scaling back

I love experimenting with alternative grains and flours in my cooking.  It is a great way to add an extra dimension to traditional recipes and get added fiber, nutrients and protein in dishes that are usually made with white flour.  I saw this recipe on Naturally Ella a beautiful blog with amazing photography and recipes that you must check out and I decided it was time for me to give amaranth a try.  

Amaranth contains large amounts of protein, up to 30% more than wheat flour, rice and oats making it a good source of vegetarian protein.  It is a gluten free seed that contains large amounts of lysine which aids in calcium absorption, and process protein.

Amaranth can be ground into flour, flaked into oatmeal or popped like popcorn.  You can combine it with other grains like quinoa and millet for a unique pilaf or use it as a substitute for your favorite oatmeal recipe.  

Popping the amaranth is easy and fun, I felt like a little kid the first time you realize that popcorn can come from dried corn.  You can easily skip the popped amaranth if you are pressed for time.  It does add some nice texture and roasted flavor but the recipe will totally work without it.

Take the plunge and try this healthy and delicious grain.  It’s like having rice pudding for breakfast and who doesn’t love the idea of dessert for breakfast?

Amaranth porridge with mangos and coconut

adapted from Naturally Ella

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup amaranth plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 cup lite coconut milk
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 vanilla bean
• pinch of sea salt
• 1/4 cup toasted coconut
• 1/2 cup diced mango
• extra coconut milk for serving

Method:

Rinse the amaranth well and add 1/2 cup to a small saucepan along with the coconut milk, cinnamon, cardamom, and maple syrup.  Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds into the pot.  Gently whack the ginger with the back of a knife and add it to the mixture along with the vanilla bean.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes adding some additional coconut milk or water if the mixture becomes to dry.  Turn the heat off, cover the pudding and let sit for 10 minutes to thicken slightly.

Take the remaining 2 tablespoons amaranth and let dry thoroughly on a paper towel.  Heat a small skillet over medium heat and then add the amaranth a tablespoon at a time, cover the skillet with a lid and let cook shaking the pan until the popping slows.  Repeat the process with the remaining amaranth.  

To serve portion the pudding into two bowls, top with the mango, coconut, popped amaranth and extra coconut milk.

Skip the boxed cereal and make your own!  This is a recipe that I created for Bliss but it’s just too good not to share it with you all.  This is granola with a twist, it substitutes quinoa for the traditional oats for a super crunchy high protein breakfast to start your day the right way.

If you’ve never cooked with quinoa it is actually a seed and related to the beet and chard family not a true grain.  It is a complete protein, meaning that it contains all nine essential amino acids and has 6 grams of dietary fiber per serving.  Besides lending a lovely spicy note, pumpkin is a great substitute for some of the fat called for in most recipes.  If you want a more traditional granola substitute 2 cups of oats for 2 cups of the quinoa and feel free to add raisins, cranberries or a different nut to the mix once it has cooled.  Click the link below for the full post and recipe.  Enjoy!

Crunchy pumpkin quinoa cereal

I have always had a hard time eating breakfast.  I wait until the last moment to get myself out of bed and start my day.   Mornings are for making lunches, walking the dog, taking a shower and the last thing on my mind is food.  So I tend to skip breakfast and then when lunch finally rolls around I eat everything in sight.  I am trying to get my act together and eat a little something to start the day.  

These muffins are filled with zucchini, carrots and pineapple and are made with greek yogurt and whole wheat flour, so they aren’t too heavy. I love to eat them topped off with some honey sweetened cream cheese.  These are one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast, they are quick to make, freeze well and taste like dessert.  I mean what is better than starting your day off with a piece of cake?  

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar lightly packed
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup poppy seeds

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour or line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl combine the oil, yogurt, sugars, eggs and vanilla until well combined.  Place the grated zucchini between a few layers of paper towels and squeeze out the excess moisture.  Fluff up the zucchini and add it along with the carrots and pineapple to the batter.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours with the baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and poppy seeds.  Add these dry ingredients to the wet in two separate additions, stirring between each addition.  

Divide the batter among the muffin tins filling each about 3/4 full.  Bake for 20 minutes just until the tops are set and golden brown.  Be careful not to overbake, the muffins will continue to cook when they are removed from the oven and as it is cooling.  Let cool in the tins for 10 minutes and then remove to a rack to finish cooling.

I am still eating my way through the flat of blackberries that I bought at the farmers market and am amazed at how much I am still enjoying them.  I was sure that I would be sick of the sight of them by now, but I just keep trying to find new ways to enjoy them.  Which brings me to my new favorite breakfast, a blackberry yogurt parfait.  The sauce is super simple, freezes beautifully and is tasty on everything from pound cake to ice cream and as in this recipe, yogurt.

