Blueberry Banana Quinoa Coconut Flour (Gluten Free) Muffins!

My friends and family know that, as a pastry chef, I love to bake and try new recipes. Recently I acquired a peaked interest in Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) and have been waiting for the perfect way to try Quinoa for the first time! I thought about using it as a rice substitute for dinner, or as an “oatmeal” with blueberries but I was still skeptical. The idea of making a muffin crossed my mind and I knew if I was going to try it that I had to find a really awesome recipe. I thought about whipping up something on my own, but being unfamiliar with Quinoa I decided not to risk it, so instead I set out in search on the inter-webular to find a good recipe. I found a lot of recipes that sounded ok, but a lot of the pictures that came along with them didn’t look particularly appetizing and the ingredients were not the makings of a special or moist muffin. I finally came across this recipe on PureFreshDaily.com and I could tell by the list of ingredients and the picture that these were bound to be moist AND yummy! If any Quinoa muffin was going to taste good, then this would be the one.

I had seen so many recipes that called for cooked quinoa – you make it basically the same way you make rice on the stove with a 2:1 ratio of water and Quinoa – so I guess the need for cooked Quinoa was stuck in my head that I overlooked the fact that this particular recipe actually calls for Quinoa flour! Oh man, I was pretty disappointed when I realized this since, by that time, I had already pulled all the ingredients out of my pantry and refrigerator to begin preparing my mis-en-place. I decided to take a risk and use the cooked version instead of the flour, and just hope that they turn out. If not, then this would be a pretty expensive mistake because some of the ingredients are a little more spendy than the average muffin ingredients. (Instead of butter I opted to use Coconut Oil.) To my surprise and good luck, the muffins ended up turning out great and I like how the cooked Quinoa added a nice element of texture to the muffins – so I might just do it this way on purpose next time I make them!

Here area few things I learned while making these muffins:

• When you scoop them into the muffin cups, they keep their shape during baking. They do not melt down and fluff up like most muffins do.
• Turns out it’s OK to use cooked Quinoa instead of Quinoa flour! *phew*
• You can use Coconut Oil instead of butter – much healthier and the coconut adds great flavor.
• Fresh blueberries worked out great! You can use frozen blueberries, but as they thaw out they bleed their color a lot and tend to end up “mushy”.  Using the fresh blueberries (small size) didn’t do that.
• They’re healthy!

Quinoa, as it turns out, has a long list of health benefits. Although it is used a lot of times in place of pasta and rice, it’s actually considered to be a protein (rather than a grain) because of its high protein content. It’s rich in antioxidants, magnesium and fiber. (Click here to read more about Quino) Also, by choosing the Coconut Oil over the butter, I was able to cut out the processed fats and use a more pure form of fats. Coconut oil is also very diverse and the unprocessed & unrefined coconut oil also has plenty of its own healthy benefits, such as increased immunity, maintaining cholesterol and metabolism, etc etc. The list goes on! Here’s some more information on Coconut Oil. Also, not only is this my first time trying Quinoa, it’s also my first time eating and making a gluten free snack! Gluten-free options are becoming increasingly popular, so I’m glad to be able to add this to my arsenal.

Hope you guys will try these and love them as much as I do! 

Fragrant Fish Soup from EatingWell.com

Over the past 10 months or so I have dedicated a lot of time to working out, eating better, and just trying to be healthier in general. There are plenty of times when I fail to stay on track, though, and a lot of times it’s because it just seems like the most satisfying foods are those that are high in calories and fat and deliciousness. Sometimes when I feel stressed out, overwhelmed, ill, or just experiences a moment of weakness I turn to comfort foods and snacks.  Sound familiar? ;-)  I have also noticed that it’s just sooo easy to swing by a fast food joint on the way home or order pizza on the days when putting forth the effort for a home-cooked meal just does NOT seem feasible.

I find that I’m much more likely to stay on track and eat healthier meals throughout the work week when I plan ahead. Last week I discovered a website called EatingWell.com and found several recipes that sounded really yummy, so I printed them out and added the ingredients to my grocery list. EatingWell.com features recipes that are 500 calories or less when you include the main and side dishes. Jackpot!

The first recipe I wanted to try was the Fragrant Fish Soup – my husband and I had a late lunch and weren’t very hungry by dinnertime, and this soup sounded like it would be a nice, light dinner. I have to admit that while I was preparing the soup I wasn’t very excited for it because it seemed maybe too simple and bland. I was also worried that my husband wouldn’t like it because he can sometimes be a picky eater who also tends to prefer stealthier meals over refreshing, light meals like this one.

We both took our first bite of the soup and immediately fell in love with it! The lemon zested jasmine rice gave the soup a very refreshing and unique taste along with the flavorful broth. Tilapia has a hearty texture, and the great thing about it is that it doesn’t smell or taste very “fishy”. The soup has a very Asian-inspired flavor and, despite the few ingredients required to make it, it had such a burst of flavors.

This is probably the best soup I have ever eaten and definitely the easiest soup I have ever made!

Here’s what I did: I cooked the jasmine rice in one pot with the lid on; meanwhile I poured my store-bought broth and shredded carrots into another pot to boil. Once the broth boiled I added in my fillet of Tilapia and boiled it about 5 minutes until it was fully cooked and then removed it from the broth. After removing the Tilapia, I added in some chopped scallions (green onions) and some julienned arugula. Once the rice was done (about 20 minutes) I added the zest and juice from one lemon and gave it a good stir before spooning some rice into my bowl. Then I ladled the broth over the rice and placed a big chunk of fish on top. Viola! Bon appétit!

I strayed slightly from the cooking instructions found on the recipe (for example, I skipped the fresh mint and also added my greens into the boiling broth instead of using them to garnish at the end). I also cooked the carrots in the broth to soften them a little bit.

And the best part is that according to Eating Well.com one serving of this soup is only 239 calories! How perfect is that?!

So anyway, my moral of the story --- along with sharing a delicious recipe with you --- is that one of my favorite things to do is plan ahead and be prepared because it truly helps me stick to a healthier lifestyle. I’m pretty excited to have found this soup because it basically takes care of it all  - It’s DELICIOUS, EASY and FAST. No more excuses for me! :)

If you want to check out the recipe, you can click here!