Rainy Day Muffins

An overcast day sent me switching on the oven and baking a batch of muffins. The ingredient list reads long however do not let that stop you, short on prep and full of flavour.  An orangey zest that will certainly bring on the sunshine.  

Rainy Day Muffins

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MAKES 12 MUFFINS

1/3 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup soy flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 cup (100 grams) finely ground almonds
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Grated peel from 1 large orange

1/2 cup cranberries

1/2 cup diced dried apricots

2 large eggs, beaten

1 cup plain low fat Icelandic yoghurt  

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350ºF. 

Grease or paper-line a muffin tin, set aside.

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients and dried fruit together. In another bowl, combine and mix the wet ingredients together. Stir the wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until moistened. Batter should be thick and lumpy. Fill the prepared muffin tin about 2/3 full. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden.  

Notes: The batter will be really thick so do not worry. For more fibre, substitute the 1/2 cup wheat germ for 1/3 cup wheat bran.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far. - JD 

Leftovers #32 ~ The Anything Goes Salad

Having little bits of this a that in the refrigerator and pantry can bring together a tasty meal or side under the most creative circumstances. For this salad, anything goes... or went into it. The only thing I bought were the tomatoes; other than that everything else was leftover or on hand. Sometimes, salads do not have to be about the leafy greens. 

First I made the dressing... in a dressing shaker, I mixed together avocado oil with lime zest, lime juice, grainy mustard, honey, summer savoury herb and pepper.   

I had some leftover chickpeas, lentils, and sliced mushrooms which were tossed in oil and seasoned and roasted in a 425ºF oven until browned. As those roasted I chopped and sliced the green pepper, red pepper, and cucumber. They were placed into a large bowl. I then added a handful of cherry tomatoes, almonds and dried cranberries. I found a few slices of multigrain seed bread so I cubed the bread and once the chickpeas, lentils, and mushrooms were finished roasting and placed in a separate bowl to cool, I toasted the cubed bread in the oven, under the same temperature 425ºF, for a few minutes. Creating croutons. 

I then added the cooled roasted mixture to the large bowl of fresh veggies and drizzled the avocado lime dressing over everything. Gave it a really good toss then added the croutons and tossed again. What is not pictured here is the nice golden brown slices of pan-fried halloumi cheese I placed on top. 

Notes: All ingredients made a fairly large salad which there were leftovers; and the next day the croutons softened a bit however very flavourful, crisp and still delicious!