Gluten-Free Quinoa Breakfast Muffins

We had friends over for brunch today and instead of the standard waffles/bacon/eggs/ I wanted to try something healthier and gluten-free.

I had some left over, frozen quinoa from my Gluten-Free Curried Quinoa Salad and that was my base. Adding some eggs, fresh diced veggies and spices turned into delicious, filling and healthy Gluten-Free Quinoa Breakfast Muffins.

Easy. Tasty. Healthy and hearty.

What You'll Need (makes one dozen muffins):

• Muffin tins
• Large bowl
• 2.5 cups cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup cooked bacon cubes or diced, pre-cooked low fat ham (pre-cooked, low fat ham would be preferred, but you can't find that in this country - so, I pre-cooked bacon cubes instead. I pre-cooked them so I could drain the bacon fat out first)
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used gouda...as I live in Holland)
• 1/2 cup diced red pepper (can be your favourite colour pepper, I find red and orange the nicest)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup diced green onion
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp your favourite chicken or bbq rub - I used The Silk Road Spice Merchant's Saltwater Chili-Lime Seasoning as it has just the right amount of zing

What You'll Do:

• Cook your quinoa - let cool
• Cook your bacon cubes - drain all fat and let cool
• Dice your red pepper, green onions and cilantro
• Pre-heat your oven to 350C (175F)
• In your large bowl - add in your eggs and egg whites, cooked bacon or ham cubes, shredded cheese of choice, diced cilantro, pepper of choice and green onion
• Twist in your pepper

• With a fork, whisk until fully combined
• Add in your pre-cooked, cooled quinoa (you don't want this to be hot because when you add it to the egg mixture, it will start to cook the raw egg)
• Mix thoroughly until all quinoa is covered 
• Lightly oil your muffin tins
• Spoon in the quinoa mixture into the muffin tins - pressing down on the mixture to ensure the mixture is firmly packed in

• Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges start to look brown
• Remove and let cool for 5 minutes or until firm enough to remove from the tins
• Enjoy!

This recipe is a good quinoa breakfast muffin 'base' recipe.
Not a fan of pepper - try diced, pre-cooked broccoli, grated zucchini or tomatoes instead.
You really can add whatever vegetable into these as you wish or have in the fridge.
To make these fancier - you can cook them inside 'ham breakfast muffin cups'.
Want to make them spicy - toss in some hot sauce and spicy BBQ rub seasoning.
They are also excellent to freeze and will keep in the fridge two-three days.

Practical little buggers! Martha would like that.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (this would be a 2 if you have pre-cooked quinoa and pre-cooked ham at hand)

Dukan Cauliflower Mashed 'Potatoes'

Potatoes are not a part of the Dukan diet until you reach the stablization phase and can start incorporating 'celebration meals' and once-per-week starches.

I am from the Canadian Prairies and therefore a meat and potatoes kinda gal. I am really trying to break that habit though by incorporating other vegetables that offer me a lot more in terms of health benefits.

I started reading up on the wonders of cauliflower (or, 'bloemkool' in Dutch:) and thought I would try to create the perfect cauliflower mashed 'potato'.

Did you know cauliflowers are:

• an excellent source of vitamin C - a great anti-oxidant (I know, and they're not even orange;)
• very high in vitamin K - which helps aid in decreasing inflammation
• high in fiber
• a good source of protein
• a super tasty alternative to potato...so here is the recipe!

What You'll Need (serves four):

• a blender
• one medium-sized cauliflower
• one 1/2 cube of low-sodium chicken stock
• 1.5 cups of water (to be boiled)
• generous twist of freshly ground pepper
• large dollop of fat-free plain Greek yogurt (my favourite kind is the Total 0% brand - super thick and creamy)

                                I know what you are thinking...I should be a hand model.

What You'll Do:
I have a steaming oven (and so does Martha, I'm sure), so I use that to steam my vegetables, but, if you don't, never fear - you can steam your cauliflower the conventional way on your stove top by covering it in seasoned water and letting it simmer, covered, until soft.

• prep your cauliflower by removing all the green leaves and stem
• chop your cauliflower into smaller chunks 
• place the pieces in your pan, cut side down
• boil 1.5 cups of water
• place your 1/2 cube of low-sodium chicken stock in the boiled water
• stir until dissolved

• Pour the chicken stock mixture over your cauliflower
• Let simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until very tender

• Using a slotted spoon, take the softened cauliflower from your steaming pan and place inside your blender
• Plop in your dollop of fat-free Greek yogurt

• Twist in your pepper
• Add a whisper of the remaining, seasoned water (I usually use about 1/4 cup but this depends on the freshness of your cauliflower. If it is older and drier, you may find you need a little more water. Easy does it though as you don't want your mixture to be too watery)
• Mix through using a spatula
• Blend until semi-smooth (I like leaving a few little lumps as it makes the cauliflower mixture much more believable in it's potato disguise)
• Remove from blender and serve with another twist of ground pepper on top
• That's it!

I just love this recipe as you can eat this as it is, as a side of mash, or you can use it as a topper. For example, I love to make Dukan-friendly 'Sheppard's Pie' where you add this on the top. Or, when I make zucchini boats, I add this onto the top.

Other additions you can try with this recipe:

• If you fancy garlic, add in a clove of this either in the seasoned water mixture while steaming for a milder taste, or into the blender for a stronger taste
• Not on the Dukan diet? Add in some shredded cheese while blending
• Don't have low-fat yogurt on hand? Use low-fat quark or even low-fat cream cheese.

Play around with it. I would love to know what other recipes you use this on!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 (Its hard to make them magazine-spread worthy looking)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2