Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Muffins

These little broccoli bites are not only easy to make and delicious, they are also incredibly healthy.  Since quinoa is technically a seed, it is protein rich and nutrient dense. A healthy alternative to grain, quinoa does have some grain-like qualities (quinoa is high in carbohydrates), and thus is not technically acceptable for those on a strict paleo diet, but this combination of protein, nutrients, and complex carbohydrates is great for an on-the-go snack, and will keep the eater feeling satisfied for hours.

While I made these mid-day snacks on a long weekend, I was getting down with The Gray Album, by Danger Mouse. *Whistles. I just heard of this album, though I don’t know how it escaped me since its release in 2004.  The Grey Album is a mashup of two artists I hold dear to my heart: The Beatles and Jay Z.  Specifically, the album is a mash-up of the Beatles album commonly referred to as the White Album, and vocals from Jay Z’s Black Album. Get it?! So fun!

This recipe was adapted from a fun little video from Tip Hero: http://tiphero.com/broccoli-cheddar-quinoa-bites/

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (I use my own polypore broth for this recipe, though Vogue’s instant “VegeBase” is another favorite)
• 2 cups diced broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, separated

Directions:

• Combine vegetable broth and quinoa together in a large pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add diced broccoli florets, onion and garlic.
• Beat eggs together in a separate container with all spices, and then add to rest of the mixture.
• Stir in 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese until ingredients are well-mixed
• Scoop into muffin tins and fill approximately 4/5 of the way full. *Full-size and mini-muffins both turn out fine.
• Sprinkle each muffin with additional cheddar cheese.
• Bake at 350ºF for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy for breakfast or a snack on-the-move,  or an easy addition for a packed lunch!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I can’t say this enough.  I love fall foods.  I mean, I love autumn for  a variety of reasons – the leaves are changing, there is that morning crispness to the air, the deer and elk are running wildly in their love-making craze, and the garden and woods are both teeming with foods ready for the picking.

My garden does not grow broccoli.  Perhaps one day we will find the right seed that will flourish in our shady grove, but as of yet, the hundred-year-old-plus conifers that surround our property don’t allow for quite enough sun to bring the broccoli into maturity.

Luckily, our local co-op has plenty of local broccoli, freshly picked and ready to delight.  This soup is simple, and yet another (one of many), adapted and simplified form the seasonal soup cookbook I received for making a donation to Sacred Heart Shelter, with recipes donated by Seattle-area chefs. It’s my favorite soup cookbook of all time.

Speaking of favorites, I love me some Blonde Redhead.  This evenings cooking was accompanied by the beauty and wonder of Blonde Redhead’s 23. If you don’t know Blonde Redhead, please take some time to acquaint yourself.  This dreamy, melancholic trio from New York  consists of a set of twins, Simone and Amedeo Pace, who originally hail from Italy as drummer and lead guitar/singer respectively, and the mesmerizing guitarist/keyboard player/lead singer Kazu Makino, originally from Japan. Kazu and Amedeo are married, making this trio all-family, and the couple often swap lead vocals. The love and inspiration or this group creates sounds that have always been innovative and sparked the imagination, and I’m hoping that some of that inspiration will find its way right into my soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds broccoli (approximately 2 bunches)
• 1 quart water or vegetable stock (I use a quart water with 4 tsp. instant vegetable stock)
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (I use Tillamook’s 60-day aged cheddar for this recipe, because it is an affordable cheddar that is BGH free, though regrettably not organic)
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk (I usually use goat’s milk, or a combination of coconut milk and half and half at a 2:1 ratio respectfully)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Trim off broccoli florets and set in a pile. Utilize broccoli stems by cutting off skins, and then chopping into smaller pieces, revealing the softer interior of the stem.  Put these pieces with the florets to cook.
• Bring the water /vegetable stock to a boil in a large soup pot. Add the broccoli florets and inner-stem pieces, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 7-10 minutes with the soup lip on.  Broccoli may not appear at first to fit in the vegetable broth, but it will cook down and release water. Stir occasionally, and keep the lid on to ensure water does not evaporate out.
• In a frying or cast iron pan, heat up the tbsp. butter and the tbsp. olive oil on low-medium heat, and add the chopped shallots and diced garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes, then add to soup pot.
• Add 2 tsp. lemon juice to soup pot and stir thoroughly.
• Reduce simmering broccoli to medium-low, and add cheddar cheese and milk.
• Add approximately 2 tsp. salt, and tsp. pepper to the soup.
• Using an immersion blender, blend the soup entirely.  If using a standing blender, blend in batches, making sure not to fill the blender over 2/3 full, and covering with a towel to avoid any accidents and protect yourself from steam.
• Serve soup with fresh pepper grated on top, and optionally, a little sprinkle of cheese!

