Zucchini Banana Nut Muffins

Welcome back.  I hope you all survived the holiday with your dignity and jeans still intact. Mine was lovely, thank you for asking.  I picked up a head cold but powered through.  I think it probably had something to do with the 13 kids under the age of ten on my flight home.  Upon landing on Missouri soil, I felt compelled to update my Facebook status to: "One airplane. 13 kids. 3 hours. For the price of one plane ticket, I bought 5 years of birth control." True story. 

As promised, I am here to deliver my Zucchini Banana Nut Muffins. As many of you already know, I had a slight farmer's market mishap back in Boston before I left for break.  It involved one vendor, three vegetables and a humbling experience on how pushovers never fully get what they really want.  Luckily, my failure to rectify the situation lead to some tasty kitchen creations. First it was the roasted vegetable frittata and now I give to you a great breakfast option or on-the-go snack idea. 

This recipe is a hybrid of about two or three I found online.  I like 'healthy' muffins just as much as the next girl, but I am also a dirt-poor grad student so I demand normal ingredients from recipes I wish to try.  No evaporated cane juice crystals, pomegranate molasses or arrowroot powder for this penny scraper. If you want to make these into a dessert, I would recommend folding chocolate chips in with the nuts.  Yum.

Zucchini Banana Nut Muffins 
Makes 12 muffins

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

¼ cup honey

1 1/2 cups grated zucchini 

1/4 cup canola oil

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

¾ cup all purpose flour 

¾ cup whole-wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grate zucchini (either by hand or using a food processor), then squeeze grated zucchini to remove some of the water. Measure 1 1/2 cups zucchini and mix with the mashed bananas.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat egg and honey. Stir in the grated zucchini-banana mixture, then the oil.

Into a separate bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add to the zucchini-banana mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in walnuts.

Spray individual muffin cups with non-stick spray, then divide batter evenly among cups to make 12 muffins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thought I'd do a little post today in honor of my favorite holiday. There is a great Native American saying that goes - “Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.” Just something to think about on a day where we gather together the people we hold most dear and enjoy a labor of love.

Have a wonderful (overindulgent) Thanksgiving!

An Easy Weeknight Dinner: Part One

With Thanksgiving break approaching and my return to the Midwest on the horizon, my food shopping for last week was scant. In an effort to reduce wasted food and the precious green paper in my wallet, I made a small grocery list and tried to survive the week. To say it was a week of leftovers would be an understatement. It was more like a week of scraping out my refrigerator and cupboards for bits of food I could compile into a meal. Was it enjoyable? Not really. Was it cost effective? Yes. Luckily, my super frugal mentality lead to this creation.

This dish is as easy as it gets and it tastes divine.  All you need is some lettuce, one grain/vegetable based burger and one whole egg. It's also sure to impress should you want invite someone over to join.  I picked up a quinoa cake from Whole Foods.  You can find them in the pre-prepared section.  I'm sure any grocer will have something similar.  Black bean, brown rice, chickpea burger - you name it, it will work. Trust me.  If you're a kitchen super star, here is a recipe for quinoa cakes. However, I haven't tried them so make at your own discretion.

On to the main event.  Quinoa is a great grain to get familiar with.  It's a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids. Virtually no plant food contains all nine. Animal proteins are always complete, but plant foods - not so much. I was actually pretty impressed with myself after assembling this little number. The quinoa cake was on sale and I needed to eat the cup or two of lettuce  left in my refrigerator. Giving you an ingredient list on this one after reading the recipe title seems silly, but you can never be too safe. 

Quinoa Cake, Poach Egg with Mixed Greens 

Serves One

1 egg

1 quinoa cake

1-2 cups mixed greens

Pepper

Poach the egg in water. Place mixed greens on plate.  Top with quinoa cake, followed by the poached egg.  Crack some fresh black pepper on top and dig in! 

A Farmer's Market Mistake Turns Into Stomach Gold

My weekend routine is beyond predictable: wake up, do homework/study, run, food shop and relax. I love graduate school, but when this is what your schedule looks like Saturday, Sunday and Monday, it can take a lot to break out of the monotony.  Being the rebel that I am, this past Saturday I threw caution to the wind and went to the farmers market bright and early.  I like to think this act of revolt was purely motivated by spontaneity, but it was mostly due to a hang over. Trying to focus on schoolwork while your head pounds like a 1980's techno dance song is easier said than done.  

In lieu of studying for my approaching nutrition epidemiology exam, I laced up my shoes, zipped up my coat and headed for the subway.  If you've never been to Boston, Haymarket is an outdoor farmer's market located next to Faneuil Hall.  It's by far the best market I've ever been to. I spent $5 and brought home 5 bananas, 4 honeycrisp apples, 3 zucchini, a pint of blueberries and a red bell pepper.  Needless to say, my crisper drawer is full. 

By now you must be thinking, what does a single girl need three zucchini for? She doesn't. One stand was selling three zucchini for a dollar.  I asked for one zucchini and she bagged three mammoth size vegetables.  I thought about correcting the situation, but they were only a dollar. Why bother? My produce mishap turned into my stomach's reward.  I made this little frittata and it is delicious! I really just threw this one together, so my dried herbs, salt and pepper went unmeasured- use at your discretion.  I also think it would be great with goat cheese. Enjoy!

Roasted Zucchini, Tomato and Ricotta Frittata

Serves: 4

2 zucchini, quartered, sliced

1-pint cherry tomatoes

½ cup part skim ricotta

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 eggs

2 egg whites

1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. parsley

1 tsp. minced onion

Salt pepper

2 tsp. olive oil

Toss zucchini in olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 until tender.  Coat tomatoes in PAM, toss with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 until wrinkled/burst.

Beat eggs and egg whites. Add ricotta, ¼ cup Parmesan, zucchini, tomatoes, parsley, basil, minced onion and season with salt and pepper.  Pour into 8x8 coated in cooking spray. Top with remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. 

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until the edges are golden and eggs have set in center. 

Cool for 10 minutes on rack.  
Cut and serve. 


Coming soon: Zucchini Banana Muffins (aka- what I did with the third zucchini)