Blueberry Quinoa Muffins

Lately, I’ve gotten into the habit of always having some cooked quinoa in the fridge because I’m never more than a few minutes away from a healthy meal.  For example, in the time it took to saute vegetables, I had this nice Confetti Quinoa ready.

In addition, there are so many unexpected ways to use it, like in the salmon burgers I made last night, and in the blueberry quinoa muffins below.  A friend emailed me for a blueberry muffin recipe and since I happened to have quinoa in the fridge, I was able to whip these up in no time.

By using a combination of whole grain spelt and buckwheat flours in this recipe, you’ll be reducing the gluten.  The quinoa will add protein and fiber, making them more filling, and you'll barely know it’s there…


Blueberry Quinoa Muffins

Dry ingredients:

1 ¼ cup whole grain spelt flour

½ cup buckwheat flour

½ c sugar like sucanat or turbinado sugar

1 ½ t baking powder

1 t  sea or Himalayan salt

1 t cinnamon

½ t cardamom

Wet ingredients:

¼ c coconut oil or butter, melted

1 large egg

1 c unsweetened almond milk

1 t vanilla

2 c cooked quinoa, cooled

1 c fresh blueberries

½  c chopped walnuts, optional

1.  Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix with a wire whisk. 

2.  In a separate larger bowl, combine the wet ingredients and mix well. 

3.  Gently fold in the dry ingredients and mix just until they are incorporated.  Fold in the blueberries and walnuts.

4.  Fill lightly greased muffin tins ¾ full with batter.  Bake at 350°F for ~20 min, or until cooked through.   Let cool slightly before removing from the pan. 

Purple (and Green) Smoothie

The holidays are not quite over yet, but maybe you wish they were so that you could get back to eating normally.  Thankfully, there’s a week between Christmas and New Year’s where we can slow down with the food, and if you’re on vacation, where you can slow down with the body.  Often, if I want to take a break from food, I’ll turn to one of the smoothies below.  Maybe I shouldn’t refer to it as something other than food though.  There’s plenty in there to keep your blood sugar from plummeting after a couple of hours and heading to the leftovers. 

You can play around with the amounts and try different spices.  I love the warmth of cardamom this time of year and sometimes I’ll add ginger too.  Even a pumpkin pie spice would work well.  It tastes more like a treat that way! 

Happy holidays!

Purple (and Green) Smoothie

1 c water or almond milk

½ c frozen blueberries

½ frozen banana, cut into chunks

1 T chia or hemp seeds, or

1 scoop protein powder, or

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

¼ avocado

handful of greens (baby lettuces, spinach, or kale)

sprinkle of spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, etc.)

1 t real maple syrup or honey (optional)

Combine the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  For a thinner drink, add more water or milk.