Banana-Orange Pistachio topped muffins

I've really been into having a second breakfast snack to take to work with me when I get hungry. Or for elevensies. I used to bring granola bars (still do some days) but I wanted to mix up my snack work a little bit and have been pretty inspired recently with recipes found on Pinterest.

In the last couple months I've made a variety of yummy bars based on the raspberry bar recipe. I made blueberry bars, peach bars and apricot bars too. They were all delicious although the peace was my favorite!

Next came some healthy breakfast cookie. It was good but total health food. Chewy from lack of flour and the only sweetness came from the bananas. I'm not saying these will not find their way into my snack rotation again, but I was ready to move onto something new after the first batch was gone.

Yesterday I did a search for pistachio muffins and came across a healthy yet yummy sounding recipe. No green dye in these either. What is up with that anyway? Who decided pistachio muffins should be green? Gross.

I made a couple alterations to the original recipe such as using sugar in place of agave and adding some wheat germ. Overall I like these. Just a hint of sweetness which makes them nice for a morning snack.

Hope you enjoy them too! Happy snacking!

Banana-Orange Pistachio Topped Muffins 

Altered from original recipe found on Anja's Food 4 Thought

3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 oranges, grated for zest
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 eggs
3 TBS canola oil
1/2 cup sugar (or more if you like a bit sweeter muffin)

2 cups quick cook oats
1 cup flour
2 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

brown sugar
pistachio nut meats


Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin.

1. Combine mashed banana, orange peel, orange juice, eggs, oil and sugar in a medium bowl. Mix well.

2. Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Spoon batter into muffin tins.

3. Sprinkle some brown sugar and pistachios on top of each muffin.

4. Bake 20 - 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Pistou Soup - French Minestrone

Ok ... I'm really loving The Essential New York Times Cookbook. I've made three recipes from the book so far and each has been delicious.

Last night I made Pistou Soup, which according to the cookbook is a sort of French minestrone. I've been using the same minestrone soup recipe for years and while it's good, hubby was never a big fan, and to be honest it was good but not great. I decided to give this recipe a try and it was a winner, passing the hubby seal of approval which is a big deal when it comes to soups. We both thought the soup was full of flavor ... maybe even a bit surprised by how yummy it was!

This soup is really wonderful and just as scrumptious the next day as leftovers .... I'm having some right now as I type. I made the soup vegetarian by using veggie broth rather than chicken broth.

Pistou Soup

1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 - 2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 turnip, peeled and diced
4 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (I used veggie ... your choice)
1 TBS salt
2 large white potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large leek, white and pale green parts only, diced and rinsed well
1 zucchini, diced
2 handfuls green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used frozen)
2 TBS finely chopped parsley
2 TBS finely chopped basil (wrong season for fresh basil, I used 1 TBS dried)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 large tomatoes, peeled, cored seeded and chopped (uh ... I just cored and chopped)
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup undrained canned white beans ( I used 16 oz can of cannelloni beans)
1 handful thin spaghetti broken into thirds
freshly ground pepper

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 3 minutes. Add the carrot and turnip and cook 1 minute. Stir in the water and broth, bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, potatoes, leek, zucchini and green beans. Simmer 20 minutes, skimming foam from surface if needed.
3. While the soup simmers, combine the parsley and basil in a medium bowl. Stir in garlic, tomatoes and live oil. Set aside.
4. Stir in beans and spaghetti into the soup. simmer 8 minutes.
5. Stir in the tomato mixture into soup, season with salt (if needed ... I did not add any more salt), pepper and simmer 2 minutes longer.

Enjoy!

Greek Lentil Soup

I was given an amazing cookbook for my birthday this year ... The Essential New York Times Cook Book! It's huge. It's hardback. It's wonderful! I could not wait to choose a recipe to try and waited only a few days before trying a soup.

I love lentil soup although my hubby is not such a fan. In order to please us both I decided to make this soup along with other Mediterranean foods including falaful, pita, tzatziki, hummus, etc. We had a scrumptious Greek buffet for dinner which was fabulous! It's a good thing I decided to include all those side dishes because as it turned out I misread the soup instructions and allowed only two hours cook time rather than three, so there was actually no soup for dinner that night.

The soup was amazing for lunch the next day though!

So, if you like lentil soup (and even if you don't) give this one a try. Allow plenty of time for cooking as it does cook forever but it's worth it. I shared this soup with co-workers and they all raved about it. Even my hubby said it was delicious!

Faki (Greek Lentil Soup) from The Essential New York Times Cook Book

1 lb green lentils
8 cups warm water
1 large onion, chopped
 2 - 3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 small stalks celery, finely chopped
5 - 6 canned Italian-style plum tomatoes and their juices
1 large bay leaf
4 sprigs parsley
chopped mint, basil or oregano to taste (I used about 2 TBS mint)
 1/3 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
red wine vinegar

1. Wash and pick over the lentils, and place in a soup pot with warm water to cover. Let stand for 1 hour.
2. Bring the pot of lentils to a boil. Add the onion, garlic, celery and tomatoes, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Stir in the herbs and oil and season with salt and pepper. Continue to simmer, covered, for another 1 1/2 hours or until the soup is very thick and the lentils are tender. Stir occasionally. Add 2 TBS red wine vinegar toward the end.
4. Serve hot with additional vinegar on the side if desired.

*** a couple cooking notes suggested in book***
use regular green lentils
be generous with the salt as the lentils really soak it up
it makes ALOT of soup so be ready to share it or freeze it