Bonus recipe: Garlic cheese crostini

To make some quick and easy fancy bread to serve with your soup, you  need a loaf of bread (a baguette is preferred if it is on hand, but I used a specialty mini-loaf from a local bakery), a clove of garlic, olive oil, and cheese, and about 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of baguette or mini-loaf, cut diagonally
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat broiler and lightly oil baking sheet
• Cut garlic in half, and rub the cut side on each slice of bread/baguette
• Lay on baking sheet,  drizzle with olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste
• Place under broiler for approximately 5 minutes, or until bread starts to brown
• Divide cheddar over tops of toast, and return to broiler until cheese melts (approximate 3-5 minutes)
• Remove from oven and serve as a side to your soup.

Zucchini Fritters

I love zucchini season! I don’t even grow zucchinis myself, because inevitably, late summer rolls around and there are always multiple people in my life that chat about their garden, and then exclaim how well the zucchinis have done, raising their eyes hopefully and asking if I’d like any.  Why yes – I’d love some! Without fail, the person is always visibly excited, and thrilled to know I’ll take all that I can get.

Really.  I’ll take all that I can get. I LOVE zucchini.  I have a classic zucchini bread recipe that will appear as the days get shorter and the air cools down, and I love to use zucchini in stir fry, or even shredded for a no-noodle pasta replacement.  Recently, thanks to a local food-recipe swap facebook page my dear friend Shianne invited me to join, I saw this recipe for these simple fritters.  The original recipe is only five ingredients and boasts a short 20 minute prep and cook time.  Who am I to refuse a quick morning dabble with my favorite squash? (Shhhh! Keep that “favorite” phrase quiet around butternut… she doesn’t need to know the extent of my affair with zucchini!)

And green onions are involved! And eggs! For many of us, this means the main ingredients can be found wholly in the backyard.  WOOHOO!

I made a few additions, just for flavor. I will warn you that if you are a texture person who can’t take a little mush, then this recipe really isn’t for you, though if you selected a recipe with the word “zucchini” in the title, hopefully you are familiar with the texture of this incredible fruit, and you’ll – at the very least – acquiesce a bit of pulp for the sake of something so simple and delicious.

As I grated and stirred my day leisurely into its late-morning-brunch pace, I listened to Radiohead’s In Rainbows.  While not my favorite of the many albums in the Radiohead legacy, all Radiohead albums in my book are pretty damn exceptional, and the 7th release by Radiohead feels comfortable and familiar without being boring, with Thom Yorke rightfully taking place in the background of my life.  The album, the most intimate-feeling of the Radiohead albums, was released in 2008 digitally for a “pay what you want” price, which instantly made waves as the album topped the Billboard Top 200 chart the very next day, with the average price paid for the album around $20.  Within 10 months the album had sold more than 300 million copies in digital and hard format.  Damn Thom Yorke and tribe…  You guys GO. The packaging of this magnum opus is impressive, and the 45 rpm means I often listen to the same side of the record three times in a row or more before I take the time to flip the record, which build a relationships with the album, while I get my fritter on.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups shredded zucchini
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup chopped chives
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Plain natural yogurt, for serving (optional)
• 3-4 tbsp. of chopped chives for garnish (optional)

Directions:

• Take the shredded zucchini and place in a colander in the sink.  Sprinkle the zucchini with salt and allow to sit for ten minutes. Use hands to squeeze excess water out of the zucchini.  The more water you can manage to work out, the more crisp the fritters!
• Transfer the zucchini to a large bowl and add all ingredients except oil, salt, and optional garnishes, mixing until combined.
• Coat the bottom of a large frying or saute pan (I use cast iron for such things) with a generous helping of olive oil and place on medium-high heat.
• Once pan is hot and oil begins to crackle, use a medium-sized serving spoon to scoop mounds of zucchini mix into the pan.  Press the mixture into rounds approximately 3/4″ thick and 3-5″ in diameter, allowing 1-2″ between each fritter.
• Fry for 3-4 minutes, before using a spatula to flip the fritters. Fry another 2-3 minutes until golden brown and cooked all the way through. After flipping, if you don’t have an aversion to oil (I certainly don’t!), add a bit more to assist your fritters in getting nice and crispy.  Less oil will mean you’ll need to be more vigilant with your eye on the frying pan, and you may need to remove your fritter earlier than the highly-lubricated version…
• Transfer fritters to a plate lined with paper towels to soak up excess grease and sprinkle with salt.
• To serve, top with a scoop of plain yogurt (or sour cream, if you’re into that), and optionally garnish with a sprinkle of chopped chives.

This recipe takes less than twenty minutes from garden to plate, and utilizes two often-abundant products of the home garden. Quick and warm for the cooling autumn weather, this recipe will also please your paleo friends. Get at it!