I rarely use bottled salad dressing.  Sure, I have two bottles hanging out in my fridge, jammed in the corner behind the stuff I actually use, untouched.  The truth is, I prefer to make my own salad dressings, because I easily tire of the same tastes over and over again.  So I make something different every week.

Here, I put together a salad made with mâche, which is also known as Lamb’s lettuce or corn lettuce.  It’s essentially an herb, and grows wildly in corn fields.  It’s also a tasty green grazed on by lambs (hence the alternate names).  One and a half cups of it contains only 30 calories.  It also satisfies more than your daily needs for vitamin C, and also contains vitamins A, iron, and calcium.

Mâche was something I first had in France (advertisements were everywhere for this green; even on billboards in the subway system!) and always thought it was a European thing that I would never have again.  Imagine my surprise when I saw organic mâche in my grocery store, and the same price as the other organic greens!  I thought it would pair perfectly with some sliced fennel bulb, Seckel pears, and bits of dried cranberry.  I used the fennel fronds (waste not, want not!) and whisked together a light vinaigrette that was refreshing and wonderfully complemented the anise flavor of the fennel, sweetness of the pears, mildness of the mâche, and tartness of the cranberries.  Ah, I was transported back to Lyon with this very sophisticated salad.

Here’s what mâche lettuce looks like.  Super dainty, so make a light vinaigrette with not too much oil.

Mâche Salad with Fennel and Seckel Pears

makes 1/4 cup dressing, serves 2 people

for the salad:

3 cups Mâche, or Lamb’s lettuce

1/2 fennel bulb, sliced thinly

1 Seckel pear, sliced thinly

2 Tablespoons sweetened dried cranberries

for the dressing:

1 Tbsp finely chopped fennel fronds (looks like dill)

1 tsp finely chopped shallots

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/4 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp honey

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1.  Whisk together all the ingredients, except the oils, in a small bowl.  Slowly pour in the oils while whisking the dressing until emulsified.  Pour over salad and serve.

What’s your fave salad ingredient?

An afternoon snack – organic plain yogurt, organic frozen berries, sliced almonds, and a drizzle of raw Lehua honey from Hilo, Hawaii

What choices do you make when you’re in the grocery store?  Do you mainly shop the perimeter, to avoid the junk and snack food aisles in the middle?  Do you look at the labels to make sure a product is free from hydrogenated oils?  High fructose corn syrup?  Artificial sweeteners?  Or do you make sure you only buy bread that has 100% whole wheat as the first ingredient?  Most of us have a train of thoughts going through our minds as we make decisions on what to bring to our tables, myself included.

In regards to produce, I try to buy locally (I love my farmer’s markets!).  My grocery store has a picture profile of a local farmer for certain items like corn, tomatoes, mushrooms, and lettuce, so it feels good supporting the community.   And sometimes, I’ll pick up a few organic items.  Organic foods go through a certification process through the USDA, and among the criteria, do not use chemical non-organic fertilizers or pesticides, artificial additives, chemical ripeners, or undergo food irradiation.  In terms of organic meats, eggs, and dairy products, animals are not treated with antibiotics or growth hormones.

The choice is really a personal one.  You may choose to go organic because of environmental reasons, lower your exposure and ingestion of pesticide residues, or they just taste better to you.  In terms of nutrition, the debate is still out on whether organic produce is significantly more nutritious than non-organic.  Organic foods are grown in smaller crops and are more labor-intensive than conventional methods of farming, so you’d also have to consider the increased price tag for organics.  I once saw a 1/2 pint of fresh, organic raspberries going for close to $7.  That doesn’t make sense to me; instead, I’d rather buy frozen organic berries (cheaper) or head out to my local farmer’s market, where I know those berries didn’t travel thousands of miles to get to my store.  No need to compromise my carbon footprint on a 1/2 pint of berries!

The Environmental Working Group released a list of 47 produce items that range from containing the most pesticides to the least.  If you’re thinking about buying a few organic produce items in your weekly grocery trips but don’t want to increase your weekly food budget too much, you might choose to consider buying the items that are in the Dirty Dozen (produce that has the highest amount of pesticides compared to their conventionally-grown counterparts) rather than the Clean 15.  Remember to wash your produce thoroughly too, regardless of organic or not.

