & roasted garlic infused olive oil I mixed up in a jar last week (great to have around!). Sprinkle with zahtar  if you have & serve (preferably with cut up veggies that need to be eaten and crackers that are leftover from last time you had cheese & crackers)

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Leftover Roasted Chicken Cacciatore

This is good with any leftover chicken that you’re tired of eating, and used up a bunch of things I had dribs and drabs of in my fridge

6 oz shredded cooked chicken

½ onion – diced

½ roasted red peppers

¼ cup diced kalamata olives

handful of fresh basil, chopped

3-5 cloves garlic

T olive oil

Dash powdered fennel

1t Italian seasoning

1 cup leftover marinara sauce + about ½ water swirled around jar

Splash of dry sherry to deglaze pan

Serve over whole wheat pasta

Saute all veggies but marinara, deglaze once they’re nice & caramelized. Toss in chicken, marinara & water & let simmer about 10 -15 minutes or while pasta cooks.

Toss & serve

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Faux French Country Turkey Stew

1/2 cup dry Great Northern beans, soaked (or 2 cans cannellini or great northern)

2 links Chicken Sausage (mine were roasted garlic)

1 cup shredded leftover turkey (or chicken)

2 cups kale, chopped

1 T olive oil

2 carrots, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

3 t chicken base ( Better than Bouillon, Penzeys, Knorr, whatever)

A bunch of fresh herbs – or dry if you don’t have fresh; I used thyme, tarragon & sage

1/2 t garlic powder

1/4 t smoked paprika

1/4 fennel powder (it makes things taste like sausage!)

2 leeks, rinsed well & diced

2 shallots, diced

4 cups water

sort, rinse and soak beans as per directions

heat olive oil & saute leeks, shallot, carrot, celery until soft. Add chopped sausage

Add kale, stir

Add turkey

Drain & add beans

Combine chicken base with water, add to pot & bring to a boil, then reduce heat & add spices. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are soft – about 1/5 hours.

Serve alone, over rice or with a nice crusty bread

 

Nine Pin gets a perfect ’10’

My 4-pack of Nine Pin is chilling in the freezer, and it won’t be cold soon enough! I discovered Nine Pin last summer, when I sampled the Original, Belgian, and Ginger at the Troy Farmer’s Market. I went home with a bottle each of the Original and the Belgian, but only because my hands were too full to safely get a Ginger home safely. Since then, Nine Pin has made itself at home in my fridge, tucked into the door with the IPA’s and Gosling’s Ginger Beer (the best Ginger Beer for a Moscow Mule, in my very humble opinion. I know there are a lot of ciders out there, but with the exception of a quite good offering from Argyle Brewing (in Greenwich), I haven’t branched out from Nine Pin yet, unless you count going from bottle to can. It’s just so darned good. Light and refreshing, and it’s the perfect choice when you can’t decide between a cold beer or a glass of wine.

Mike G. is making me dinner tonight (yes, I am a lucky woman) – roasted duck with wild rice and butternut squash. He’s been trying to convert me over to duck – “the other dark meat”  since I met him. This duck, marinating in a fragrant concoction of orange-pineapple juice, soy sauce, pomegranate molasses, sherry, ginger, red onion, garlic, and sesame oil, might do the trick. That Original is going to be mighty tasty with it.

Everything you need for a Jewish Holiday nosh in 20 ingredients or less

 

With under 20 ingredients (plus pantry items), you can mix and match to prepare any (Ashkenazi) Jewish Holiday Meal. Just remember to buy onions. A lot of onions.

Appetizer: mix and match: pickles, pickled beets, pickled fish, pickled mushrooms, pickled tomatoes, eggs. Gefilte fish as desired. Serve with pickled horseradish. **If Passover, make salad of egg, parsley, horseradish, apples & nuts, lettuce and roasted lamb shank. Serve with salt water dressing and matzoh croutons. Feminists: add an orange. Vegetarians may substitute beet for the lamb shank.

Main dish: Is it Yom Kippur Break-fast? Yes – Lox. All other holidays: choice of Roasted Chicken or Brisket.

Soup: Is it Yom Kippur? Sorry, no soup. All other holidays: Matzo Ball

Starch: Is it Hanukah? Yes—Potato Latkes No: Is it Passover? Yes – potato kugel. All other holidays: Noodle kugel

Starch #2 – Bread: Is is Passover? Yes – Matzoh. Is it Yom Kippur Break-fast? Yes – Bagels. All other holidays: Challah

Vegetable: Is it Passover? Yes – Parsley. All other holidays, choose from the following: including Passover: carrots, beets, string beans (or a combination of the above). Add onions.

