Peach and Thyme Bran Muffins

Vegan recipe today, guys! (And no one who I gave them to even had a clue!)

I am so freaking excited to be sharing this recipe with you. There is a really fun story behind the inspiration for this. In Colorado, I am a weekly volunteer at the Larimer County Food Bank, which has a huge impact on the local community. They gathered and distributed 8.7 million pounds (I know, right?!) of donated food via their their main programs:  Food Share, Food Link and Child Nutrition/Kids Cafe. All three are awesome. I'm a volunteer in the Food Share program, and I usually work on Fridays during the school year.

Aaaanyways. So I started in March, and because I am incredibly obsessive I always leave campus about an hour earlier than I need to (I am absolutely anal about being on time. If I am one minute late, I freak out. Issues). But when you have an extra hour, what do you do? For me, I explored some local coffee places. My favorite one turned out to be Little Bird, which is this adorable little cafe right in the heart of our downtown square. They have a farm-to-table approach and source locally, which I love. Also, their pastries and coffee are the bomb. In April, about a month into my volunteering, I had finally started to realize that about halfway through my volunteer shift I would always get hungry and that I therefore needed to actually bring something to eat (duh!). And as you can guess, I started getting their Peach and Thyme Muffins. They were so good! The peach and thyme were both so subtle, nuzzled into this sweet batter that had hints of floral notes, and I gobbled them up the way normal people drink water. Naturally, I decided to create my own so I wouldn't spend $500 every week on muffins (since I already spend about that much on coffee-- eep!).

I really think that this recipe is spot on. A lot of people are afraid of bran muffins because they think that they will be dry-- these muffins are far from it! They have the perfect texture, and the bran adds both some complexity and a nice nutty flavor to the batter. The thyme adds beautiful fresh undertones, and I used a mixture of yellow and white peaches so that the sweetness and tartness would intermingle. They get a little caramelized on top which is fantastic, because who doesn't like natural sugars? They look beautiful, as well. This is also an accidentally-on-purpose vegan recipe, in the fact that I could have added an egg but I didn't, and I am so glad for it! If you aren't vegan, don't be afraid. Bake these and don't add any dairy, and it will totally revolutionize the way you think about vegan food.

It's Monday. Have some Muffins. (Muffin Monday should totally be a thing).

Peach and Thyme Bran Muffins
Serves 12

Ingredients:

• 1c soy (or almond) milk
• 1T lime juice
• 3/4c (3/4oz) oat bran
• 3/4c (1 and 5/8oz) wheat bran
• 1/2c packed (3 and 1/4oz) brown sugar
• 1 and 1/2c (8oz) whole wheat flour
• 2t baking powder
• 1t baking soda
• 1/4t salt
• 1c unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2T almond extract (if you do not have, use vanilla)
• 2T fresh thyme leaves, minced
• 1 medium white peach, skin removed, diced, and patted dry with a towel (will total about 1/3c. diced)
• Cooking Spray
• 1 large yellow peach, sliced into 24 segments

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, combine soy milk and lime juice. (We are creating homemade "buttermilk".) Let sit for ten minutes. Mixture may look slightly curdled, do not worry.
2. Preheat the oven to 400F.
3. In a large bowl, sift together oat bran through salt. Make a small well in the middle of the mixture, and pour the soy milk mixture, applesauce, extract, and thyme into it. Stir the wet and dry together until about half-mixed, then add the white peach cubes. Stir only until everything is just moist (over-stirring can create toughness in the end result).
4. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with cooking spray. Evenly divide batter into the pan (I used about two ice cream scoops for each muffin: don't be afraid to pile that batter into there). Top each muffin with two yellow peach slices, sticking the slice in at an angle so it is about halfway buried into the batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Nutrition Information
Sodium: 62mg
Total Fat: 1g
      Saturated: 0g
      Trans: 0g
Sugar: 14g
Protein: 5g
Calories: 135
Dietary Fiber: 5g

Lemon Cannellini Bean Salad

My garden is growing!

Despite the sweltering weather, Sacramento is treating my vegetable garden really well. I had an incident with a wilted plant the other day, but some water and less sunshine fixed it right up. My tomatoes have sprouted like crazy, nearly as tall as I am now, and my pepper plants are starting to bud out. Basil is taller, but I have no clue how to tell when basil is at it's peak growth period. All I know is that everything looks, and smells, awesome! Anyone else gardening now? What are you growing?

Gardening is something that I always associate with summer, because I have various family members who always garden. There are other things that I think of for summer, too, like frozen yogurt and anything bright. Both in color (hello blue flowered shorts) and flavor. Citrus, in particular, is a huge thing for me during summer. I've been making a ton of lemon water and squeezing limes on everything. I had some leftover lemons and I figured I should do something fun with them. My eating has been kinda wacky the last few weeks so I decided to make a salad...  without the greens.

I love bean-based or grain-based salads, in particular because they offer some variety and remind me that not everything that's healthy has to have dark greens. Don't get me wrong-- I love taking kale and arugula, maybe some mustard greens, and letting them take the stage for my dinner salad. But sometimes it's nice to just have a break from the norm. This salad combines hearty cannellini beans with celery for some crunch, and then some lemon and paprika jazz up the flavor even more.

As you can see in the photos, I use celery leaves. People really underestimate how much of the celery they can use and often only stick to the middle section, and it bothers me to no end to see how most people waste the slightly sweet, mild flavor of the celery tops. Don't throw those away, guys! They add the perfect amount of complexity to this dish. Which, by the way, is obnoxiously easy to make.

(Oooh, also! One serving of this gives you 59% of your iron, which is the most common nutritional deficiency anemia in the world.)

