More Treats for You: Double Corn Muffins

 Yeah, so like I said before, I sucked at posting this summer. Part of the reason is because I haven't been doing too much cooking. I had a brief love affair with lunch, but that ended, and supper has been a steady stream of variations on this salad. I've been eating an unusual amount of red leaf lettuce and cucumbers lately. No excuses, except to say that in the summer, there are so many more things to do besides cook, and while I love cooking, I love cafe hopping, bike riding, warm afternoon naps, chats with best friends and other such lazy dazy activities. Such is life.

But I have been baking. Baking and preserving. But let's talk about the baking part. I always feel a need to bake in the summer, even when it's sweltering outside, because, well, baking rocks. It's a busy way to waste time, it's relaxing and challenging all at once, and in the end, you always get treats. And I always need treats in the summer time, especially when the end of August rolls around and the start of the school year looms over me, reminding me once again, that play time is over and it will soon be back to work (or legislated back to work as it stands right now ..) So it's settled. Summer time = baking time so let's get to it!

A few weeks ago, I visited one of my favourite farmer's markets, and couldn't resist buying a little basket of sugar plums. These little yellow jewels of sweet and tart usually play second fiddle to the berry and peach bounty that August brings, but at the moment, I could resist scooping up a basket to snack on and play with in the kitchen. The super sweet yellow corn was also calling my name. When I got home, I was aching to put the two together in a baking project. I found this beautiful cornbread muffin recipe after a quick internet search and decided add a double dose of corn to make it extra summery sweet and delicious. These muffins are a perfect afternoon snack, with a cup of nice, strong coffee, but they work perfectly as breakfast in the morning, paired with a bowl of melon or seasonal fruit salad. The little sugar plums provide a beautiful sharp burst of sweet and tart, and when you get a bite with both fresh corn and almost melty, jammy plum, it's like summer exploded in your mouth. Really, I'm not exaggerating. Ok, I might be just a little, but that's ok. These muffins were awesome and you should try them while the plums and corn are still around.

If I had one of two of these little beauties packed away for lunch, it just might ease the first-day-of-school-jitters. We'll see. I'll let you know.  Enjoy the summer while it lasts!

Double Corn Muffins with Sugar Plums
adapted from babble.com
makes 24 mini muffins

6 tablespoons of plain skim yogurt
1/4 cup of almond milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons of olive or canola oil
a tiny splash of almond extract
1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup of natural cane sugar
1/2 tablespoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of diced and pitted sugar plums
1 cob of corn, de-cobbed

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, egg, oil and almond extract. Add the sugar and mix until well combined.

2. Sift in the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and soda, and salt. Fold until just combined. Try not to over mix.

3. Gently mix in the corn kernels and diced plums.  Spoon the batter into prepared muffin tins. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes (for the minis!) until you have nice, puffy golden, springy muffins, or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

4. Enjoy!

Enchiladas: Pantry Cooking

I know it's spring and it's hardly a time to cook from your pantry -- what with all the asparagus and rhubarb floating about the market, not to mention the first strawberries of the season?  Summer is around the corner and fresh salads and local fruits and veggies should be a staple.  But sometimes, even in the middle of a lovely spring harvest, we need our pantries.

Maybe it's a rainy weekend what you can't get out to market, and a quick dash to the convenience store down the street is all that you can manage. Or maybe it's that crunch time of the year when you can't get organized enough to shop for the week and you find yourself home from work without having stopped for groceries. It's a good time to pull out those pantry recipes. You know, those recipes that you can put together in a snap that are filling and pleasing and leave lots of leftovers for tomorrow?  Here's a good one for you. You probably have everything you need in your pantry or freezer right now.  Yes, there's canned and frozen veggies instead of fresh, but sometimes, convenience rules and you don't have to feel guilty about that.