Dessert: Is it Rosh Hashanah? Yes – apples & honey. Is it Purim? Yes – Hamentaschen. All other holidays: combine flour, nuts, cinnamon and apple (optional) into desired form, unless it is Passover, at which time replace the flour with wine.

Special Bonus meal:

Breakfast: If Passover, combine matzoh & egg. Serve with salt.

 

And of course, what  would a Jewish holiday meal be without the grape juice Manischewitz? 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Pudding

I’ve been experimenting with a lot of healthy food lately, and having a mixed bag of successes and failures. Some healthy food blogs make everything look and sound like they’re absolutely delicious, but c’mon…the brownies made with prunes and applesauce really don’t taste like they’re made with butter, and cauliflower, no matter how good it is roasted, is still, at heart, cauliflower. I’m all for making really tasty, healthy food, but we do need to accept that we’re not going to make a non-dairy, gluten-free substitute for full-fat, four cheese macaroni and cheese that will pass a blind taste test! In fact, I don’t want it to. I want to train myself to appreciate the different textures and flavors of the ingredients I’m using, not hide them and pretend they’re something else. So often, so-called ‘diet foods’ are marketed as low-calorie, facsimiles of the originals…”100 calories snack packs”, “skinny cow ice cream”, “low-fat salad dressing”…the list goes on, keeping people tied to the flavors and textures that we’ve become addicted to.

Instead of buying into the “diet-food industry”, I’d rather eat real food that’s both simpler and healthier. I’m finding my taste buds are adapting. I had a donut on Saturday, and the sweetness was almost overwhelming. I now eat plain greek yogurt with only banana and don’t need to add honey anymore. I’m not perfect; I still crave things, especially salty-crunchy things, but I’m working on that. I make homemade popcorn to quell that crunchy craving, telling myself it’s better than buying something in a bag. I just need to make it in a small pot, not a large one!

I haven’t written much about chia yet, mostly because I mostly use it to give fruit & yogurt smoothies some fiber; I haven’t really used it as a main ingredient, but I decided last night to make a breakfast “pudding” with it. I love the idea of making breakfast the night before, like those refrigerator oatmeal recipes, but honestly, I didn’t love my refrigerator oatmeal much. Chia seeds look like poppy seeds, but act more like tapioca; they absorb liquid and become slightly gelatinous. I mixed up 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk with 1/4 cup of chia seeds, a small squeeze of liquid stevia, a dash of vanilla extract, and a little salt. After stirring together, I poured the mixture into two glass bowls with lids & refrigerated overnight, stirring a couple of times to disperse the seeds, which settle a little bit. At the same time, I cut up a bunch of strawberries & let them macerate overnight. This morning, my chia was not quite pudding-like, but it was close enough; I served it with my strawberries and sliced banana – the chia seeds give it an interesting texture that can be a little off-putting, but I got used to it; I’m not sure I would want to eat it solo, but it worked with the fruit, especially the creaminess of the banana – and it’s pretty satisfying. It’s a nice alternative to my standbys of yogurt and hard boiled eggs.

I have to remember that not every recipe is going to be an epiphany; some will just new ways to prepare some decent, healthy food.

note – this recipe was inspired by chocolatecovderedkatie.com, who features lots of healthy dessert recipes.

Spring Cleaning

It’s long overdue. I’ve been struggling with my weight since I moved out of NYC and stopped walking everywhere I went. That was 25 years ago. Since then,  I’ve gained weight, had a baby, gained more weight, lost some, gained some, lost some more, gained some, got divorced, lost some more, gained a little…you get the idea. I need to lose about 60 pounds to be in a happy place for me, and for the last 20 years, I’ve lost and gained the same 20-30 over and over again, never quite getting to my pre-pregnancy weight (which was overweight, btw.) This bought of recent unemployment has not been my scale’s friend. That, combined with the winter from hell and my absolute loathing of the gym, has made for one couch-bound potato throughout this winter. BOOM! That 20 lbs. I lost last year? Gone. It’s time for some Spring Cleaning for my mind and body.

It’s hard to diet when you love food, but I know that’s an excuse. Boyfriend a chef? EXCUSE. Too cold to go to the gym? But I’ve got great cholesterol/blood sugar/blood pressure? Oh, shut me up already! As anyone who has gone shopping with me knows, I am the queen of rationalization, but I need to be dethroned.