Blackberry yogurt parfait 

Ingredients:

For the parfait:

6 ounces of greek yogurt

2-3 tablespoons of the saucy berries

1 tablespoon chopped pistachios

For the saucy berries: 

2 pints of blackberries

1 cup of wine

½ cup of sugar (if your berries are very tart you may want to increase to ¾ cup)

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

2 cloves

Tie up the herbs in a small piece of cheesecloth and tie with kitchen twine.  

In a medium saucepan place one pint of the berries with the sugar, wine and spice bundle.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let cook for 30 minutes or until your mixture is reduced, syrupy and coats the back of a spoon.   

Pass the sauce through a fine mesh strainer crushing the berries to remove the seeds.  Return the strained mixture to the heat, add the remaining pint of blackberries and cook just until the berries are coated with the syrup and heated through.

To assemble the parfait:

Spoon the yogurt into a bowl, top with a few tablespoons of the berries, sprinkle with the pistachios and serve.

Breakfast is not something that I’m good at.  The morning consists of a shower, feeding my son, packing lunches and walking the dogs so I’m not left with much time to make myself something to eat.  That’s where muffins come in handy.  By baking a batch on the weekend and stashing some away in the freezer I can have breakfast on hand in an instant.  These muffins are fairly healthy, but are substantial enough to keep you satiated until lunch.

Peach Oatmeal muffins

makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs

For the topping:

• 2 medium peaches
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup sugar

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees

For the topping:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the sugar and grated ginger and cook until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the peaches to the pan and cook until they start to release their juices.  Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the batter.

For the muffins:

Place the cup of oats in the milk and let soak for at least 15 minutes (you can soak them the night before if you want to make them first thing in the morning).  Mix together the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder.  Add the eggs, vanilla and oil to the milk and oat mixture then pour the wet ingredients into dry ingredients.  Mix just until combined, don’t overmix or you will have tough muffins.  

Fill cups of a lightly greased muffin tin two-thirds to three-quarters full.  Top the muffins with 2 slices of peaches and spoon any remaining juices over the top.  Place muffins in the oven and immediately drop the temperature to 400 degrees.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown and firm to the touch.

Yes, I know I did a post on breakfast pasta but this is a recipe I did for the Bliss blog and let’s be real, you can never have too many recipes that call for bacon.  We regularly have pizza night in our house since that way everyone can have their pie just the way they like it.  Most nights we go for the traditional tomato sauce, pepperoni and if I’m lucky, swiss chard but we are developing a supreme attachment to this breakfast pizza.  Full of caramelized onions, bacon and a nice oozy egg on top it’s delicious.  For the full recipe click here, and make sure to look around and see what Mrs. French is up to, I’m sure it’s something wonderful.

I have a confession to make, I’m not a morning person.  As much as I love eating breakfast foods, rarely am I able to drag myself out of bed early enough to prepare them.  Sundays are the one exception,  it’s the only day of the week that I don’t have to worry about getting my son to school on time or be at work to teach a class. (more on that later)

I like to make pancakes on the weekend, it’s nice to take the time to make a meal that is home-made and it’s super simple to cook up any leftover batter and freeze them to eat during the rest of the week when um…let’s just say my time management skills could really use some work.  

It would be even quicker if you pre-mix the ingredients the night before so that all you had to do was add the eggs and buttermilk when you want to cook up a batch.  The only fussy thing about this recipe is that it calls for you to separate the egg and beat the egg white to firm peaks and then fold it into the batter at the last minute.  You could skip this step and just mix the egg in whole but be you would be missing out on the lightest, fluffiest pancakes you’ll ever have the pleasure of tasting.

Blueberry Corn Cakes

From Food and Wine

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup fine stone-ground cornmeal
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg, separated
• 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen works fine)
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• softened unsalted butter and warm pure maple syrup for serving

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  
2. In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the egg yolk.  
3. In another bowl or a stand mixer (this is the method I prefer, no matter how much I whisk it seems to take forever to get my egg whites to form peaks) beat the egg white until firm peaks form.
4. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir gently with a wooden spoon until evenly moistened; there will still be some lumps.  
5. Fold in the beaten egg white and then the blueberries (if using frozen berries you might want to sprinkle the berries over the batter once you start cooking them to avoid turning your batter bright blue)
6. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a cast-iron skillet until hot, spoon 1/4 cup of the batter for each pancake.  Cook over moderate heat until browned on the bottom and bubbles appear on the surface, 2-3 minutes.  Flip and cook until browned on the second side, about 2 minutes longer.
7. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven while you continue with the remaining oil and batter. 
8. Serve the pancakes with butter, maple syrup and of course, don’t forget the bacon!

If you’d like to freeze any extra pancakes you might have, let them cool and wrap them in parchment paper to keep them from sticking.  It’s nice to have something home-made during the week when you don’t have the time to make something from scratch.You can take them right out of the freezer,pop them in the microwave for about a minute and enjoy!