Carrot & Quinoa Salad with Roasted Cannellini Beans

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Carrot & Quinoa Salad with Roasted Cannellini Beans

I’m sure you know the feeling.

It’s halfway through the afternoon.  You’ve been out and about all morning, running errands.  You get home and you realize you’re beyond famished.  You’re on the verge of completely losing your mind to hunger.  You open the refrigerator door and slap your forehead.

D’oh!  Grocery shopping probably should have been on the morning to-do list.  There’s nothing here. Nothing, nothing, nothing.  No bread, nothing green.  Not even eggs or milk.  Oh, crud.

So what do you eat when there’s nothing to eat?  Don’t say the box of chocolates you have stashed away. You don’t want this day to end in self-regret or a massive belly ache.  We’ve got to do better than that.

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Almond, Hazelnut & Fig Granola

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Almond, Fig & Hazelnut GranolaIt’s hard for me to post a recipe for granola without thinking back on the first granola recipe I shared.

It was a disaster.  Tragic, even.

There was nothing wrong with the granola.  No, that was great: full of sweet spices, dried apricots, and candied ginger.  No, I was the disaster.  I had just launched my blog and was feeling this very strange pressure to get myself out in the world at lightning speed.  It was suddenly incredibly important to make the world’s best granola, photograph the whole process, write something über-charming about it, and release it to my 2-person fan base, asap.  I thought there was a lot riding on pressing “publish” before I ran out the door to work.  My kitchen was a mess and I was tripping over my dog and dirty dishes, with a toothbrush hanging out of my mouth, when the unspeakable happened.

I dropped my camera.  I watched it plummet from the counter all the way down to the floor.  It replays in slow-motion every time I enter the kitchen armed with my camera, the tipping off the edge of the counter, my dramatic dive across the room, the loud, echoing thud of it hitting the ground.  I remember thinking, maybe it’s fine, maybe, please, please, please.  Of course, it was not, and I sat on the grimy kitchen floor, cradling my camera with its jammed lens, cursing myself.

Thankfully, my blogging style has grown up a little since then.  I now realize that creating, photographing, and writing a recipe can’t happen in the 45 minutes before you need to get your butt to your real job. Also, bad things happen way more frequently when you’re a complete mess.  You’ve got to keep up with the dishes and you’ve got to shoo your dog out of the kitchen.  And the toothbrush?  Girl, you’ve just got to get yourself together.

In honor of my blog growing up, I have what feels like a very adult granola recipe to share with you.  It’s an extra crunchy granola, flecked with flax seeds, rosemary, and quinoa, loaded with hazelnuts, almonds, and dried figs.  It is every bit as delicious as the first granola I shared with you and I went through a heck of a lot less heartbreak to get it onto the blog.

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Date, Coconut & Pecan Quinoa Muffins

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Date, Coconut & Pecan Quinoa Muffins

Now let’s get one thing straight; when it comes to muffins, I hardly discriminate.  I like ’em all, from dense and cakey to light and delicate, most every muffin has its time and place in my world.  But, if you’re going to press me for my favorite weekday version, it is, without a doubt, the humble quinoa muffin.

Why, you ask.  Why some dowdy quinoa muffin when I could be biting into a fluffy blueberry-buttermilk beauty?  It’s like choosing some mousey brunette over a blonde bombshell pageant queen.

Because quinoa muffins have got substance, integrity, loyalty.  They’ll coax you out of bed with the promise of deep, nutty-grainy deliciousness and fuel you all through the first half of the day.  They’re not going to merely flirt with you in the morning only to flake out on you halfway to lunch.

If you’ve been coming around here since the beginning, you probably already know about my affection for quinoa muffins.  I’ve been known to hide squash and apples in them.  This time around, I’m thinking quinoa muffin meets granola with big chunks of dates, copious coconut curls, and plenty of pecans.

Coconut, Date & Pecan Quinoa Muffins [Read more…]

Cauliflower & Quinoa Salad with Mustard Greens

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I’m going to be perfectly upfront with you about this salad; it’s part of a bigger strategy.

You see I take my December eating pretty seriously.  Christmas cookies, cheese balls, and cocktail wienies are all on the horizon and I know I won’t be able to enjoy them in all their glory if I still feel guilty about the excessive eating of Thanksgiving week.  So I’m going to eat lots of hearty, nutritious salads for the next week or two.  Don’t worry, they’ll be delicious enough that I’ll enjoy the ride.

Today: a zippy quinoa salad with heaps of mustard greens, chickpeas, plenty of roasted cauliflower, and capers.  It’s a great make-on-Monday salad to pack in your lunchbox or have available for those I’m-so-starving-I-could-eat-a-whole-jar-of-peanut-butter-even-though-I-probably-shouldn’t moments.

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Autumn Harvest Quinoa Muffins

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I’ll admit it.  On occasion, after eating what is essentially dessert for breakfast five days straight, I feel a tiny twinge of guilt.

But what’s a girl to do?  A girl’s gotta eat.  And this girl has got to bake!

Solution: a healthy, hearty, grainy, good-for-your-body muffin.  No delicate, dainty muffin here.  This is a muffin that wakes up, steps into steel-toed boots, fastens its toolbelt, and gets to work.  And it works hard.  It’s going to get you out of bed, out the door, and carry you all the way through ’til lunch.  This muffin is not going to flake out on you.  How many other muffins can you count on to do the same?

Building blocks:  quinoa (it’s a super-food, you know), squash, apples, raisins, nuts.

That’s grated butternut squash, not cheddar cheese.  Hmm…cheddar might not be a bad idea…next time.

Combine dry ingredients, brown a bit of butter, whisk egg with buttermilk, toss the quinoa and other tasty touches together in a bowl.

butternut squash, golden, raisins, pecans, apple, brown butter, cinnamon

Bring it all together.  Into a muffin tin and into your oven.

butternut squash, quinoa, muffin, golden raisins, pecans, nuts, apples, cinnamon, hearty, healthy, whole grain, whole-wheat

Golden & toasty, a little crunchy, a lot healthy, super satisfying.  I call middle-right, you can have top-left.

squash, apple, raisin, quinoa, muffin, fall, hearty, healthy

You are going to love these wholesome, nutty muffins.  They’re so good you might not even want to go back to your more decadent breakfasts next week.  You may even make another batch, try another variation, other whole grains, different secret vegetal add-ins.

healthy, whole grain, squash, apple, pecan, raisins

Or maybe you’ll rediscover the jar of nutella.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Autumn Harvest Quinoa Muffins
 
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These muffins are wholesome, flavorful, and moist with just enough crunch. Customize them with your nuts and favorite dried fruits.
Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1½ c. All Purpose Flour
  • 1 c. Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1 tsp. Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp. Baking Powder
  • ½ tsp. Salt
  • 1 tsp. Cinnamon
  • ½ c. Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1½ c. Buttermilk
  • 1 Egg
  • ¼ c. Unsalted Butter, melted and browned
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 1 c. Cooked Quinoa
  • 1 c. Grated Apple (1 medium apple)
  • ½ c. Grated Butternut Squash
  • ½ c. Golden Raisins
  • ½ c. Pecans, chopped
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°. Butter or spray a 12 cup muffin tin.
  2. Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon in large bowl. Mix well.
  3. In medium bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, browned butter, and vanilla.
  4. In another medium bowl, combine quinoa, apple, squash, raisins, and pecans.
  5. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined.
  6. Fold quinoa mixture into muffin batter and scoop into prepared muffin cups.
  7. Bake until golden and tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes.