Savory Quinoa Breakfast Muffins
Today on my blog is a gorgeous post from one of my gorgeous friend Kankana. She is a friend for life and having her around makes me feel light and happy. She is smart, creative and funny. I love the way she talks – freaking hilarious! Everyone who meet her will like to wrap into a gift and take her home. Yes, such is her warmth and love. When we hang out, we behave like girls from high school; talking about everything under the sky. Her blog is a inspiration for many, including me. Kankana’s Playful Cooking is a playground where she plays effortlessly and creatively to bring delicious, appealing food to the table. Do hop over to her blog to see what I am saying.
Now over to Kankana.
When I moved from Bangalore to California, the one thing I knew I would miss were my friends. I have a bunch of those. Bubbly, cheerful and happy, always there for me, always make me smile and even scolds me when I am wrong. They rocked my life. I feel lucky, really lucky that even though we stay miles apart and we don’t get to talk often, things didn’t change even a bit. We easily start off from where we left, effortlessly.
I also feel extremely blessed to make few such friends here in California, friends I can count on for life. Vijitha, is one such friend. I call her Vijji (yeah with a double ‘j’), that’s just me! We like to tease each other, pull each other’s leg, crack silly jokes and when we meet, we yap non-stop for hours with subjects that swing from food to blogging to shopping to life and back to food.
When she requested me to share a recipe for her readers, the first thing that came in my mind was Quinoa. She likes to eat healthy organic food and her two year son, who I like to call ‘dude’ cause he kind of looks like a dude already, has a savory tooth. That kiddo can eat spice like nobody else. He sips water in between and comes running for another bite. Give him something sweet and he would run away. So, a savory quinoa muffin with greens hidden in it was my first choice and she happily approved it.
Preparing the muffin batter takes no time but cooking quinoa will take about 15 minutes or so. It’s best to prepare the quinoa in advance, probably the night before. I added spinach and peas but feel free to improvise with your choice of greens or vegetables. I also added feta cheese for a slight tangy taste, though mozzarella or cedar would work great too! These savory muffins are best for busy weekday breakfast; pick a couple every morning as you rush out of the door.
As much as I love a sweet blueberry muffin, I can never resist freshly baked savory muffins. It’s comforting!
This time, I had the privilege to let the host taste the dish. I baked a batch for Vijji and she loved it, including her husband and her kid. I believe, when a two year old approves anything that has veggies in it, it’s gotta be good!
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup peas
- 1/2 cup spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 zucchini, grated
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- In a pan, mix quinoa with 1½ cup water. Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer until the water is completely absorbed. This should take about 15 minutes. Once done, take it off heat, cover the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, fluff it with a fork and let it cool to room temperature before you mix it to the muffin batter.
- Pre heat the oven to 350F and line the muffin pan with parchment paper or cupcake liners.
- In a bowl, whisk eggs. Then add oil, milk and whisk again.
- In a separate bowl, whisk flour with baking powder, salt and mix the cooled cooked quinoa to it.
- Now, pour flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix using a wooden spoon. Do not whisk or over mix. Add peas, spinach, zucchini, and feta and give it a mix.
- Spoon the batter to prepared muffin pan. Bake it for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked right in the center.
Notes
- Do not over mix the batter. It will make the muffins rough and dry.
- The muffins will stay good for at least a week in an airtight jar. Just heat them in a microwave when you are ready to eat.
