The Best Lavender Blueberry Muffins

There are no words to describe how perfect these muffins are. They are so incredibly moist and fluffy. The wild blueberries lend a robust tartness, the lavender is floral and comforting and sugar sprinkled on top gives a nice, sweet crunch. I don't know if I'll be able to resist making them again this weekend!

I have a different blueberry muffin recipe on Produce On Parade. You can see it here. But I didn't do my homework well enough. Move aside old blueberry muffins because these muffins will top any other blueberry muffin you've ever have tried. Yes, I am making that claim. I will never look for a different base recipe for blueberry muffins. They are that good. I of course "veganized", and "snobbified" this recipe from Cook's Illustrated. If you don't know about Cook's Illustrated then you better go find out about here. I can pretty much credit everything I've ever learned about how to cook well, to my parents and Cook's Illustrated. Cook's Illustrated is a magazine. They also have a site online as well as podcasts! Growing up, my grandparents as well as my parents subscribed to the magazine and I looked forward to it every month. I loved the always changing watercolor illustrations of various fruits and vegetables that was on the back cover. Yet, my favorite part of the magazine was the "Taste Test" part, where they ranked various canned/boxed or jarred food items by taste and affordability. I also loved the "What Is It?" article. Readers send in photos of some random and obscure kitchen gadgets that they found in their great grandmother's kitchen and they are explained in detail what they are and what they were used for. In regards to the images in the magazine, most are all sketched as opposed to actual photos which is really cool. As somewhat of an artist myself, I always cherished that. Though, I don't get the magazines anymore because I use the online subscription.

Don't know the difference between quinoa and couscous? Does chopping an onion take more than 5 minutes? If you're new to cooking, or just looking to better your chef skills, Cooks Illustrated is where to get your start. They even have an online "cooking school". Take a look at their site to see recipes, equipment reviews (which I love!), and taste tests. America's Test Kitchen is under the same umbrella as Cook's Illustrated as well as Cook's Country and they're one of my favorite shows on television. If you've never checked out the show, there's a link to when they air on TV, here. I feel I should note that I am in no way affiliated with them, though I wish I was...I just really think there's a lot to learn from them!

Okay, so let's remember this muffin recipe was inspired by them. They are divine. I made these for our family's August birthday party. Todd as well as my Grandma, Grandpa, Dad and Uncle all have August birthdays so we just have one big celebration towards the end of the month. I will tell you that there was German chocolate (the standard) as well as red velvet cake at the party, but my little brother only wanted the muffins. He kept asking me, "Is it okay if I have another?" I think he had three or four! There are no words to describe how perfect these muffins are.

The Best Lavender Blueberry Muffins

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

There are no words to describe how perfect these muffins are. They are so incredibly moist and fluffy. The wild blueberries lend a robust tartness, the lavender is floral and comforting and sugar sprinkled on top gives a nice, sweet crunch. I don't know if I'll be able to resist making them again this weekend!

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed
• 2 Tbsp. cold water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup granulated vegan sugar
• 1/4 cup vegan butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 1/4 cups (10 oz.) vegan sour cream
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries, wild if you can find them
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lavender, minced
• extra sugar, for sprinkling on top

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and spray a regular 12 muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk together the cold water and flaxseed and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
4. In an electric stand mixer bowl or a large bowl add the flax mixture and the sugar and whisk vigorously for about 1 minute. Add the butter and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and sour cream in two steps, mixing until just combined.
5. Add the frozen blueberries and lavender to the dry mixture; toss to coat. Gently fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture until just combined. Be very cautious not to overmix. There may even be some sprays of flour and that's okay. The batter should be very thick.
6. Drop an even amount of dough into each muffin space on the pan. Do not flatten or arrange the batter and do not overfill. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes until somewhat firm and a light golden brown around the edges. Rotate the pan halfway through.
7. Remove from pan and place on a wire cooling rack; sprinkle with sugar if you like and allow them to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 00:30
Total time: 00:40
Yield: 12 muffins

Roasted Fall Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas with Sprouted Beans

This week, I cannot bear to go to the grocery store. I just can't. It's upsetting. I love going to the grocery store. It's seriously one of my favorite domestic, and mundane things to do. I love perusing the fresh produce, and checking out the "ethnic" aisle. I love looking for new, and excited food things I've never seen before. It's just the best. And the hippie (organic) aisle! Don't even get me started. Oh lord, and bulk bins! Oh my!