The Dirty Dozen:

1.  Peaches

2.  Apples

3.  Sweet bell peppers

4.  Celery

5.  Nectarines

6.  Strawberries

7.  Cherries

8.  Kale

9.  Lettuce

10.  Grapes – imported

11.  Carrots

12.  Pears

The Clean 15:

The “Clean 15″ are fruits and vegetables that are ranked lowest in pesticides from the Environmental Working Group.

1.  Onion

2.  Avocado

3.  Sweet corn

4.  Pineapple

5.  Mango

6.  Asparagus

7.  Sweet peas

8.  Kiwi

9.  Cabbage

10.  Eggplant

11.  Papaya

12.  Watermelon

13.  Broccoli

14.  Tomato

15.  Sweet potato

Excuse me as I crawl out from underneath that rock I’ve been hiding under since Thanksgiving!  I’m back and breathing!  This past week has been quite hectic, and full of go-to meals that I usually make when I’m too busy to devote more than half an hour to dinner.  Old stand-bys, like Chayote Squash and Tofu, Caramelized Tofu and Sugar Snap Peas, and pasta like this one have gone through their circulation numbers of times during weeks like these, with ingredient substitutions here and there.

P’s running his full marathon this coming weekend, and I’ve been cooking foods that will fuel him so he’s at the peak of his performance.  But amidst all that brown rice and whole-wheat pasta, we both wanted a little break from the typical.  The goal is to keep half your grains consumed for the entire day whole grains (brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, whole-wheat bread, whole grain cereals, oatmeal, etc), so we’re doing well in that arena.  It’s been awhile since we’ve had basmati rice, and this was a welcome change (I used white basmati here; I’ve seen brown basmati rice in some stores if you’d like to try that instead).  I added saffron to the rice, which adds a wonderful yellow color to the rice, with flecks of red saffron in the final product.  Stirring in some lemon zest and lemon juice at the end of the cooking adds a fresh, vibrant taste that will pair well with some grilled fish or chicken.

Lemon and Saffron Basmati Rice

makes about 4 cups of cooked rice

1 tsp olive oil

Pinch of saffron

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/4 cup uncooked basmati rice

1 can (14.5 oz) low-sodium chicken broth

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

1.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the olive oil.  Add the saffron, garlic, and rice, and saute for a couple of minutes.  Add the chicken broth and bring the liquid to a boil; then turn the heat down to medium low and simmer, covered, until the rice soaks up all the liquid, about 12-15 minutes.  Stir in fresh lemon zest and lemon juice at the very end before serving.  Taste and season with another pinch of salt if desired.  Voila!

P and I met Kym and Randy last year at the Kokua festival, where Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, and others played to support environmental education in Hawaii’s schools.  Since then, we’ve all become close friends, spending holidays together when we’re not able to fly back to our respective home states.  This year, they came over with everything but their kitchen sink, and we cooked up a storm!  Randy even brought his guitar and played for us while we cooked, and P had a great idea in going down to the beach after dinner to watch the Hawaiian sunset.  We missed our families, but feel humbled to know such awesome people in the world.

I made this Rosemary-White Bean Dip to snack on while we were making our early dinner.

Rosemary-White Bean Dip

makes 1 cup

1 can (15.8 oz) white beans (Great Northern, cannelini), rinsed and drained

1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Few drops tabasco sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, chopped medium-fine

1.  Place all ingredients except olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes in a food processor; process until the mixture becomes smooth and creamy.  While the food processor is running, add the olive oil in a drizzle.  Before serving, fold in the sun-dried tomatoes.  Serve with whole-wheat crackers or raw vegetables.

Kym was so awesome – she whipped up some mashed potatoes made with sour cream, stuffing, and brought pumpkin pie.  I didn’t feel like making turkey, so roasted up some Cornish Game Hens instead.  Coming from a large family, I over-estimated how much I needed so bought 6, when in fact we made do by splitting each hen in half and fed four easily with just two hens.  Oh well, we kept in the spirit of Thanksgiving by making lots for leftovers!

The recipe for the Cornish Game Hens with Garlic and Rosemary was a recipe I found on Epicurious.  Since I roasted six hens, I increased the amount of lemon slices, rosemary, white wine, and low-sodium chicken broth.  When the hens were good and ready, I used the pan juices to make a simple gravy.  Just pour the pan juices into a small saucepan, and heat on medium, whisking in a couple tablespoons of cornstarch to thicken it up a bit.  This turned out great on top of Kym’s mashed potatoes as well!  The table’s not completely set yet in this pic, but you get the idea.