I've made these simple black bean and rice enchiladas twice, inspired by a post at That's So Vegan. It's got bold, spicy flavours and comforting carbs, plus a little cheesy topping that goes a long way. The best part is that it make a whole lot, so you can totally entertain with it, or keep it in the fridge for a few more meals to come. A squeeze of lime and a hit of fresh cilantro, or some diced avocado on the side would make this dish even better, but don't sweat it. It tastes wonderful even without the added goodies. Can't get tortilla wraps easily?  No problem. Skip the rice in the filling, and steam it up on the side.  Serve your filling over the rice like a chili. Done!

Don't feel bad about cooking from your pantry in the spring.  Sometimes we all need a bit of pantry love. Wishing you lots of sunshine, spring veggies and yummy suppers!

Easy Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas
inspired by That's So Vegan

serves 3-6 depending on appetite sizes!

1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced (optional)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup of frozen corn
1 large can of diced tomatoes,
1 cup of water or stock
1 large handful of basmati rice
6-8 tortillas
1/3 cup of grated cheese (I use mozzarella)

1. In a large pot, saute the carrot, celery, onion, green pepper and garlic in olive oil for 5-7 minutes, or until they start to soften and become fragrant. Add the cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and mix well.

2. Add the black beans, corn, tomatoes, stock and mix well.  Bring to a boil and add the rice.  Cook, covered for about 10-12 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid is thickened.  Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly while your oven heats up.

3. In a 9'13 pan, add a thin layer of your filling mixture to the bottom. Now it's assembly time! Take a tortilla in your hand and put some of the filling in the middle -- I would say about 1/4 cupish -- just eyeball it.  Now, wrap up the filling nice and tight (better than I did!) and lay it seam-side down on the pan.  Repeat until you fill the pan. I got 6 the first time I made it, and 8 the next.

4. If you have more filling left over, spread it over the top of the enchiladas . Sprinkle it with cheese and pop it in your 350 degree oven for about 15ish minutes -- just so the cheese gets gooey and the tortillas get a tiny bit crispy in the edges.

5. Serve with your favourite toppings (sour cream, diced green onion, avocado) or just plain is a-ok.

Hearty and Fresh: Black Bean and Buckwheat Dinner Salad

Some of the best meals happen because of accidents or mistakes. Sure, some of the time it's disastrous or most often it's not good enough to be tasty but not gag-inducing enough to justify wasting. I remember this one time I made a barley and bean salad and dressed it with a "vinaigrette" made from yogurt, ground coriander and honey. Not tasty at all, but I couldn't bare to waste it, so I choked it down ... for a good 3 days.




This beautiful black bean and buckwheat salad, though, it NOT the case. It was actually started by my dear sweet love who wanted to make a dish he first learned in culinary school that had black beans, quinoa and tomatoes. Very tasty-sounding. But instead of cooking up red quinoa, he started rinsing out the .. buckwheat. Ooooooops. He cooked it up, mixed it together but found that the didn't like the taste of the buckwheat. That's a shame, because I loved it. It was earthy and hearty and perfect with the black beans. I added some fresh corn a bunch of fresh herbs, and spiced up the vinigrette with a little dash of cumin. Yumtastic. I ate it happily for a good 3 days. He made do with leftovers and was pleased enough that I liked it. Score.


This salad also has the potential be to very versatile. When the sweet corn and local tomatoes become fading summer memories, can't you picture roasted squash and even orange segments thrown in? A bit of orange juice in the vinaigrette and maybe skip the cumin .. or maybe not! I love meals that you can play with. I'm sure the quinoa version is just as good and we'll try that soon, but buckwheat is definitely where it's at. Happy kitchen experimenting!

**note that I refrained from putting measurements in the recipe, because, hey, you can make as much or as little as you want.

Black Bean and Buckwheat Dinner Salad

toasted buckwheat groats, cooked (1 cup of buckwheat to 1 1/4 cups of water)
canned black beans (I used the salt-free kind)
tomatoes, chopped
fresh sweet corn kernals
lots of fresh herbs -- thyme, basil and parsley -- roughly chopped

red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper
cumin
**I like my dressings really tart, but do as you like

1. Mix up all the salad ingredients and season well with salt and pepper.
2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Taste and adjust.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss and enjoy!