Tag Archives: Flax

A Cherry Crumble with Rhubarb

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Summertime is long gone.  The days of warm sunny weather, no jackets, toques or wishing I had a car starter.  Even the days of Calla staying still long enough for me to go a little camera happy and snack a couple (or 50) photos of her playing with food.  In particular cherries were a delight, it’s a wonder how I forgot about these photos.

Totally fascinated with the stem and intrigued by the taste, she’d always get covered in red cherry juice.  She loves them even more as a little snack frozen. One of the best fruits to eat, cherries are high in antioxidants, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, Vitamin A, C, K and folate.

Super easy to carry around for a snack, but be sure to brings wipes or napkins since they can make a bit of a mess.  They’re also great mixed with oatmeal, yogurt, or mixed in with a fruit salad. No teeth yet?, just steam them for a few minutes them blend together with some water, milk, and mix with banana, couscous or chicken.

As your little one gets bigger though and their teeth come in, they acquire new tastes and you get to bridge the gap between purees to small bites to bigger bites. Try this recipe out on your little one. If you’re not interested in the tartness of the rhubarb you can add more cherries or opt for strawberries instead. I love to add a few extras so the flax meal, hemp hearts and almonds give it a little extra nutritional boost.  Serve as a breakfast with plain yogurt, a snack or a tasty treat with a little vanilla ice cream.

Cherry Crumble with Rhubarb
(adapted from Two Peas and their pod)

3 cups cherries, pitted
2 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 tbsp corn starch
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp flax meal
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 tbsp hemp hearts
1/2 cup quinoa flakes

Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine cherries, rhubarb and corn starch. Stir until well coated and set aside.
In a seperate bowl, combine rolled oats, quinoa flakes, flax meal, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir well. Mix butter into oat mixture, rubbing together with your fingers, until crumbly.  Mix in half the almonds and hemp hearts and stir. Drizzle with honey and stir.
Pour cherry mixture into baking dish, cover with oat mixture. Then sprinkle remaining almonds and hemp hearts on top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until fruit is soft and crisp is bubbly. Serve warm with greek yogurt or vanilla ice cream.

Tilapia Burgers, Buns & Watermelon Salsa

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“It’s the watermelon salsa”…. “actually, I think it’s the buns that make it”…….”nope, definitely the cajun”….. (says Scotty) All-in-all, these were the best fish burgers I’ve had to date.

I love Wednesday nights in our house.  It may take us a good 2 hours (or more) to eat and the kitchen is almost always a total disaster, but it’s such a great way to spend the night.

The rules are; it has to be something we’ve never made, and everything has to be made from scratch.  Which explains why the buns size and the patty size didn’t exactly match up here… I mean… that’s how I meant them to be, sort of tilapia sliders….

If you’ve never had watermelon salsa before, I highly highly recommend it.  The burst of fruity watermelon with crisp red onion, spicy jalapeno, and zesty lime is absolutely incredible. Make sure to try it soon, it’s delicious!!

In the last minute or two the burgers were cooking, we decided to make a quick Tzatziki to go along. I’m very happy we did.

Tilapia Burgers, Watermelon Salsa & Tzatziki

(Adapted from How Sweet Eats)

For the Burgers
5-6 Tilipia Fillets
2/3 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1 Egg + 1 Egg White, lightly beaten
1 tbsp dijon mustard
3 Garlic cloves, minced
Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp cajun seasoning

For the Salsa
1 Cup diced Watermelon
1/2 Green Jalapeno, diced
1/8 cup Red Onion, Diced
1/4 lime, juiced
Small handful Cilantro, diced

For the Tzatziki
1 Long Cucumber, peeled, sliced in half
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
1 Clove Garlic, chopped
1 tsp Dried Dill
1/4 Lemon, juiced

1 tbsp Olive oil & 1 tbsp Butter for skillet
Avocado Slices & Spinach for topping
Whole Wheat Buns

Using a small spoon, scrape the seeds out of the cucumber.  Slice, sprinkle with salt and let sit in colainder for about 30 minutes to drain. Using a food processor, pulse drained cucumber, garlic, lemon and dill until blended. Mix in yogurt and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together salsa ingredients and set aside.

In a blender or food processor, pulse tilapia until chopped.  Transfer to a bowl and add remaining ingredients.  Mix well. Using your hands, form tilapia into 6 tight patties.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add butter and olive oil.  Once melted, place patties in skillet and cook for a few minutes on each side until golden brown.