Anyways, when Todd and I moved to...Wasilla (hometown to Sarah Palin, and the pot-smoking capital of the world, my two least favorite of it's notorieties )...it never occurred to me that I would be frequenting a different Fred Meyer than my beloved Palmer Fred Meyer. The Palmer store is small, well stocked, never too busy, clean and just infused with that sense of wonderful, small-town loveliness. Palmerians - make fun of me all you want but I'm willing to bet I've traveled more than you, and I'm here to tell you that Palmer's a pretty sweet little town. If you have happened to have traveled more than I, then by all means go ahead and make fun of my love for my quaint hometown. It's time to get over yourself...we all came back after college anyway. You know it's true.

Anyway, back to the Wasilla Fred Meyer...oh lord. It's busy, everyone's grumpy and impertinent, the aisles are narrow, and let's not forget that it's never freaking stocked! The last time I was there, I overheard a frail, little old lady in one of those electric chair-cart things, ranting to the produce man about how absurdly the produce stands were set up. I felt bad for him because I am sure he had no influence over their new arrangement. He agreed, as do I, that they are set up ridiculously. It's painfully obvious that the person who designed their arrangement doesn't do the grocery shopping in his/her family.

I normally go to the grocery store about twice a week, sometimes more, to get all the things I need to make about five different meals for the week. But not this week. I've been avoiding the store. This translates to me trying to remember what we do happen to have on hand and scouring the web for recipes that I'll have at least half the ingredients for. Lucky for you, I've got one hearty Fall meal to share. And I didn't even  have to go to the store.

This Roasted Fall Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas with Sprouted Beans dish is spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and fresh ginger. Sweetened with maple syrup and reminiscent of pumpkin pie or dessert yams, the sprouted beans bring this dish back down to Fall dinner requirements. Robust, warm and satisfying.

Roasted Fall Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas with Sprouted Beans

Inspired by the amazing Sprouted Kitchen

Serves 6-8

• 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 3  medium sweet potatoes (about 2.5 lbs), diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp. melted vegan butter
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 1/3 cup dry TruRoots Sprouted Bean Trio (or 2 cups of your favorite beans, cooked)
• 6 cups of water

Begin by preheating the oven to 425 F.

Add the garbanzo beans, sweet potatoes and onions to a large casserole dish and stir to combine.

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In a small bowl combine the remaining ingredients, excluding the thyme and the beans. Whisk well to combine then pour over the garbanzo bean, sweet potato and onion mixture. Mix well to coat evenly.

Sprinkle the fresh thyme leaves over the top and bake at 425 F for 40 minutes. Stir halfway through the 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the dry bean trio and water to a boil in a large saucepan. Once boiling, cover and simmer for 8 minutes then remove from heat. Allow to sit for 15 minutes, still covered. After the 15 minutes are up, drain. If you're using already cooked beans or canned beans then just heat them and serve over the sweet potato mixture.

Serve the beans over the sweet potato mixture.

Roasted Fall Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas with Sprouted Beans

Recipe Type: Entree

Author: Katie - Produce On Parade

Serves: 6-8

This Roasted Fall Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas with Sprouted Beans dish is spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and fresh ginger. Sweetened with maple syrup and reminiscent of pumpkin pie or dessert yams, the sprouted beans bring this dish back down to Fall dinner requirements. Robust, warm and satisfying.

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 3 medium sweet potatoes (about 2.5 lbs), diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp. melted vegan butter
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 1/3 cup dry TruRoots Sprouted Bean Trio (or 2 cups of your favorite beans, cooked)
• 6 cups of water

Instructions

1. Begin by preheating the oven to 425 F.
2. Add the garbanzo beans, sweet potatoes and onions to a large casserole dish and stir to combine.
3. In a small bowl combine the remaining ingredients, excluding the thyme and the beans. Whisk well to combine then pour over the garbanzo bean, sweet potato and onion mixture. Mix well to coat evenly.
4. Sprinkle the fresh thyme leaves over the top and bake at 425 F for 40 minutes. Stir halfway through the 40 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, bring the dry bean trio and water to a boil in a large saucepan. Once boiling, cover and simmer for 8 minutes then remove from heat. Allow to sit for 15 minutes, still covered. After the 15 minutes are up, drain. If you're using already cooked beans or canned beans then just heat them and serve over the sweet potato mixture.
6. Serve the beans over the sweet potato mixture.

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Please forgive my grocery store rant but...hey...sometimes you just need to let it all out. Damn you, Wasilla Fred Meyer!

