Rhubarb muffins with crumble topping

On the weekend we went to the Market, and we got some rhubarb. I got so excited for this, because I love baking stuff with rhubarb. I had a lull in my day on Monday, so I decided to make the rhubarb muffins I had been wanting to make. They were so good! I brought one for El when I met her for lunch today, in exchange for her strawberry rhubarb jam. I found my recipe on Foodland Ontario's website, and adapted it slightly. I think they turned out really well.
Now it's pouring rain outside, and I would love to be able to cook something else.... Pizza night??? Pizza and a movie on this rainy night sounds perfect.

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup granola
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup chopped rhubarb

1/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp margarine

1. In a medium bowl, combine flours, granola, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, canola oil, and vanilla.
3. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and combine just until combined. Stir in the rhubarb. Put into muffin tins.
4. In a small bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, and margarine until well combined, and sprinkle on top of the muffins.
5. Cook in an oven preheated to 375F for 15-18 minutes.

Kale and egg breakfast sandwich

I made this particular dish as a breakfast, but it could easily be made as a dinner. I got this recipe from Eleanore again, from the recipe book that raved about for a few weeks, Power Foods. This was a little bit of a labour intensive breakfast, but I woke up early to make it, and it ended up being incredibly filling. Quite the change form my usual breakfasts, which usually involve oatmeal with fruit, or toast with jam. 

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups kale, chopped and trimmed

3 tbsp water

2 tbsp lemon juice

coarse salt, pepper

4 slices whole wheat bread (this was on my red river cereal bread)

3 tbsp ricotta cheese

2 large eggs

Directions

1. Heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook garlic until barely golden, stirring frequently  for approximately 1 minute. Add the kale and water, and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. 

2. Spread two slices with half of the cheese. Top with kale mixture, dividing evenly. 

3. Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet, and cook the eggs. Place on top of the kale, and top with the last 2 slices of bread. 

Ricotta kale pasta

Exams are finally done, and I have time to do so many things that I didn't have time to do before, like clean, and cook. And I'll have to pack. I have a very busy schedule for the next two days which involves wrapping things up here in Toronto, before returning to Ottawa. I figured I would take a few minutes to add a few of the delicious meals I've made in the past little while. This one I got from Eleanore's blog. She made a ricotta spinach pasta that raved about, so I just slightly adapted it since I only had kale, not spinach. I also had my favorite way to squash on the side: acorn squash with a little brown sugar.

Spinach Kale Pasta
Ingredients

4 cups of whole wheat rotini2/3 cup ricotta cheese1 teaspoon grated lemon rind3/4 teaspoon salt, divided1/2 teaspoon black pepper2 tablespoons olive oil, divided1 1/2 cups diced red pepper1/3 cup chopped walnuts 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or pressed 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice3 cups fresh kale

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package, drain in colander; reserve 1/2 cup pasta water
2. combine ricotta, 1 tsp lemon rind, 1/4 tsp salt, and black pepper
3. heat 1 tbsp olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add bell pepper. saute 2 minutes. Add walnuts, 1/2 tsp salt, and garlic, saute 2 minutes. Stir in remaining oil and juice. Add pasta, pasta water and kale; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts. Top with ricotta mixture

Acorn squash
Ingredients
1 acorn squash cut into quarters, and seeded
1 tbsp brown sugar per acorn

When the squash is prepared, put into a microwavable baking dish. Put some water in the bottom of the dish, enough to cover the bottom with 5mm of water. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap, leaving a small space for the steam to vent (or if you have a lid for the dish, just use that!). Microwave for 10 minutes at a time on high. Check every 10 minutes to test for softness. I think mine took 20 minutes. put the brown sugar on the acorn while it is still warm, and it will melt onto it, and add just enough sweetness.

Granola, many ways

Oh wow, exams are draining me of all my energy! And time. I have such a huge backup of recipes to post. I've decided that before I start studying for the next set of exams, I'll post at least one! This one is so easy to make, and so incredibly versatile. I made some last night while I was studying. I'm talking about granola. Every time I make some, I wonder why I would ever buy granola at the store, and then I realize that it's because I can be excruciatingly lazy at times, or busy. Busy maybe sounds better. I've made this so many different ways, I can't even remember all the combinations. I'll post the basic recipe, then mention where you can make changes.