I wanted to do something different with the green beans this year.  Especially since Thanksgiving is a day that many associate with heavy foods, I wanted to lighten it up a bit.  This quick saute turned out to be flavorful and fresh.  Just be sure to use thin green beans like haricots verts or French green beans, which are thinner and less starchy than regular green beans.  I just think they taste better.  Oh, and this recipe was me throwing things in the saute pan as I went along.  Feel free to add more chicken stock if you’d like more sauce, or lemon zest for extra tang.  It’s all improv, my friends!

French Green Beans with Shallot Sauce

serves 4-6

1 1/2 lb French green beans or haricots verts, ends trimmed

1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp shallots, finely chopped

about 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Red pepper flakes, to taste

1.  In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add the butter and olive oil.  When the oil-butter mixture is hot, add the shallots, and saute for about 1 minute.  Add the green beans and stir until all ingredients are incorporated, for about 3 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and lemon juice.  Bring the chicken broth to a boil, and turn down the heat to medium.  Continue to saute the green beans until tender, about another 4-5 minutes or until desired.  Top with red pepper flakes.

And now, it’s time for apple pie!

See how I can peel an apple in one strip!  Such an improvement from embarrassing knife skill days in high school, haha!

I started on my apple pie the day before, using a recipe for Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie from Epicurious, prepping the crust and letting it rest in the fridge overnight.  On Thanksgiving day, I rolled out my dough, peeled and sliced all my apples, and baked the pie.  Of course, I made a couple changes to the recipe:

- Instead of using all Granny Smith apples, I used 3 Granny Smith apples and 4 Jonagold apples.  I find that if you make a pie with entirely Granny Smith apples, the pie becomes too tart; by using two types of apples, you get a nice sweet/tart flavor, sans puckered face.

- I cut down the sugar in the filling by 2 tablespoons, since the Jonagold apples were already a little sweeter than Granny Smiths.

- I added 1/4 tsp allspice to the apple filling.  It just spices it up a bit, but not too much.

- I cut down the amount of butter in the crumb topping, using 4 tablespoons instead of 6.  The texture was still sandy, and not overly buttery.  The recipe is not low-calorie, but I did what I could to tame down the sugar and fat without causing drastic changes to the recipe.  And I always request smaller slices (at least for me) so that I can still enjoy these types of foods on occasion without going overboard.

And thank you to my blogger friend, Linda from Kitchen Therapy, for my brand new, handmade apron pictured above!  I’m very thankful for it

]]> http://nutritiontokitchen.com/2009/11/28/a-few-thanksgiving-dishes/feed/ 10 nutrition to kitchen IMG_4738 IMG_4733 IMG_4735 IMG_4771 IMG_4747 IMG_4824 http://nutritiontokitchen.com/2009/11/26/im-thankful-for/ http://nutritiontokitchen.com/2009/11/26/im-thankful-for/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:49:11 +0000 nutrition to kitchen http://nutritiontokitchen.com/?p=912 ]]>

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I’m going to start off by saying as I did when I was little, “This year I’m thankful for…”  So much.  My loving and supportive husband, family, and friends, being able to do what I love, and actually making it to my blog’s one-year anniversary this month!  I’m thankful for my readers – without you listening to me ramble about food and nutrition, I wouldn’t be here! Oh, and I’m also thankful for this little guy…in’t he cute?  And yes, he’s reading Tolstoy.  Ha.

I’ll be posting up pics of what we’re making tomorrow, but in the meantime, if you want something different for dessert than pie, here’s a flashback of one of my most popular recipes the past year – RED VELVET CUPCAKES!

A few quick tips for eating healthy, and maintaining (not gaining!) this holiday season can be found here.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!   Now, the fun part – cooking time!

Panna cotta is one of those things that is so easy to make, that if it takes you longer than 10 minutes of preparation, then something’s seriously gone awry.  I’ve been on a panna cotta craze ever since hubby and I dined at Town the other week.  I tried whipping it up without a recipe, using fat-free, evaporated milk, a little coconut milk, and half-and-half, but the color of the evaporated milk was too brown for my liking and resembled more of a custard.

I was about to start over again using some plain yogurt, for that thick, creamy consistency, when the other night I was flipping through my 2009 Food & Wine Annual Cookbook and found this excellent recipe for Yogurt Panna Cottas with Honey. Why mess with something that was already healthy?  I liked the addition of Greek yogurt in here – it’s thick and contributes to the creaminess of the panna cotta.  The cookbook recommends serving these cute little desserts with fresh grapes strewn over the ramekin cups; however, it’s persimmon season (my favorite fruit) and instead, I decided to peel and thinly slice the persimmons over the panna cottas.

