Food Friday: Gingerbread Spelt Muffins

I was in the mood for something a little more festive this past weekend and decided to make these easy gingerbread muffins. It was either these or buying a whole gingerbread house, decorating it, then throwing it out in the end once it got stale ;) Indulging in a little treat here and there over the festive month is perfectly fine as long as you don't go overboard. These muffins are just the thing to give you a bit of a treat but keeping within a balanced diet. Bonus - these are wheat free (not gluten free), vegan and super easy to make. This recipe is adapted from OhSheGlows. They would be extra delicious as a dessert with a cream cheese frosting, a little butter or coconut whip cream (ok now I am drooling.)

Gingerbread Spelt Muffins

Wet ingredients:

• 1 tbsp ground chia seeds/ground flax seed
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin purée
• 1/3 cup grapeseed oil or canola oil (coconut oil is great as well just make sure it is melted and everything else is room temperature)
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses - great blood builder :)

Dry ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups spelt flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• Heaping 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.. Line a muffin pan with large paper liners. 
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the chia/ground flax seeds and water. Set aside for a few minutes to thicken.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (spelt flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt).
4. In the same bowl as the flax mixture, whisk together the wet ingredients (flax mixture, pumpkin purée, oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, and molasses) until smooth.
5. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. No patches of flour should remain. Be sure not to overmix the batter as spelt is a delicate flour. The batter will be quite thick.
6. If using, stir in the chopped walnuts. You can also reserve some for garnish on top.
7. Divide the batter equally between the 12 muffin liners. They should be about 3/4 full. Add any reserved walnuts on top and gently push down (optional).
8. Bake the muffins for 20 to 24 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, and then transfer each muffin onto a cooling rack until completely cool. Serve with butter, coconut oil, or cream frosting!

Enjoy!

Dr. Karen 

Food Friday: Quick & Easy One Pan Meals!

On busy days when you get home later than expected or have little time to spend in the kitchen cooking AND doing dishes, one pan meals come in very handy! I usually reserve more complex meals to the weekend when I have more time to cook and can indulge a little more. During the week I focus on pretty simple meals making sure I have protein, a little fat and lots of veggies, unless I am having leftovers from what I cooked on the weekend (see below for some decadent inspiration!). You don't have to slave away in the kitchen to come out with something delicious and nutritious. 

For one pan meals, I think about 2 things - what protein do I want and what veggies go with that, including a green veggie of course. It is that simple! It helps to have a variety of spices in the cupboard to change things up, such as rosemary, thyme, cinnamon, basic chicken spice, curry. Below are two examples of one pan meals that I have been known to whip up. Honestly the best things about this are the few dishes you dirty and how easy it is to make leftovers. This is also a great grain free or paleo meal. 

One game changer in making a delicious meal is roasted veggies. If you haven't roasted brussels sprouts, broccoli or beets before you are in for a treat! Beets would take the longest to roast but they are great with carrots and sweet potatoes. Check out this recipe to try that. 

One Pan Meal #1: Chicken, Sweet potato, Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breast, skinless, boneless
• chicken spice of your choice
• 2 handfuls brussel sprouts, cleaned and cut in halves 
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into wedges 
• 1-2 tbsp cornstarch 
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• sweet potato spice options - cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, curry powder, paprika

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper or nothing if you have a good non-stick pan. In one bowl, toss brussels sprouts with a little olive oil, salt & pepper to coat. In a second bowl, toss sweet potato wedges with cornstarch to lightly coat, salt then olive oil and spices of your choice. Spread veggies evenly on the pan and put in the oven. Depending on the size of your chicken breast, you may want to add chicken 5-10 minutes into cooking, it should take 18-20 minutes per 1.5in. Sprinkle chicken with chosen spice. After 15 minutes, flip veggies. They should be lightly browned on one side. Roast for another 10-15 minutes until tender and crispy and chicken in cooked through. Voila! 

