VEGAN CORN MUFFINS

I have discovered a very nice blog: "Veganosity", a vegan recipes blog.
Although I am not vegan and I firmly believe in a balanced diet, that
includes a bit of everything, I love looking around for healthy recipes.
I found this interesting recipe for corn muffins (I love to use corn flour!)
so I decided to reproduce it in my kitchen.
These muffins are very good for breakfast, but I made them for my afternoon
tea break.
They are ready now and my kitchen smells so good!!!

I paste the recipe as per Linda's blog.
Thank you Linda and Alex!

Enjoy it!


Vegan Chocolate Chip Pecan Corn Muffins

Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Total time
35 mins

A slightly sweet vegan muffin that is perfect for breakfast and afternoon tea.
Author: Linda and Alex at Veganosity
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Serves: 12
Ingredients
1¼ cups unbleached flour
¾ cups yellow corn meal
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup canola oil
1 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange juice
2 bananas
½ cup pecans
½ cup vegan chocolate chips - I use Enjoy Life brand.
Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Place the pecans in the oven on a cookie sheet for seven minutes or until fragrant.
While the pecans are roasting, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk
to mix thoroughly.
Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk to combine.
Place the bananas in a mixer and process the until they are nearly puréed.
Add the wet ingredients to the bananas and whisk to combine.
Those pecans should be out of the oven by now and cooling on the counter.
Grease a muffin tin with baker's spray before this last step.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold together just until fully moistened.
Lightly crush the pecans into the bowl, add the chocolate chips and fold until just combined.
Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, fill the wells of your muffin tin with the batter.
Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar over the top of each and place on the center rack of your oven.
The muffins should take 15 to 20 minutes to bake. Test after 15 minutes with a toothpick.

Beetroots salad: a powerful liver detox!

As I told you in my previous post I am doing a liver detox.

Beetroot contains pectin, a fiber that can help clean
the toxins that have been removed from the liver, allowing them
to be flushed out of the system instead of reabsorbed by the body.
And as beetroot is a good friend of the liver I am using it in my diet
during this detox week.
Here is a tasty

BEETROOTS SALAD

Ingredients for 4 servings:

2 boiled and peeled medium size beetroots
(cover beets with cold water and bring to boil. Let it boil for 30 minutes
or till a knife cuts easily through the beets)
1 TBS sunflowers seeds
1 TBS dried cranberries
1 TBS chopped parsley
2 TBS vinaigrette
(see recipe in yesterday's post)

Cut beets in halves and then slice them.
Transfer them in a bowl, add all the ingredients and mix well.
Let it rest for half an hour and serve it as a side dish or by itself with toasted
whole grain bread.

Wow! New post of the year?!? Detox!

I can't believe I am so late with my posts!!!
Oh well! This means that I take it easy, it is good to take your time:
no pressure, no stress!

For the new year I have committed to do a detox at least once a month.
The purpose of the detox for me is to get rid of gallbladder stones,
so the detox is always followed by a liver flush.
If you want to know more about the liver flush you can check what
Andre Moritz has to say about it on YouTube
http://youtu.be/sDJF3S-Kiqk

In this post I want to share with you what I avoid during the detox and
I want to give you a nice recipe with quinoa, a tasty seed full
of protein.
During the detox I don't eat meat, dairy products (except the light ricotta
cheese)and eggs. Then I avoid to drink alchool and coffee and I eliminate
refined sugar.
I will have some light fish and I pacify my sweet tooth with dry fruits,
nuts, raw honey and sugar-free jam.
Instead of coffee I drink green tea and "orzo coffee" (very Italian) or
other kind of fake coffee.

You can all do it for a week a month! You will allow your body to regenerate!

Here is the quinoa with zucchini and shitaki recipe


Ingredients:

1 cup of white quinoa
2 cups of water
half tsp salt

1 TBS olive oil
2 scallions chopped
4 shitaki mushrooms chopped
1 zucchini (eliminate white internal part and dice it)
1 TBS chopped parsley
salt and pepper

4 calamata olives
1 tsp cappers
1 TBS vinaigrette

Cook quinoa with water and salt till all the water evaporates
(around 10 minutes).
Cool it down.
In a frying pan sauté scallion for 2 minutes, add zucchini and mushrooms,
add salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. When zucchini are soft add pepper.

Chop calamata olives and add them to quinoa together with cappers and parsley.

Prepare a vinaigrette beating together 2 TBS olive oil, 1 TBS vinegar
(you can use balsamic or applecider vinegar), half tsp salt, half tsp honey
or yellow mustard.

Add 1 TBS vinaigrette to quinoa.

Stir zucchini and mushrooms into the quinoa and serve it warm or cold as
a salad.
You can store it in a glass container and keep it in the fridge for 2 or 3 days.