There are two types of persimmon that I’ve seen in the market.  There’s the Hachiya, which is described as being acorn or heart-shaped.  It needs to be ripened before eating, when the skin gives easily under pressure, like an overripe (like really overripe) tomato.  I don’t know, but this variety is kind of too squishy for me.  I remember when my grandma once tricked my cousin and I into eating an unripe Hachiya, bleh!  It was like my face puckered up for a day!  Hachiya persimmons contain a lot of tannins, which lend itself that astringency when unripe.  Anyways, I’m glad she had a great laugh, albeit at my expense.  Haha .

Instead, I eat Fuyu persimmons, which are pictured below and are more flat and round in shape.  This is the persimmon tree my parents have in their backyard (I have been known to eat about 2-3 persimmons daily when in season).  No need to wait too long before it ripens, since it’s basically good to eat once you pick it off the tree.  The fruit should feel firm, like an apple, when you choose it.  Inside it tastes sweet and crisp, like a cross between a cantaloupe/apple/pumpkin/honey flavor, if that makes any sense.  Probably not.  My friend eats them with the skin on, but I like to peel them because I think the skin is too tough.  I love these, and thank goodness they’re abundant in my grocery store here in Hawaii.  (As you can see from the pic below, I stocked up!).

Yogurt Panna Cottas with Honey

recipe by Marisa Churchill, from the 2009 Food & Wine Annual Cookbook

serves 6

1 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin (I used the powder)

1 Tbsp water

1 cup fat-free milk

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt

2 Tbsp honey

Nonstick cooking spray

Optional: Sliced Fuyu persimmons, grapes, berries, etc., for serving

1. In a small bowl, mix the gelatin with the water ad let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.  In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer with the sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and add in the gelatin until dissolved.

3.  In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the yogurt.  Whisk in the warm milk until smooth.  Ladle the panna cotta mixture into six 4-oz ramekins and refrigerate, about 3 hours until set and cold.

4.  To serve, drizzle the panna cottas with honey and top with persimmon slices.

Nutrition Facts (1 serving = 1 ramekin): 117 calories, 0.4 gram fat, 22 grams carbohydrates, 7 grams protein

I’ve been told that my palette handles heat pretty well, but compared to my mom, hubby, and his family, who can eat Thai bird chilis (raw) along with their meals, I think I score a little on the wimp scale.  Still, if you are not into spicy foods, omit the chili garlic paste here and decrease the amount of ginger a little.  And if you do eat spicy foods and think this is too hot, don’t lay the blame on me!  I warned you. 

Eggplant is a great way to add variety to your weekly veggie repertoire.  Usually in the market you’ll see the large, globe eggplant which is the regular/classic variety.  I like these in eggplant parmigiana because they’re really meaty.  For this dish, though, I changed it up a bit and used the Japanese eggplant variety, which is long and thin.  The purple skin is also a little lighter than the typical globe variety.  Great for stir-fries too.  Anyways, try this out.  The marinade caramelizes under the grill and develops a sweet, spicy crust that I think you’ll like!

Spicy Grilled Japanese Eggplant

serves 5

5 small Japanese eggplants, tops cut off and cut in half lengthwise

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp ginger, minced

1 1/2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp chili paste

1 1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp canola oil

1.  Whisk together all ingredients except for the eggplant.  Brush the marinade over both sides of the eggplants, reserving about 1 Tbsp of the marinade.

2.  Grill each side of the eggplants until tender, about 3 minutes each side.  In the George Foreman grill it takes a total of about 3-4 minutes without the need to flip the eggplant over.  Brush the remaining reserved marinade over the grilled eggplants before serving.

This past weekend, P and I decided to get a leg up on Christmas shopping in town (that’s what they call “the city,” or the Honolulu/Waikiki area here).  We decided to stay in the area afterward and try someplace new for dinner.  I’m a member of Slow Food, and learned about Town through the Oahu chapter’s website.  Town is a restaurant that serves food grown from local farms around the island, supporting the slow food movement, from farm to table.  It promotes sustainability on a local level and has a menu that changes daily.  Meaning: your food is farm-fresh, not frozen and flown in from hundreds of miles away.  My cup of tea.