Lemon Cannellini Bean Salad
Serves 2         Serving Size: 0.75 cup

Ingredients:

• 1c. unsalted cannellini beans (rinsed and drained, if from can)
• 1/2c. celery tips/leaves, chopped
• Juice of 1/2 large lemon
• 1T olive oil
• 1/4t paprika
• 1/4t pepper

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to coat.

Nutrition Information:
Sodium: 81mg
Total Fat: 7g
         Saturated: 1g
         Mono: 5g
         Trans: 0g
Sugar: 2g
Protein: 8g
Calories: 186
Iron: 59%

RWB Angel Food Cake with Lemon-Almond Cream and Berries

Independence Day is just five days away, everyone! Any fun plans? I've been seeing fireworks stands all over and I've been making myself resist buying some, partly because I think I would totally cause a disaster. I grew up in drought-ridden Arizona for the first eighteen years of my life, so we were always excited when they let the city shoot off fireworks (they didn't want to set the nearby forest on fire). If you guys have heard about that huge fire that started in Oak Creek and scooted up near to Kachina, that is right by my hometown, Flagstaff. Fires were an unfortunately normal occurrence; when I was fifteen, my boyfriend at the time went on a hike with his family at the 13,000ft mountain near town and they got caught in the middle of a fire that basically burned half of the trees on the peaks. They had to run with all their camping gear as the ash rained down on them. Being a typical teenage boy, he stopped to take pictures of the flames for me. 

Because, you know, safety.

So let's all remember to be careful with our bonfires, BBQs, and fireworks this fourth! Yeah? Sounds good. Anyways, moving onto the food, which is what we are all actually here for, right?

By now you guys have seen your share of red, white, and blue all around: in the grocery store, on the streets, and in the recipes floating around online. I want to throw my own recipe into the mix. What's better during summer than a light dessert with the fruits of the season? That's pretty much what my mindset was when I created this recipe. It's another one from my old blog (Michelle's Healthy Bites) and it's good enough that I can't help but share it again. I just love it so much. First you have the fluffy, sweet cake. Then you add on some lemon-almond whipped cream (to DIE for and so easy, I promise) and fresh berries.The cream adds a slight floral nuttiness and depth, and the fruit brightens it up (not only taste-wise, but also for a stunning presentation). Raspberries contribute a slightly tart, but still sweet element that rounds out the entire dish.

Basically, this is heaven. And perfect for a party.

A Fourth of July party...

Coincidence? I think not!

(Also good for other parties because the entire world isn't America, even thought Americans tend to want to think so. To all my international/ non-American readers: this is still yummy and patriotism aside, an awesome recipe). 

Angel Food Cake with Lemon-Almond Cream and Berries

Serves 12

Ingredients:

• 12 large egg whites
• 1 cup sugar*
• 1 and 1/4c. splenda*, divided
• 1c. cake flour
• 1 and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1tbl water
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4tsp salt
• 2c. light whipped topping (such as cool whip or a non-dairy alternative), thawed
• 1/4tsp almond extract
• The zest of one large lemon
• 2c. fresh raspberries
• 2c. fresh blueberries

Instructions:

1. Allow the egg whites to come to room temperature in a large, clean, covered bowl (takes at least 30 minutes, and remove egg whites from the egg before doing this).
2. Preheat oven to 350F. 
3. Add 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup splenda into a food processor. Pulse the sugar a few times. This makes it finer, and gives the cake a lighter texture. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. It really does make a difference!
4. Add the flour to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine, or sift the flour and the sugar twice so it is nice and fine.
5. Add cream of tartar, water, vanilla extract, and salt to the egg whites. Beat on high with an electric mixer (hand-held or other) until it becomes very foamy. Slowly add in the remaining 1c of splenda.Continue to beat the eggs until medium (between soft and stiff) peaks form. At this point, switch to a spatula and gently, gently fold in the flour mixture, 1/4c. at a time. Take this nice and slow, and incorporate the entire mixture.
6. Gently spoon the batter into two 8x8 square UNGREASED baking pans. Lightly run a knife through the batter to get rid of bubbles (I just did three lines each way) and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes. You will know they are done when the cake springs back when lightly touched or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (but I personally like the touch method more).
7. As soon as they are out of the oven, turn them upside-down on a heat-safe surface. Don't try to take the cakes out: let them cool for 30 minutes. I'm serious when I say thirty minutes. If you don't do this, expect ruin and sadness. After 30 minutes have passed, the cake will have receded slightly from the edges of the pan. My first cake separated from the pan by itself; the second one needed to be convinced to leave. Just run a thin spatula on the bottom, very gently, and turn the pan upside-down.
   
   Very Important Note: Angel food cake is often said to taste "eggy," and that is because the cooks do not let it cool for long enough. Wait at least 3 hours before you frost or slice into this cake.
    
8. To make the cream, combine the whipped topping, almond extract, and lemon zest in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined.
9. To assemble the cake, cut each “loaf” into 6 slices. Evenly divide berries and cream among the twelve slices.

Nutrition Information*

Sodium: 111mg

Total Fat: 2g

      Saturated: 1g

      Trans: 0g

Sugar: 21g

Protein: 5g

Calories: 174

 

*Note: this recipe contains splenda. Scientific evidence indicates that there is nothing wrong with moderate amounts of artificial sweeteners, and I have calculated the amount in this recipe so it is well within safe limits. However, all sugar can be used if you so desire. The nutrition information for the all-sugar recipe is below: 

Sodium: 111mg

Total Fat: 2g

      Saturated: 1g

      Trans: 0g

Sugar: 42g (you can see why I use splenda now)

Protein: 5g

Calories: 255
*Also, here is if you used all splenda (which also works quite well):

Sodium: 111mg

Total Fat: 2g

      Saturated: 1g

      Trans: 0g

Sugar: 5g

Protein: 5g

Calories: 109