Blueberry Breakfast Polenta with Toasted Coconut

Blueberries, sweet corn and toasted coconut. Some may think it's an odd combination, but I am here to assure you that it is an absolute divine marriage of flavors and texture. I'd never had polenta for breakfast and I thought it was about time. It's kind of like oatmeal for breakfast but the polenta is a finer texture of course and maybe a bit sweeter. It's fun to try new things! So, if you're bored of oatmeal try this breakfast instead and think outside the oatmeal box. When I first ditched cow's milk a couple years ago, I tried Silk's coconut milk. It was watery and bland to say the least and it made me very sad. I forgot about coconut milk and moved onto almond milk. Later down the road, of course, I began to make my own almond milk! If you want to learn how and all the lessons I found out the hard way, check out my post here.

Well, I recently decided to give Silk's coconut milk a go again. It had "Great New Taste!" slapped across the front of the carton so obvs I had to see what was up. I can't be passing that up! Boy am I glad I didn't...it was delicious! Their new coconut milk is creamy and thick, silky and very coconutty.

I don't want to know what kind of coconut-flavor additives they put in there to get it that way, because I am sure that their original coconut milk was probably more akin to the coconut milk that'd one would actually get from a real, legit, hairy coconut. Out of curiosity I looked at the ingredients and they are, " Coconutmilk (Filtered Water, Coconut Cream), Cane Sugar, Natural Flavor, Carrageenan, Yam Flour." Apparently coconut milk is one word? I don't know...is that right?? Anyways, nothing seemed to crazy. Carrageenan isn't that great, but it's pretty unavoidable if you're buying carton non-dairy milk of any type.

Regardless of how they do it...what I know is that I love the new wonderfully coconutty flavor! So, of course, it was the perfect milk to go along with this breakfast polenta. The toasted coconut chips give a wonderful and toasty crunch. The sweet corn kernels are delightful bursts of texture and the show-stealer of this dish is of course the wild blueberries!

Wild blueberries and store-bought blueberries are two entirely different creatures. If you can get your hands on some wild ones, I think you'll find that they're delightfully tart and bursting with flavor, as opposed to their lackluster cousins at the store. They're smaller as well much less watery. Here, I used my wild, frozen berries and just popped them into the bowl! No need to thaw them out or anything like that. They're perfect as is. Oh wonders of the universe, take my back to Saturday please!

Blueberry Breakfast Polenta with Toasted Coconut

Inspired by the wonderful The Whinery

Serves 4

• 1 cup coconut chips, toasted
• 4 cups of coconut milk (and a little extra for serving), I use Silk's Original Coconut Milk
• 1 cup dry polenta
• 1 cup sweet corn kernels
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 cup blueberries, I used wild frozen

To toast the coconut chips, if already not toasted, bake at 300 F on a clean cookie baking sheet for about 15 minutes. The coconut should be in "chip" style as opposed to "flakes". Below are coconut "chips".

In a medium saucepan bring 3 1/2 cups of coconut milk to a  boil. Add the dry polenta and whisk continually for about 5 minutes, until it's very thick.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut milk as well as the sweet corn kernels. Whisk well to combine and then remove from heat.

Add the remaining ingredients excluding the coconut chips and the blueberries and stir well to combine.

Garnish each bowl with a quarter of the coconut chips and the blueberries.

Pour however much milk you'd like over the polenta and serve warm.

Bobby enjoyed his warm breakfast of peanut butter and puppy chow!

A wonderful and warm breakfast for a rainy, late summer Saturday.

Blueberry Breakfast Polenta with Toasted Coconut

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Author: Katie - Produce On Parade

Serves: 4

Toasted coconut chips give a wonderful and toasty crunch, the sweet corn kernels are delightful bursts of texture and the show-stealer of this dish is of course the wild blueberries!

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut chips, toasted
• 4 cups of coconut milk (and a little extra for serving), I use Silk's Original Coconut Milk
• 1 cup dry polenta
• 1 cup sweet corn kernels
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 cup blueberries, I used wild frozen

Instructions

1. To toast the coconut chips, if already not toasted, bake at 300 F on a clean cookie baking sheet for about 15 minutes.
2. In a medium saucepan bring 3 1/2 cups of coconut milk to a boil. Add the dry polenta and whisk continually for about 5 minutes, until it's very thick.
3. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut milk as well as the sweet corn kernels. Whisk well to combine and then remove from heat.
4. Add the remaining ingredients excluding the coconut chips and the blueberries and stir well to combine.
5. Garnish each bowl with a quarter of the coconut chips and the blueberries.
6. Pour however much milk you'd like over the polenta and serve warm.

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