Town is located in Kaimuki, southeast of Honolulu.  After some shopping, P and I got hungry pretty early and arrived at the restaurant about 5:20pm.  It opens for dinner at 5:30pm so we hung out at the front of the restaurant for a few minutes, and looked at the menu they had up from the day before (pictured above).  Town is a cute and trendy place, kind of reminiscent to us of a small San Francisco or New York eatery, with metal tables and chairs, modern and minimalistic decor.  The outside of the restaurant was lined with bougainvilleas, which always adds a charming touch.

I noticed that on the menu for the previous day, there was a bottarga pasta.  Now, I’ve only heard of bottarga from an Anthony Bourdain “No Reservations” episode where he shared it with his wife and family in Sardinia.  It’s basically fish roe (eggs) that’s been dried and cured.  Naturally, I like to try everything at least once, so was intrigued by it.  I asked the server where they got it from (because Sardinia is a far away place from Hawaii) and surprisingly, the chef makes their own bottarga in their restaurant out of ahi tuna!  Now if that isn’t a mark of local, slow food, I don’t know what is.  Sad to say, it wasn’t on the menu the day we went, but I’m sure this won’t be the only time we’d be eating here.

Anyways, on to the food.  P and I started off with some house-made bread that was served with nicoise olives and butter.  (Sorry, I didn’t take pictures of the bread and olives, nor the dessert, because we just dove right in).  I’m usually very picky with olives (I despise them most of the time), but was pretty surprised to taste a fruity, tart olive that wasn’t too briny.  Delicious.

Next up came the salad that we shared. Roasted, sweet beets, sections of orange, fried chickpeas, fresh farm goat cheese, cucumber, and sharp arugula dressed in a light vinaigrette.  Wonderful balance of flavors and a refreshing way to start out a meal.  Our server also informed us that all our vegetables were not only local, but organic too.  We definitely felt good about this choice.

This is what I got – home made, hand-cut pasta, with mussels, prawns, squid, and tomatoes in a light saffron and tomato broth.  This was served in a right-sized bowl.  I couldn’t get over the texture of the pasta!  It was divinely light and chewy, and the seafood was cooked perfectly.  If “town” is able to deliver fresh, hand-cut pasta to my door, let me be the first recipient!

Here’s P’s dish.  Slow-roasted pork shoulder stuffed with fennel and other fresh herbs, served alongside a pool of creamy polenta and fresh kale and collard greens.  So simple, yet so delicious.  Let me just say that all he had to do was stick his fork in the meat and it fell apart.  That’s how tender it was.  The end.

And oh, I forgot.  We usually never order dessert, but since everything we had for dinner was all so good, we wanted to try it out.  We ordered the “miel and honey” panna cotta, served with starfruit and drizzled with honey from Waimanalo Farms.  I wish I had taken a picture of it, but we both stuck our spoons in it before I remembered to take one.  Let me just say it was both light and creamy at the same time, and wasn’t too sweet with the drizzle of honey.  Perfect way to end a meal.

Restaurant details:

Town

3435 Waialae Avenue

Kaimuki, Hawaii 96816

808.735.5900

http://townkaimuki.com

Eggs are probably the most versatile ingredient around.  They’re a complete protein source and can act as a stand-alone meal, whether for a quick breakfast, or a lazy dinner.  During busy workdays, I can still feel good about my food choices by whipping up an easy egg omelet with vegetables and brown rice on the side, rather than resorting to some take-out for dinner.  Eggs emulsify foods like salad dressings and mayonnaise, and bind mixtures such as those you would make for meatballs.  They set custards and are indispensable in baking. They’re not only culinary, but nutritional superstars.

One egg has only 70 calories fit into its perfect little protein package.  It contains 4.5 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein, and about 200 milligrams of cholesterol.  Many have shunned eggs in the past due to its cholesterol content, which is located in the yolk, but intake of saturated and trans fats in the diet can actually raise your blood cholesterol more than the dietary cholesterol located in the egg yolk itself.  A systematic review in the Archives of Internal Medicine found inconsistent evidence linking egg consumption to coronary heart disease.  An egg a day should be fine, as the American Heart Association recommends eating less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol daily.

And the egg has more benefits that can’t be ignored.  It is a good source of lutein and zeaxanthin, two types of carotenoids that lend themselves to eye health, like protecting against age-related macular degeneration, night blindness, and cataracts. Eggs are also one of the few food sources of vitamins D and K.

