Carrot Muffins

I love carrot cake.  We had carrot cake as our wedding cake 27 years ago, made by my mother and decorated by her caterer friends.

I also love muffins.  Muffins used to be a special weekend breakfast.  Then we moved to the farm, and now we have muffins all the time.  Muffins are the perfect to-go breakfast, for days when a bowl of cereal seem like just too much cooking to manage before morning chores.  So I bake a dozen muffins before bed, and the next morning is so much easier.

This recipe takes carrots from the garden, adds all the goodies from my mom's carrot cake, and bakes it all into a convenient little package.

Carrot Muffins

1 C whole wheat flour
1 C unbleached flour
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C crushed pineapple, drained
1 C buttermilk (or a mix of milk and yogurt, if you're out of buttermilk)
1/4 C oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 C finely shredded carrots
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1/2 C shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 375.  Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

In a large bowl, combine the pineapple, buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla extract until well blended, Stir in the carrots, walnuts, and coconut.  Stir in the flour mixture until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups. Bake 20-22 minutes, until the tester says it's done.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Here's my favorite chocolate zucchini cake. This recipe took months to develop and caused me to gain 20 pounds.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 cups flour (you can use gluten-free flower in this - it is still delicious)
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
6 eggs
1 cup sunflower oil
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Use cooking spray on a 9x13 baking pan.

Mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon).  Add eggs and oil, and mix well.  Fold in the zucchini and nuts, and stir until it is evenly distributed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.  Bake 50-60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Once I forgot to sprinkle the chocolate chips before I baked it.  I sprinkled them on after the cake came out of the oven. They melted, and I spread them to make a smooth, easy frosting.

This version is with nuts, and without chocolate chips.

Easy Zucchini Lasagna

The zucchini is in.  Those sneaky things hide in the leaves until they are too big to sell.  But they are still tender and taste fabulous. This is a good way to use those over-sized squash.  (This works well with patty pan, too.)

Easy Zucchini Lasagna

2 large zucchini
1 quart of spaghetti sauce (if you are lucky enough to have homemade, otherwise just use a jar of sauce from the store) or Homemade Marinara
16 oz ricotta cheese
8 oz grated mozzarella
1 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Slice the zucchini lengthwise into 1/4" slices.  Sprinkle with salt, and set aside for 1 hour to let the liquid sweat out. Dry them with a paper towel.
2. Spray a 2 quart casserole with cooking spray.
3. Start layering
 - 1/3 of the zucchini
 - 1/3 of the sauce
 - 1/2 of the ricotta
 - 1/3 of the mozzarella
 - 1/3 of the Parmesan
 - 1/3 of the zucchini
 - 1/3 of the sauce
 - 1/2 of the ricotta (all of the remaining)
 - 1/3 of the mozzarella
 - 1/3 of the Parmesan
 - 1/3 of the zucchini (all of the remaining)
 - 1/3 of the sauce (all of the remaining)
 - 1/3 of the mozzarella (all of the remaining)
 - 1/3 of the Parmesan (all of the remaining)

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Let set for 10 minutes before serving.

This recipe is so easy, it feels like it's cheating.  Using zucchini instead of noodles lowers the carbohydrates and cranks up the nutrition. If you want to give it more umami flavor, you can add another layer after the ricotta. Use browned ground meat of your choice, crumbles, or sauted mushrooms.

Broccoli Cranberry Salad

We are finally harvesting the broccoli that we started from seeds back in September.  Broccoli is so sweet when it is fresh.

Broccoli Cranberry Salad

4 cups broccoli florets
1 - 2 shredded carrots
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, optional
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sliced scallions
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 Tbs honey

Toss the broccoli, carrots, walnuts, cranberries, and scallions. Stir the mayonnaise, vinegar and honey until thoroughly combined, and stir into the broccoli.

Enjoy.

Chicken Kale Soup

The more I eat kale, the more I like it.  Here's an easy recipe for

Chicken Kale Soup

6 cups chicken stock (home made, if you have it)
1 cup brown rice, raw
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, sliced
2 cups diced tomatoes (home canned are good, if fresh ones are out of season)
3 cloves garlic
4 large kale leaves
1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried
3 cups cooked chicken
salt and pepper to taste

Bring the stock to a boil.  Add the brown rice, onion, carrot, garlic, and kale.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add tomatoes, thyme, and chicken.  Simmer for another 15 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie

  There are so many recipes that use celery.  Celery is fine - a little salty, a little stringy, but it adds a nice crunch.  Does anyone grow celery, though?  I don't.  I've never seen it at the farmer's market, or at the local section of the grocery store.  However, chard stems also have a nice crunch, they are not stringy, and they have a really nice flavor.  And of course, it's easy to grow chard in the cool weather garden, or find a beautiful variety at the farmer's market.

  Chicken Pot Pie

Preheat oven to 400.

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup milk

Mix the flour and the salt in a large bowl. Measure 1/2 of oil into a measuring cup, and add 1/4 cup milk.  Pour all at once into the flour mixture.  Stir with a fork until blended.  Roll out about 2/3 of the crust very thin and line a 2 quart casserole dish. Roll out the rest for the top crust.  Reserve for later.

Filling:
1 quart chicken stock
1 large onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced potatoes
1 small summer squash (any variety) diced
4 large chard leaves with stems
2-4 cups diced cooked chicken
1 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tsp dried
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste

Remove the stems from the chard leaves and slice the stems like celery.  Cut the chard leaves into 1" pieces. Put 4 cups chicken stock in a pot and bring to a boil. Add onion, carrots, potatoes, squash, and chard stems into the stock. Lower the heat and simmer until the vegetables are almost tender. Bring the stock mixture back to a boil.  Mix 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup flour until smooth.  Pour the flour mixture into the stock mixture, and stir until thickened.  Add the chicken, chard leaves, parsley, salt and pepper.  Pour the stock mixture into the prepared crust.  Put the top crust over the stock mixture.  Crimp the edges of the crust.  Poke holes into the crust so that the steam will escape.

Bake for 35 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

I was looking for something interesting to do with lettuce.  I mean, you can't cook it.  You can't freeze it.  You are pretty much limited to salad.  I wanted to make something different.  Here's what I did:

Salad Ingredients:
16 baby carrots
16 thumb sized potatoes, poked with a knife or fork
1 green or red bell pepper, cut into 1" squares
2 pattypan squash cut into wedges (remove any hard seeds)
one bunch red leaf lettuce, torn into pieces

Dressing Ingredients:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley, or 1/2 tsp dried
1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano, or 1/2 tsp dried

Preheat the oven to 425.  Arrange the carrots, potatoes, pepper pieces and squash wedges in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast the vegetables in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are lightly brown and tender.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Toss the cooled vegetables in the dressing.

Arrange the lettuce in a serving bowl.  Arrange the vegetables on the lettuce.  Drizzle any remaining dressing over the salad.