Health Nut Blueberry Muffins

I LOVE blueberries. Growing up I didn't think much of them. All that we had in California were tiny, tasteless balls that were super expensive. Then Brian took me blueberry picking in Glastonbury, Connecticut--his hometown--a few weeks before we were married. WOW! It was absolutely amazing. Heavenly, really. Not only was the experience wonderful but the blueberries...WOW!...were fantastic. Handfuls of huge berries full of sweet, fragrant juice would fall off the bush as I went to grab just one. Brian took a some videos of us picking the summer I was pregnant with Isabella and very few of the berries actually went into the bucket. They were so tasty. I'm dreaming of a warm, humid summer with bunches of blueberries.

These muffins are good and pretty healthy. I think next time I'll cut back a bit (1/4 cup) on the sugar. I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com. Also next time I will only put in 1 cup of blueberries as suggested. Since I love blueberries I dumped a bunch in, but then the muffins were too moist. The berries I used were picked last summer and frozen.

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 banana, mashed
1 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any, so I just put 1 teaspoon lemon juice in 1 cup of milk)
1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tin.

In a large bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just blended. Then gently fold the blueberries and walnuts into the mixture.

Bake for 15-18 minute or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly touched. (It took my muffins almost twice as long to cook. Probably because I used large, frozen blueberries.)

Fried Flounder Fillet

One of the easiest, most delicious fish dishes I can make. I learned it from Marilyn, Brian's mom. Fresh, fresh fish is ALWAYS the key! I like to get my fish from Fairway or from the fish mongers at the Greenmarket in Union Square. One time I bought some fish from a place in Chelsea Markets and it was gross; so now I stick to my trusted sources.


Basically all you do is salt the flounder fillet (lemon sole is a similar fish and can be used instead) on both sides dredge it in flour and toss it into some hot grapeseed oil. Marilyn taught me that the reason she used grapeseed oil is because it has a higher smoking point. I fry each side for about 2-3 minutes and it is usually good. As soon as I take it out if the pan and place it on the plate I drizzle it with lemon juice. It is OH! So good! Isabella was even loving it last night.

Peas, Beans & Rice

That's as plain as it gets! And that's what I made this morning for our lunch this afternoon. Every once in a while when we get into a more healthy mode we eat "peas, beans & rice". It's exactly how it sounds plus ground beef; but that's just too cumbersome to repeat. Peas, beans, rice & ground beef, anyone? A wonderful thing about this dish is that it's so healthy it makes me not want to go back for seconds. :)

I do my best to make the dish as flavorful as possible. Today I guess I tried a little too hard because it tastes super salty to me, which means Brian will probably love it.

Another thing that's fun is to wrap it up in a tortilla (I love Trader Joe's Handmade whole wheat tortillas.) and add some salsa.

I realize I need to take more photos of our food, but I've already put it in a plastic container to take to Brian for lunch. Not so pretty.

So, how to make this delicious, nutritious treat?

These amounts will feed us lunch for a few days:

1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 brown rice
2 cups worth of mixed canned beans--whatever you have in the pantry
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

I cook the brown rice according to directions. Brown the beef in the skillet, drain juices and put the beans in to warm up. Add rice and peas.

I always season the ground beef and beans with Chef Paul Prudhomme's Meat Magic. It's pretty good stuff. For the beans today I had red kidney beans and pinto beans. I usually add garbanzo beans too since they have so much protein, but I didn't have any.

Happy, healthy eating!

Carrot Soup with Cilantro Ribbons

Heather was cleaning out their stash of cookbooks a few years back and gave a bunch of them to us. I think all of the books have now been passed onto other kitchens except one, A Good Day for Soup, by Jeannett Ferrary and Louise Fiszer. So far we have only made a few of the recipes, but I have loved everyone. I've never been a big soup fan. I think I grew up with soup being too hot, too healthy and too bland. With time, and living in a cold climate, my opinion of soup is gradually changing.

Two nights ago Isabella and I finished the Sweet & Savory Sausage Sauce (see previous post) but Brian was coming home late from work and the gym--hungry, as usual. Carrot Soup with Cilantro Ribbons became Brian's 9pm dinner and the next day's lunch with my good friend, Angela.

It is a great, simple recipe that tastes fantastic. The only difficulty I have had with it is trying to puree it. The first time I made it I tried to put it in the Cuisinart, but it came flowing out of the center whole. So now I do it in the blender, but I sometimes have to do two batches (depending on how generous I get with the veggies), which means more dishes. And every extra dish used counts since we don't have a dishwasher--and I really, really don't like doing dishes.

I like this soup, Brian likes this soup and Angela said she really enjoyed it yesterday. Isabella wouldn't even try it. If I held her down and smeared some into her mouth I bet she'd be begging for more with her mouth wide open. But I decided to spare Angela the abusive feeding show. :)

Oh! Another thing about this recipe...I always run out of cilantro ribbons before I'm done with the soup. Maybe I'm using more ribbons per serving than what they are thinking or I'm not slicing them small enough. But I would suggest doubling the cilantro ribbon part of the recipe. They are really good and are fantastic in the soup.

Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion
1 stalk celery
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons flour
5 cups chicken stock
1 lb carrots, sliced
4 tablespoons heavy cream
salt & pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat oil. Add onion and celery and cook until soft. Stir in curry, coriander, and flour and cook another minute. Add stock, bring to a boil and add carrots. Simmer, partly covered, 15 minutes. Ina blender or food processor, puree the mixture with cream. Taste for salt and pepper.

Ribbons: (I suggest doubling this.)

2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

Ina medium bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, milk, salt and pepper. Stir in cilantro. In an 8-inch skillet, preferably nonstick, heat oil. Pour in egg mixture, tilting pan back and forth. Cook until batter is set. Turn over to cook other side for 1 minute. Slide onto cutting board and let cool. Cut into thin strips and set aside.

To assemble: divide ribbons about 6 bowls, ladle soup over them and serve.

Sweet & Savory Sausage Sauce

This has been a favorite recipe for a few years. I had forgotten about it and I think it has been since before I was pregnant that I made it last--over two years ago.

It comes from one of our favorite cookbooks, The Figs Table, by Todd English and Sally Sampson. The sauce is cram-packed full of flavor that is so delicious! And, my favorite part, it tastes just as good as leftovers. Brian agrees--and he generally hates leftovers.

I have been unsuccessful in finding garlic sausage so I use sweet Italian sausage and add a couple more cloves of garlic. I think this sauce is fantastic over shells or rotini--you need a pasta that will capture the chunks.

Here's the recipe from the book:

1lb garlic sausage, taken out of casing and crumbled
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 Spanish onion, chopped
1 cup white wine
3 cups chicken broth
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
two 28 oz cans whole plum tomatoes, drained and hand crushed

Place a large skillet or stockpot over medium -high heat and, when it is hot, add the sausage. When the fat begins to render, add the garlic and 1 teaspoon each rosemary and thyme and cook until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Discard any excess fat. Add the onion, lower the heat to low, and cook until it it almost caramelized, about 15-20 min.

Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Add the broth, and cook until reduced to a thick syrup, about 5-8 minutes. (I find this takes quite a bit longer, like 15-20 minutes. Maybe my heat isn't high enough?) Add the anchovies and tomatoes and the remaining 1 teaspoon each of rosemary and thyme, and cook until the flavors meld together, about 20-30 minutes.

Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 3 days.