Over the past few days, a coup d’etat has taken place. I’ve gone to the Y three days in a row, twice in Mike G., and today on my own. Doesn’t sound like much, I know. But everyday I go is like a little victory for me and my knees, which are the only part of my body that my weight seems to affect (well besides the obvious things like my hips, thighs, etc.!) I actually only hate going to the gym when I don’t go the gym. Sort of vicious circle/Schrodinger’s Cat scenario; if I am in the gym I no longer hate it.

As for food, well, my biggest hurdle is correcting some really bad behaviors. I have a snacking habit that I’m ashamed of. I’m a sucker for those so-called healthy snacks, like quinoa chips, lentil crackers, etc. I guess they are healthy in their way, but not when you eat the whole bag! A big part of being successful for me is cracking that snack habit. Like a closet drinker, I snack alone.  Admitting to it is my first step, so here it is – I am powerless against snacks. I will no longer buy lentil chips or Ritter hazelnut bars at Ocean State Job Lot, no matter how cheap they are. I’m going to stop eating at night, and will eat with intention, not casually and absent-mindedly.

I’m going to talk about what I’m going to eat rather than what I’m not. I’m going to eat delicious, high-quality food. Lean protein, eggs, high-quality carbs such as quinoa, sweet potatoes, wild rice, and beans, vegetables, fruit, eggs, yogurt, and yes, even some butter. Once in a while a bit of chorizo might add some flavor to a dish. For the past couple of months I’ve been experimenting with alternative flours; coconut, almond, quinoa; when I bake (and I will, a little), these will be my ingredients, and my sweeteners will be stevia, applesauce, honey, maple syrup, and dates. I can’t wait to start finding new recipes & making up my own!

Some dishes I’ve made over the past few days: Kale-Quinoa Kugel Cakes, Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Puree, Butternut Squash with Tahini Sauce, Almond-Yogurt Fruity Smoothie, and my go-to easy breakfast, Herby Mashed Eggs.

I was going to take a picture of my dinner with Kale-Quinoa Kugel Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper & Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Puree, but it was so good that Mike G. & I ate our beautiful looking plates before I remembered to take pictures. But here’s a recipe for the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce I served with the Kugel Cakes. It’s delicious. Try it on a piece of fish, chicken, as a dip, or as a sandwich spread.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce/Dip/Spread

3-4 cloves roasted garlic **

12 oz jar roasted peppers, drained

1-2 t good EVOO

¼c toasted slivered almonds or pine nuts

1t smoked paprika (Penzeys)

Moroccan or Turkish seasoning (optional) – I’ve used Tan Tan Moroccan (Savory Spices) or Turkish Seasoning (Penzeys Spices)

Drizzle of a lightly flavored balsamic vinegar; I’ve used pomegranate, raspberry, cranberry, fig, and white balsamics – all are good.

Salt

Black pepper

Season lightly to start & adjust to your taste; I like might like more seasoning than you! Also experiment with your favorite spices & blends; this is versatile!

Put all in a food processor or blender & process until smooth but slightly textured from the nuts.

This looks beautiful & is great on fish, chicken & vegetables as a warm sauce, as a dip with pita & veggies cold, and as a sandwich spread as a mayo alternative.

**To roast garlic, place unpeeled cloves on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil & loosely wrap the foil around them, making sure they’re covered. Roast in toaster oven @ 400 degrees for around 30-40 minutes, or until they’re nice and soft. If you want to roast a whole head (which I advise, since you’ll want to use your roasted garlic on everything), remove the loose outer layers of skin, cut the ‘stem’ side of the head off, and place the garlic on the foil. Drizzle with olive oil and bake as above.

Pea Green with Envy

It seems pretty appropriate to be cooking pea soup on St. Patrick’s Day, after, it does have a shade of green named after it! My freezer’s supply of soup left over from ‘Seven Days of Soup’ has finally dwindled away, and my soup pot is calling…what soup do I get requests for the most? That’s right – that most humble, unappealing looking soup of all, pea soup. I bring it frozen to my daughter in college, my resident chef adores it, and what’s not to like? It’s hearty enough for a meal, and almost as comforting (maybe even  more!) as a bowl of chicken soup. My basic recipe for this relies on a ham hock, but I included some ideas for a vegetarian option. If you have a few hours, throw this on your stove & let it simmer. It’s also a great soup to make with all of your leftover farmer’s market veggies when they’re getting a little old. You’ll have soup for days for almost no $$, and the house will smell great!  Be careful & watch the pot – I’ve had a pot of pea soup boil over & it isn’t pretty!!!

p.s. – I estimate my entire pot of soup cost about $6 & makes about 8 servings.

