Life has been so hectic since my last post. Between a
chaotic January at the office and maid of honor duties preparing for the bridal
shower and bachelorette party, I haven’t found the time to blog. Luckily, I’ve
found the time to cook some delicious meals and document them for your viewing
pleasure. I have a back-log of recipes that I will make sure to share with you
in throughout the next few days.
First up are zucchini quinoa muffins with a greek yogurt
topping. I found this recipe on my daily stalking of one of my favorite recipe
blogs, Eat Yourself Skinny, and I knew I would have to try this recipe
immediately! At work, we have this a month breakfast club where a group of
people from the office cook breakfast for the entire agency. It was my turn
this month and we didn’t to go with The
Breakfast Club: The Movie theme. I was in charge of bringing in dishes
representative of Molly Ringwold’s character, the prep. So I made dishes that
incorporated some of the year’s most trendy ingredients – zucchini, quinoa,
Greek yogurt and pumpkin. All of our dishes were delicious and seem to be a
real crowd pleaser.
Now onto the recipe. I will say that I had to put the
muffins back in the oven quite a few times because the center seemed to
be mushy and I wanted the muffins to be a little more firm. When I cooked the
quinoa, it was a perfect consistency, but I guess mixed with the wet
ingredients, something got a little mushy. So I would maybe try to reduce the
wet ingredients by a pinch to avoid this. In terms of taste, they were
guilt-free deliciousness. What is better than eating healthy and enjoying it?!
I am definitely going to make these again for a good
grab-and-go weekday breakfast.
Zucchini Quinoa Muffins
Makes 12-15
1 cup whole wheat
flour
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup brown
sugar, packed
1 tsp. ground
cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking
powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking
soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup fat-free
milk
1 cup cooked
quinoa
1 cup shredded
zucchini
3/4 cup
unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
Greek
Yogurt Frosting:
6 oz. plain
fat-free Greek Yogurt
2 Tbsp light
agave nectar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon peel
(as garnish)
1.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2.
To make the quinoa, rinse 1/3 cup of uncooked
quinoa in cold water and place in a small saucepan with 2/3 cup water.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer for about 15
minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for an additional 5 minutes,
keeping quinoa covered. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
3.
Using a food processor, shred the zucchini
then pulse for a few times until the zucchini is minced.
4.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugars,
cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside. In a
large bowl, beat together eggs and milk.
5.
Then add in the quinoa, zucchini, applesauce
and vanilla and stir until well-mixed.
6.
Add zucchini mixture to the flour mixture,
stirring until just combined (careful not to over stir).
7.
In a muffin pan coated with cooking spray,
fill each cup about 3/4ths full with batter and bake in the oven for about 20
minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8.
Allow muffins to cool for about 5 minutes
before frosting.
9.
To make the frosting: In a
small bowl, whisk together yogurt, agave nectar and vanilla until smooth.
10.
Spread evenly among muffins and garnish with
lemon peel, if desired.
