Pear Walnut Kamut Need-A-Sweet-Balls

So hard to go without that sweet treat. Subtracting brown sugar, butter, oils, wheat flours, even molasses, I have been hard pressed to do a dessert without resorting to soy yogurt and fruit. But what if you really want something that is not a muffin, not a yogurt, has a chew to it and that cookie-on-the-side feeling?  There was a nearly-too-ripe-to-eat Bosc pear clamoring for my attention, and this is what happened to it! It is heading down the road towards a granola bar, but if I had not used the silicone muffin cups, and had put small spoonfuls on parchment paper (bake 15 minutes), these would really be bite-sized treats. You can use apple, or probably dried apricots or any other fruit/nut combination and if you are going gluten free, you can either use gluten-free oats, or substitute a bit more almond meal and rice puffs. I cannot claim this is the be-all and end-all of Need-A-Sweet-Balls, so experiment and share your discoveries and success!

Pear Walnut Kamut Puff Need-A-Sweet-Balls (makes 6 silicone muffin cups/half full)

1/2  ripe Bosc pear, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup whole rolled oats
1/2 cup Kamut puffs (you could use rice puffs or any other "grain filler")
1 TBLSP almond meal
3 TBLSP  raisins
1 TBLSP maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
dash salt
sprinkle of flax seeds (on top)

1. Peel and chop pear, putting it into a mixing bowl, with chopped walnuts and oats.
2. Add everything else except the flax seeds, spooning this not-quite-sticking-together mixture into silicone muffin cups, half full.
3. Press gently with fingers into a mounded shape, sprinkle sparingly with flax seeds, and bake 20-25 minutes at 350F. Let them cool before trying to pull off the cups.  You can DEFINITELY use a tablespoon onto parchment paper in a baking pan and make bite-sized crisp sweet snack treats!

Pear Walnut Oat Need-A-Sweet-Ball Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (44g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 139 7% Total Fat 8g 12% Saturated Fat 1g 4% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 28mg 1% Total Carbohydrate 16g 5% Dietary Fiber 3g 10% Sugars 7g 0% Protein 3g 7% Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 3% • Iron 5% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Banana Blueberry Oat Walnut Muffins

I was remembering when my oldest son was a very little guy and we met another family in the park who were eating the most delicious muffins for their playtime snack. The mother had made them, of course, but she was talking about how her skinny little roadrunner of a child wouldn't eat much. She had packed those muffins with nutrition. I asked about it and she told me that she used orange juice and zucchini and applesauce and amaranth and on and on.  This morning I decided to revisit my unsatisfactory blueberry breakfast treat project (you haven't seen that blog because I removed it as soon as I posted it!).  I used a small grated zucchini and a smashed banana, along with a little buckwheat flour and ground up whole oats. My encouragement to grind up my own oats into flour came from another recipe I had run into somewhere. These muffins remain moist because of the zucchini, banana and blueberries. Be sure to let them cool enough before removing the cups. You can let them sit  upside down for a couple minutes to release a little of the internal moisture. But it's hard to resist them when they are still just a little warm. Oh, did I say that one muffin seems to provide 11% of my daily protein?? Here's how it all shook out.

Banana Blueberry Oat Walnut Muffins (makes 6)

2/3 cup rolled oats - grind into flour

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

2 Tblsp flaxseed meal

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

dash salt

1 Tblsp agave syrup

1 cup grated zucchini 

1 large smashed banana

1/3 cup oat milk

1/3 cup frozen Maine blueberries

1/4 cup walnuts pieces

1. Grind the oats, combine with flour, meal, baking powder and soda and salt. 

2. In a separate bowl, grate the zucchini, smash in the banana, add the agave, oat milk and blueberries.

3. Mix the wet into the dry, until it is one thick doughlike batter. Gently stir in the walnuts. 

4. Over fill 6 muffin cups and bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes.  You must let these cool before trying to remove them from the cups.