Here’s what you need:

1 lb split peas (I use Goya)

1 or 2 ham hocks (mine were from Fred the Butcher this time, I also like to get from Oscar’s Smokehouse)

1 T chicken or vegetable soup base

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 leek, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 bay leaves

8 cups of water – or as much as you need to cover everything in the post by at least 2 inches.

to taste: salt, black pepper, thyme, smoked paprika (I like Penzey’s)

• Pick over & rinse the peas.
• Put everything in the pot & get up to a boil.
• Reduce heat & simmer for ~ 2 hours.
• Remove ham hocks from pot & let cool until you can handle.
• Meanwhile, use an immersion blender to smooth out soup. If you don’t have one, let soup cool a little & puree in blender (you may have to do in batches) & put back in pot. Adjust seasonings to your liking.
• Remove meat from ham hocks, chop into small pieces & add back to soup.
• Enjoy with a crusty bread!

Update: its now about 2 1/2 hours later, and my soup is still on the stove; my ham hocks didn’t yield all that much meat, so I a chopped up a kielbasa link I had in the freezer & threw it in, along with more seasonings. It’s going to stay on the stove another hour or so to let everything meld together. In my view, you can’t cook soup enough; it just gets better and better.

**For vegetarian soup, up the amount of carrots & celery, and add a mix of of potatoes, celeriac, parsnip or other root vegetables. I would also add more herbs to amp up the flavor – dill is nice, maybe fennel, even cayenne if you like some spice). Puree to desired consistency, or remove some of the veggies before you puree so you can have some chunks.

I quinoa help it, I made more muffins.

I like going to Ocean State Job Lot and staring at the wall of Bob’s Red Mill products. Spelt, rye, garbanzo, amaranth, coconut, chia, freekeh, buckwheat, 10 bean soup mix! So many grains, seeds, and flours, nuts and beans…it’s like an infinite wall of healthy cooking possibilities. I’ve been looking at the more exotic flours for a while now and have talked myself out of hazelnut flour over and over again (because you know I’ll be pairing that with chocolate, in a tart, and definitely with whipped cream – not exactly healthy). These flours tend to be expensive, so when I buy one I have to commit to using it and giving it a fair shake. It took me months to use my crack open my coconut flour, and at $11/bag, the quinoa flour really had something to live up to. But, quinoa’s been my grain du jour lately, and I enjoyed my quinoa chocolate cookies enough to give  the flour a whirl. I don’t have a problem with gluten, but I do realize that eating these healthier grains has lots of benefits, so I’m making an effort to get away from wheat flour and incorporate them into my everyday cooking.

i knew I had a bag of berries floating around in the freezer, and so my Google search began for something with quinoa flour and berries. Lo and behold, I came across a recipe on http://www.feastie.com; it called for some ingredients I didn’t have, so after a little substituting I ended up with 12 nice little muffins that are actually good enough for me to serve at my next brunch – huzzah! They call for a cream cheese filling that is completely optional; they would be just as good without it, but it added some interest to the flavor as well as the overall look. The quinoa flour has a distinct flavor that reminds me somehow of buckwheat; at first some might find it off-putting, but I like it, and I think it grows on you. These are a not-to-sweet, lemony muffin, and would be perfect with a cup of coffee.

here’s the recipe:

Quinoa Lemon Berry Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

 preheat oven to 400 & line muffin tins with paper

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 cup sugar (original called for cane sugar; I used regular)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup milk (original recipe called for almond, but I didn’t have any on hand, so used 1% cow’s milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen berries (mine were a raspberry, blackberry & blueberry mix)

• Optional Filling:
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese (I didn’t have enough so subbed 1T of it with plain greek Fage yogurt)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest (I didn’t have enough, so I used lemon juice)
•   1 tablespoon sugar

I made 12 smallish muffins. The original recipe says to fill tins 1/2 way with batter, add the filling, and then cover with the other half of the batter. That was a little confusing to me, since you normally only fill muffin tins 3/4 way full. Feastie also advised completely covering the cream cheese filling with the 2nd round of batter; I had nowhere near enough batter for that, so I ended up with a ‘dollop’ of batter on top of each muffin with filling clearly showing. I kind of liked the way the filling looks poking out of the top of the muffins in my finished product, so I wouldn’t stress about it. They’re muffins. They don’t have to be neat!

bake for 20 minutes. 

revised from original recipe on feastie.com