Eggs contain all nine essential amino acids that make up a complete protein.  Along with other essential nutrients found in the egg, choline is a vital component in the structure of your cell membranes.  Choline is a heavy hitter that serves many functions, including brain development, muscle control, and other cognitive processes like learning and memory. Like folate (which is also present in the egg), choline is needed to prevent neural tube defects during pregnancy.  So all you to-be mommies out there, get crackin!

Egg myth: Brown eggs are more nutritious than white-shelled eggs.

I’ve had to debunk this many times before.  Many people may think brown-shelled eggs may have more nutrients than the white-shelled ones, but untrue.  The color of the eggshell depends on the breed of the hen.  Don’t judge an egg by its cover – it’s all the same on the inside!

Perfectly Poached Eggs

A little bit of vinegar helps coagulate the eggs here.

eggs

1 tsp white wine vinegar (or regular distilled vinegar)

sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper

optional: fresh thyme, a couple sun-dried tomatoes, whole-wheat bread

1.  Fill a 10-inch skillet about 1 1/2 inches high with water.  Stir in the vinegar.  Heat the water and vinegar mixture over medium heat, until the water is hot and slightly simmering.  Never boil the water.  Turn the heat down to medium-low, and crack the eggs, one at a time, into a small plate.  Gently slide one egg into the water.  Crack another egg onto the plate and repeat.  Gently spoon some of the hot water over the yolks from time to time, being careful to not break the yolk.  Poach for about 6-8 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are opaque.  Use a slotted spoon to get the eggs out of the water.

2.  Cook eggs, two at a time, replacing the water and vinegar as needed between batches.

So, tell me, how do you like your eggs?

Happy Halloween everyone!  I heart pumpkin season.  You’ve got pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin custard…sorry, now I’m sounding like Bubba in Forrest Gump, rambling on about shrimp.  Anyways, you get the idea.

This recipe is something I whipped up on the fly, a dump-and-stir sort of method that works pretty well, as long as you don’t overmix the batter.  Overmixing eliminates air bubbles that make your batter rise, so when you bake it, you’ll get one tough muffin.  Not a good thing.  Just be gentle!  Pumpkin is such a great ingredient to use if you want to cut the fat while adding a lot of moisture to baked goods; I only used 2 1/2 tablespoons of canola oil in this batch of 18 muffins!  The crumb of the muffin turned out tender and moist – perfect to heat up and snack on with my coffee at work!

Pumpkin has a good amount of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that converts into vitamin A in the body.  Beta-carotene is also a carotenoid, which imparts that yellow/red/orange pigment to the veggie.

Word to the wise: If you’re someone who believes that popping supplements up the wall while eating a poor diet will “make up” for the nutrients you’re not getting in your daily fast food encounters, beware.  Beta-carotene, in supplement form, has been found to increase coronary event and lung cancer risk in male smokers and asbestos workers.  Ingestion of food sources of beta-carotene, however, is safe, and the synergistic effects of beta-carotene in food, along with other phytonutrients and carotenoids, can decrease one’s risk of developing cancer.  Beta-carotene from foods can also enhance your immunity.  Bottom line: get it from food first, and keep chomping on those fresh fruits and veggies!

Pumpkin-Walnut Muffins

makes 18

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp Saigon cinnamon

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

6 oz lowfat plain yogurt

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 Tbsp canola oil

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

18 whole lightly candied walnuts, optional, for garnish

Preparation:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350°F.  In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon.  Whisk ingredients until combined and set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, yogurt, egg, vanilla extract, and canola oil.  Whisk until ingredients are smooth and there are no lumps.  Add the flour mixture, and fold the flour mixture in to the pumpkin batter, until ingredients are just combined.  DO NOT OVERMIX.  It’s okay to have a few little lumps in the batter.  Gently fold in the walnuts.  Spoon the batter into the muffin liners, just shy of being filled to the top.

3.  Bake on two baking sheets, one on the middle rack and one on the top rack.  After 13 minutes, rotate the racks and alternate their positions.  Bake for another 12-13 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffins comes out clean.  Cool on wire racks for about 15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts (1 serving = 1 muffin, minus the walnut garnish on top): 137 calories; 4 grams fat (0.6 grams saturated fat, 2 grams polyunsaturated fat, 1.2 grams monounsaturated fat); 23 grams carbohydrates; 2.7 grams protein; 1.2 grams fiber