3 cups oatmeal
1 cup nuts (walnuts, slivered almonds, chopped pecan)
1/2 cup seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup coconut
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup dried fruit

1. Mix the oatmeal, nuts, seeds, coconut, brown sugar together in a bowl.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the honey and oil.
3. Mix the liquid with the oatmeal mixture in a 13x9 pan. and cook at 250F for 1h15mn, stirring every 15 minutes.
4. Mix in the dried fruit when the granola is removed from the oven.

Variations: Yesterday, I added 2 scoops of unsweetened cocoa, and dried blueberries, so good! you can also add flax, or bran, or hemp, any other health food. Such a versatile recipe!

Whole Wheat Walnut Waffles

Woah, that is a lot of Ws in a row! The other day, El told me about some post-run waffles she had, then that made me really want some. So I made some for my breakfast. I actually went for a very early morning run, then brought a waffle in my breakfast to school. So I ended up having my own post-run waffle! They were really good. I had made them before with Shawn, and they were great. We got the recipe from www.preventionrd.com. They are also healthy given the whole wheat waffles, and walnuts. It adds a little extra crunch. I also had extra lentil puree that I added in. So far, I've had them a few different ways, topped with applesauce, yogurt (trust me, this works), and with almond butter and jam.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1/4 cup walnuts
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup lentil puree

• Mix together all of the dry ingredients. 
• Whisk together the wet ingredients.
• Add buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together until all of the dry ingredients are just moistened. 
• Make waffles according to directions. 
• You could also make pancakes with this. 

Homemade pizza

I've been studying, and procrastinating studying, so much lately that I haven't posted much. I have been waiting for 2 weeks to post this! Well, while I avoid preparing my essay for Community, here it is!
When Shawn was here a few weekends ago, we had decided to make pizza for dinner. A week before, we were both flipping through the LCBO magazine, and came across pizza toppings, and one of them in particular caught our eye, and we decided to reproduce it! It had a base of tomato sauce, then, mozzarella cheese, Genoa salami (I bought hot, all they had left at the store! this is shocking for anyone who knows about my low tolerance for hot food), wild mushrooms, and parmesan cheese slices. Me being me, I also wanted to make the pizza dough from scratch, and it was delicious! I promise that making yeast dough is not as hard as it may seem. Homemade pizza also seems so much more satisfying to me than ordering pizza, it just tastes better.

Pizza dough (from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry cookbook)

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp ground flax

2 1/4 tsp quick rising yeast

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup warm water

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp liquid honey

1 tbsp corn meal

In a medium bowl, combine flour, flax, yeast, and salt. Mix well

In a measuring cup, combine water, olive oil, and honey. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and mix (I used my stand mixer with dough hook, but you can do it by hand). To do it by hand, mix with a wooden spoon to form a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and kneed for 2 minutes. Spray another bowl, and place dough inside, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 20 minutes. To prepare the pizza pan, spray with oil, then dust with cornmeal. 

When dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a 12 inch circle. Transfer to the pizza pan. Prick the crust in several places with a fork, and bake in 425F oven for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with your toppings (I highly recommend the combination we had), then bake for another 8 to 10 minutes. 

Lemon blueberry chocolate chip muffins

I love muffins, and the theme of most things I made lately is "I have to use this up - what can I make with it?".
I had lemons to use up, and I was running out of lunch snacks, so muffins were made! I also happened to be browsing on food websites on the internet, and came across the Lentils website, and how to mix lentils into baked goods and make them more healthy. They were surprisingly good! I based it more or less on this recipe, and I really liked how it turned out!

1/4 cup dry red lentils

3/4 cup old-fashioned (large flake) oats

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup plain yogurt 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

2 eggs

grated zest of 1 lemon

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup  frozen blueberries (not thawed)

1 cup mini chocolate chips

In a small saucepan, cover the lentils with water by an inch or two, bring to a boil and simmer until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain and let cool.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF and line a 12 cup muffin pan with large paper liners. In a medium bowl, soak the oats in the milk and yogurt for 30-60 minutes, until the milk is absorbed into the oats. Stir in the brown sugar, oil, eggs, lemon zest and cooled lentils.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the oat mixture until nearly combined. Fold in the blueberries and chocolate chips, being careful not to over-mix. Spoon into the muffin papers and bake until golden on top, springy to the touch and a tester comes out clean, about 20–25 minutes. Tip the muffins in the pan to allow steam to escape. Makes 12 muffins.