One Pan Meal #2: Salmon, Carrots, Asparagus 

Ingredients:

• 2 salmon fillet, skin on or off
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into large rounds 
• 1 bunch asparagus 
• salt and pepper
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1-2 tbsp balsamic reduction (homemade or store-bought) OR dried/fresh rosemary for salmon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper or nothing if you have a good non-stick pan. In one bowl, toss carrots with a little olive oil, salt & pepper to coat. Evenly spread asparagus on the pan and roll with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Add carrots and salmon to pan and drizzle a little olive oil over salmon and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes depending on thickness of salmon. Asparagus should be slightly browned but not faded in colour, carrots should be slightly softened and salmon should be flaky. Add to plate and drizzle asparagus and salmon with balsamic reduction. Voila! 

In health & happiness,

Dr. Karen

Food Friday: Delicata Squash Fries

Last weekend at the farmers market I felt like a kid in a candy store with all the amazing fall produce out! I am extra excited when I find delicata squash, my favourite fall squash that only comes out at this time of year. I already wrote about how I use it in my favourite Moroccan Fall Stew, but here is a quick and delicious way to eat them. I made these fries for a big brunch over the weekend and they were definitely a hit. Delicata squash have very thin skin so you don't need to peel them. They are also a bit sweet like other squash so they pair nicely with a little spice or curry. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 delicata squash 
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
• 4 tbsp mayo 
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. 
2. Half the squash lengthwise and scrap out seeds with a spoon. Slice squash into 1/2 inch half moons. Toss squash with olive oil and salt and spread out on baking tray. 
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes on each side until slightly golden. 
4. Meanwhile while baking, mix mayo with curry powder lemon and pinch of sea salt. 
5. Serve squash with the side of curry mayo for dipping. Delicious!

In health & happiness, 

Dr. Karen

(Photo credit: https://simplylivinghealthy.org/2012/10/08/crispy-delicata-squash-fries/

Food Friday: Bumpin' Brassica Bowl

Greens, greens the wonderful food! There are many benefits from eating leafy greens, especially from the Brassica family, which is why I always try to incorporate them into my daily meals. I go a little crazy if I haven't had any greens in a day and actually crave them when I wake up after certain late nights... I highly encourage you to try incorporating some of these other greens into your diet instead of the basic leaf lettuce. 

The brassica (latin name for cabbage) family include kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, collard greens and cauliflower. In addition to being packed full of vitamins and minerals such as calcium and iron, they contain several phytonutrients known for their cancer fighting properties and liver detox functions. One I want to highlight is I3C (indole-3-carbinol) that gets converted to DIM in the body to aid in phase 1 and 2 liver detoxification and estrogen balancing. You can take this in supplement form but why not get it from food as best you can. Brassica greens also contain flavonoids which act as an anti-oxidant to fight inflammation. Broccoli, and broccoli sprouts contain sulforaphanes which are powerful nutrients to not only support the liver, but kill H.pylori and other unwanted bacteria in the gut, and is a potential cancer treatment. I could go on but lets get to the recipe!

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar (great for digestion!)
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp dijon mustard  
• 3 cups shredded kale
• 1 cup shredded brussels sprouts 
• 1/2 cup shredded green cabbage 
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 large shallot, sliced and caramelized 
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
• 2 tbsp hemp hearts
• 1/4 avocado, sliced 
• 1 soft-boiled egg, halved 
• handful broccoli sprouts - optional (learn how to sprout here)

Directions:

1. In a small blender/magic bullet emulsify the olive oil with the apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard. It should end up slightly creamy and a light yellow colour.
2. Mix shredded kale, brussels sprouts and cabbage together in a bowl. Dress the greens with the dressing, only adding enough to lightly coat the greens, then massage the kale mixture to soften the kale. Add a pinch of salt, then more dressing if needed.
3. Top with hemp hearts, caramelized shallots, toasted sunflower seeds and broccoli sprouts (if using) and gently mix. Top with sliced avocado and egg, adding a pinch more salt. Delicious! 

Look out for recipes like these in my 10-Day Fall Detox Program! Want to get back on track with your health after the summer months? The program starts October 10th but sign up today to claim your spot!