Whole Wheat Buns

Peeking at the dough occasionally, getting nervous it wasn’t rising enough, I was convinced the buns would not turn out.  Thinking they would rise more, I made them small, turns out a little too small for these burgers.

Although small in size, they still taste great!

(Adapted from Food Network)

Whole Wheat Buns
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 Envelope Active Dry Yeast
1 1/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Flax Seeds
2 tbsp Cornmeal
Flour for Counter

1 Egg
1 tbsp Milk
Butter for Baking Dish

In a small saucepan, warm honey, butter and milk until just warm to the touch.  In a small bowl, combine sugar and water. Add yeast, stir and set aside until mixture foams (about 10 minutes).

In a medium size bowl, mix together flours, salt, seeds and cornmeal until combined. Add yeast and milk mixtures, and mix together with a wooden spoon. Mix until dough just comes together.

Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead together until dough is smooth and elastic. About 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. Place into large, oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set bowl in a warm spot and let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

Punch down dough and turn onto work surface.  Cut into 3 equal pieces, then into 4 smaller pieces.  (Or 3 smaller pieces if you would like bigger buns). In the palm of your hands, form dough into a smooth ball. Place buns on a buttered cookie sheet and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 375F. Whisk together milk and egg. Using a pastry brush, generously brush tops and sides of buns until covered.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until buns are golden brown.  Makes 9-12 buns, depending on size

Banana Zucchini Mini Loaves

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This is no ordinary banana bread.

It is truly delicious, and with no butter or oil, just the help of a small zucchini to keep it moist.

A few extra features include the addition of walnuts, dried cranberries, & unsweetened coconut.

If you want a little more nutrition, feel free to add some flax seeds and hemp hearts. With only 1/8 cup each, you can’t even taste them in there, but you can always add more if your heart desires.

Adapted from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

2 Large Eggs
1/4 cup Honey
1 cup mashed bananas, about 2-3 bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 heaping cup finely grated zucchini, about 1 medium
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
1/8 cup whole flax seeds (optional)
1/8 cup hemp hearts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. With a pastry brush, lightly grease an 8 cup mini loaf pan with butter.

In a large bowl, mix together eggs, honey, mashed bananas & vanilla extract. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together flours, sat, baking soda, baking powder & cinnamon.

Stir the dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mix until just combined, do not overmix.

Stir in remaining ingredients, & flax seeds & hemp hearts, if using.

Divide batter evenly among loaf cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Flip loaves on their side to cool in pan or remove completely and let cool on wire rack.

Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer up to 1 month.

For regular size loaf, grease loaf pan lightly and bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Blueberry Bran Flax Muffins

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It poured rain all day yesterday, and I mean all day, nonstop, pouring.  I still had a pretty great day though, made some yummy healthy muffins while Calla slept, visited with Scotty at work, cleaned house & saw a movie with some girlfriends.

Now today was beautiful, the rain did some good! The streets were cleaned up a bit, grass is turning greener, new growth is sprouting and you feel an appreciation for the sunshine so much more.

I am a big fan of bran muffins, I just like the texture of them, and they’re so good for you.  These ones turned out especially yummy with the blueberry addition.  I used whole flax seeds instead of ground for some extra crunch, and the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup quinoa flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, however, all I had was whole wheat flour and I couldn’t tell the difference, they were still moist and light.

You really can’t go wrong with the 3 main ingredients in these muffins.  Blueberries are an excellent antioxidant, contain vitamin c and beta-carotene. Flax seeds truly are a perfect food.  They’re high in Omega-3 & -6 essential fatty acids, potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B3, vitamin E, anti-inflammatory, good for asthma and reduce bloating.  Bran is very high in dietary fiber, also iron and protein. Now, really, must I go on?

(Adapted from Quinoa 365 – The Everyday Superfood)

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk, or 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup flax seeds, ground or whole
1 1/4 cups wheat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup blueberries, frozen

Preheat oven to 425F. Line 12 cup muffin pan with muffin liners or brush cups lightly with butter.

Mix together sugar and oil until smooth. Add maple syrup and beaten eggs and mix well. Stir in buttermilk, then flax and bran. Set mixture aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Gently toss blueberries in flour mixture.

Carefully fold dry ingredients into wet mixture, stir just enough to combine but do not overmix.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, distributing evenly.

Bake in center of oven for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in pan, then flip muffins on their side in pan, or move muffins to wire rack to cool completely.

Store in sealed container in refrigerator up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 1 month.