Banana Blueberry Oat Walnut Muffins Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 muffin (96g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 170 9% Total Fat 6g 9% Saturated Fat 1g 3% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 194mg 8% Total Carbohydrate 27g 9% Dietary Fiber 5g 18% Sugars 6g 0% Protein 6g 11% Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 9% Calcium 8% • Iron 9% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. Courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Mushroom Tofu Chard Rolls

I had four large chard leaves saved for something special. My husband brought home a package of organic white mushrooms on sale because they were truly past their prime. That quick run to the co-op hadn't happened so the dinner project began with what I had on hand. This time I really made it up as I stood there, contemplating the colors, textures and possibilities. Black olives and white apple flesh, black mushrooms with white tofu crumbles, red sun dried tomatoes with the creamy garlic and farro and the vivid green of the chard... well it was just beautiful. A substantial dish, full of nutrition - fiber, protein, lots of trace elements and B vitamins - it offers a beautiful plate!

Mushroom Tofu Chard Rolls (Makes 4 full-sized)

4 large chard leaves
1/2 cup farro
4 ounces white mushrooms
8 dried shiitake mushrooms
7 ounces soft tofu
1/2 apple
6 sun dried tomatoes
5 large black Cerignola (or other) olives
2 large garlic cloves
3 scallions
1 cup boiling water to soak mushrooms
1.5 cups water to cook farro

for the sauce:
1/2 cup dry roasted no salt cashews
1/2 tsp agave syrup (or not)
1 Tblsp (or less) Tamari
1/2 cup mushroom soaking water

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Soak dried mushrooms in 1 cup boiling water - this takes about half an hour, so about as long as the rest of construction time. Start farro in about 1.5 cups water. - this also takes about half an hour. Quick steam/water saute large leaves of chard and set aside -- do not overcook!


2. Prepare filling:  chop fresh mushrooms in small bits, mash together with tofu. Chop garlic fine, Chop sun dried tomatoes in strips and chop again in bits (not too small). Chop up apple in small 1/4" pieces. Cut up Cerignola black olives (I cut mine off the pit) into same size bits as apple bits. Chop scallions. When farro is nearly done, take soaked mushrooms out, SAVING liquid and putting 1/2 cup of this aside for the sauce. Cut the stems off, slice the mushrooms and chop across into medium small bits (these will be the chewy counterparts to the farro). Mix all this together with farro (which will still have a chew factor to it when it is "done").


3. Make sauce: chop cashews and put in a bowl, pour the 1/2 cup mushroom soaking water in, add the 1/2 tsp agave syrup and 1 tablespoon Tamari. Puree this but don't worry if there are still bits of cashew remaining in it.

4. Construct your rolls. I did this in the pan, placing the first chard leaf rib down near the edge of a 9X13 pan. plopping 1/4 of the filling along the rib, fold the inner edge up, and put the next leaf down, rib close to the 1st leaf. Fill that leaf and then fold in the top of the 1st leaf, fold in the sides, and roll it onto the folded side, so that the rib is on top. This way you can space the leaves -- and figure out how much filling to put in the remaining leaves. Put the third leaf in, plop in the filling, and then roll up the 2nd leaf, doing the same with the last leaf.  Don't worry if there's a little filling left -- taking a spoon, you can gently lift the end of the stem on each roll and squish in that last bit of filling!  Pour the sauce over the whole thing.

5. Bake at 350F covered for 20 minutes, uncovered for 10 minutes. Serve & Eat!

Nutrition Facts: Mushroom Tofu Chard Rolls  Serving Size: 1 chard roll (375g)

Amount Per Serving		% Daily Value*
Calories	285	14%
Total Fat	10g	16%
Saturated Fat	2g	10%
Trans Fat
Cholesterol		0%
Sodium	468mg	19%
Total Carbohydrate	39g	13%
Dietary Fiber	5g	21%
Sugars	7g	0%
Protein	12g	25%

Vitamin A	10%	•	Vitamin C	33%
Calcium	10%	•	Iron	21%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Portobello Cannellini Boats

Planning to be out in the early evening, I knew I needed a plan that could be ready beforehand. There was a jar of leftover cannellini beans in the fridge, and I had recently bought two Portobello mushrooms. Thinking I might have a guest for dinner, I thought better of cooking the mushrooms as 2 mushrooms... This would make my guest feel they were intruding on our dinner-for-two. So here's what happened. I got to thinking about ports, and canals and Italian painters and well...  These turn out to be an amazingly good source of fiber and protein for just a wee bit of calories if that matters to you!

Portobello Cannellini Boats

233 g Cannellini beans (about a cup)
33 g fresh parsley (1.5 c chopped)
5 cloves garlic
14 grape tomates (more if you want)
35 g sweet red pepper (one lobe)
2 good sized Portobello mushroom caps
4 teaspoons Miso (I love the adzuki bean miso for this)
2 crushed rye-sesame crackers

1. Mash beans in a good sized bowl. Cut Portobello caps in half. Chop parsley finely, along with garlic, and red pepper. Cut grape tomatoes in half through their diameters. Crush the 2 rye crackers.
2. Peel off 4 leaves of savoy cabbage and place in oven pan with tin foil, putting the mushroom halves inside the curl. Mix together all the other ingredients with the miso - I used a teaspoon for each serving, so 4 teaspoons. Use a spoon and take care not to crush the tomatoes.

3. Plop the ingredients in a large cohesive blob onto the mushroom. This can sit, covered and wait until you are ready to bake it at 375F, covered for 10 minutes and uncovered for 30-35 minutes. Construction takes less than half an hour.

Portobello Cannellini Boats Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Boat (714g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 248 12% Total Fat 1g 2% Saturated Fat 0g 1% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0% Sodium 384mg 16% Total Carbohydrate 52g 17% Dietary Fiber 22g 87% Sugars 15g 0% Protein 16g 32% Vitamin A 24% • Vitamin C 338% Calcium 24% • Iron 22% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronomieter.com using my data.

The whole dinner was a lovely combination with Brussels sprouts served in a blood orange and onion sauce made with tahini, agave and a drop of ume plum vinegar, and a side salad of sliced beets, watermelon radish, chopped enoki mushrooms, cucumber, almonds and nicoise olives with a light dressing of tarragon balsamic vinegar with water and a drop of tamari.

Golden Flaxseed Muffins

I've been reading about flaxseed and all its useful nutrition, especially for omega-3s and lignons. So this morning when I felt like baking, I thought about using the golden flaxseed meal I had brought home a week or two ago from the food co-op.  That's how it began. My husband has a cold and said that though he can't taste much, something sweet just might be nice.  Here's what happened!! This little muffin is sweet and delicious, with a nice crumb and packs a healthy dose of just what you need. And I don't know what took me so long to use these silicone baking cups - they are amazing if you are baking without oil.

Golden Flaxseed Muffins (makes 6)
preheat oven to 350F

1/4 cup golden flaxseed meal (I used Bob's Red Mill organic)
1/4 cup oat bran
2 tablespoons almond meal (also Bob's)
1 cup brown rice flour (yup, also Bob's)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
a small carrot
1/4 cup dried currants
1/4 cup walnut halves/bits
2 Tblsp plain coconut yogurt
3/4 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla)
2 Tblsp maple syrup - more if you like sweet sweet

1. Mix dry ingredients. Finely grate carrot, put in bowl with currants and walnuts.
2. In 2 cup measuring cup add 3/4 cup almond milk, coconut yogurt  and maple syrup stirring until well mixed.
3. Add wet to dry, then textured fruits/veggies to mix quickly and lightly. Plop into 6 silicone muffin cups . Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes, testing for doneness by poking the center of one with a toothpick.

If it comes out tacky/sticky bake a few more minutes. The combination of yogurt and carrot keeps the muffins moist on the inside. If you don't like this aspect of the muffin, don't use the coconut milk yogurt, just use almond milk. I put sliced strawberries on top just for fun, but the sweet-tart bites with strawberries were really specially nice.

golden flax muffins Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Muffin (102g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 226 11% Total Fat 9g 13% Saturated Fat 1g 6% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 163mg 7% Total Carbohydrate 36g 12% Dietary Fiber 5g 22% Sugars 8g 0% Protein 6g 12% Vitamin A 6% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 12% • Iron 9% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

VARIATION 1:  For a lower calorie version - I eliminated the  ALMOND MEAL, REDUCED the oat bran to 2 Tablespoons, and walnuts down to a few bits in the tops of each muffin, and ADDED a tsp vanilla. To keep a similar high nutritional value, I used 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk rather than the almond milk.

Golden Flax Currant Muffins Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Muffin (100g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 207 10% Total Fat 6g 9% Saturated Fat 1g 5% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 150mg 6% Total Carbohydrate 35g 12% Dietary Fiber 5g 20% Sugars 8g 0% Protein 6g 12% Vitamin A 6% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 9% • Iron 9% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

VARIATION 2 will be without the coconut yogurt -- to see how it goes without the extra moisture.