Sweet Omelets

This is a no hassle omelet recipe, perfect for a Saturday brunch. The combination of honey and pine nuts is delicate and surprising.

Ingredients: (makes four omelets)

6 large eggs
2 tbs milk
2 tsp honey
3 tbsp pine nuts
1 tsb chopped parsley
Salt an pepper

Recipe:
First toast the pine nuts in the oven for about ten minutes at 200C, until they turn a golden brown.

In a bowl, gently mix the eggs with the milk. (Don't whip it or the omelet will turn too airy)
Prepare each omelet separately. In a frying pan with oil or butter over low heat, pour a quarter of the egg mixture. Turn the pan a bit to the sides to make sure the mixture spreads all over, making the omelets as thin as possible.
When the top is almost ready carefully turn the omelet over.
Gently drip half a teaspoon of honey in a strip along the middle of the omelet, sprinkle with pine nuts.
Now roll the omelet and place on a serving plate.
Repeat for the other omelets. Sprinkle with parsley, the remaining pine nuts and a pinch of salt and pepper. You can serve them warm or at room temperature.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

Banana muffins are great for breakfast or a snack on the run. We like to always have some ready for guests who stop by to visit. These muffins are adapted from Dorie Greenspan's wonderful column Baking with Dorie on Serious Eats. Lately we have been eating a lot of whole grains and have emitted butter from our diet (summer is officially on its way). Here we substituted whole wheat flour for regular flour, vegetable oil for butter, brown sugar for white sugar, almond milk for yogurt and added chopped mixed nuts instead of chocolate. So... having once made Dorie's delicious muffins, these muffins are completely different, but we think just as delicious. They are also a healthier version.

 Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup almond milk (you can alternatively use sour cream or plain yogurt)
3 ounces chopped mixed nuts, optional (I used a combination of Brazilian nuts, hazel nuts, walnuts and almonds)

The Recipe
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 12 regular-size muffin cups.
Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together well.
Add the sugar to the oil, beat at medium speed for around two minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then the egg, beating for about 1 minute. Mix in the bananas. Then, mix in half the dry ingredients, all the almond milk and then the rest of the flour mixture. Stir in the chopped nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake for 10 to 20 minutes (pay attention since every oven is different, we burned ours a little-oops), or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Transfer the muffin tin to a rack, cool for 3 minutes, then gently turn the muffins out of the tin. Cool to room temperature on a rack.

Healthy Low-Fat Cornbread

We have been experimenting with cornbread for a while, trying to create a healthy recipe (butter free and not overly sweet). After many trials we think we found it.

Ingredients:
1 cup of cornmeal
1 cup of whole wheat flour
3 tbs. brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup almond milk (you can use soy milk or regular milk)
1/3 cup vegetable oil

The recipe:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F). Lightly grease a 9 inch round spring-form pan.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into the pan and bake for 20 minutes. It's ready when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

A Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast

We don't like eating a sugary breakfast and this delicious whole oatmeal is a healthy alternative.

Ingredients:
6 tbs. raw whole oats (not Quaker)
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup almond milk (you can also use soy, rice or regular milk)

for the topping:
1 banana. sliced
1tbs. raisins
1tbs. pumpkin seeds (not salted, we like to use organic)
1tbs. sunflower seeds (not salted)
1tbs. almonds

The Recipe:
Cook the oatmeal and liquids in a small pot over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. When done, remove from heat and top with bananas, seeds, nuts and raisins.

Thai Black Grape and Cashew Muffins

In Bangkok we bought the wonderful Doi Khan Cookbook. It's a funny little cookbook, with a collection of recipes compiled by the Royal Project Foundation. The recipes are all written by Thai aristocrats including the Royal Highness herself! Though most of the book is Thai food, we found this delicious recipe for Black Grapes and Cashew Muffins and had to try it out. Apparently, Thais don't only eat Thai food, and if it's fit for their Queen, it will most certainly suit us Royals.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup lightly crushed cashews
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
125gr melted butter
1 cup fresh black grapes

The recipe:
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Mix in the cashews.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together with the butter and milk and then combine with the flour mixture. Finally, lightly stir in the black grapes.
Spoon into buttered muffin pans, making sure you don't fill them up completely (allow room for them to rise).
Bake for about 20 minutes, and serve warm.

Oat Porridge With Pecans And Honey

Eating porridge for breakfast has lately become a routine for us. It is a healthy and filling way to start a lazy chilly morning. Today we tried this extremely simple and tasty recipe which we adapted from "The Healthy Kitchen" by Shaily Lipa Angel and Orly Pely-Bronshtein.

Ingredients (for two servings):

1 cup whole oats (the real thing - not Quaker!)

2 cups skimmed milk

2 tbsp. honey

1/2 tsp lemon zest

salt

shelled pecans for garnish

The recipe:

In a pot, bring the oats, milk, honey, lemon zest and dash of salt to a boil. Lower the heat and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the porridge is thickened, stir occasionally.

While the porridge is cooking, toast the pecans in the oven (180c) for 5-10 minutes, but be careful not to burn them.

When the porridge is ready, transfer to serving bowls, sprinkle with pecans and hope this morning never ends.

  

Leftover Rice Porridge

If you're looking for something to do with your last night's rice, here's an idea.
For breakfast we took out some remaining brown rice and cooked it in a pot with soy milk for a few minutes (about 1/4 cup soy milk for every cup of rice). When the rice absorbed the milk we removed from heat, placed into bowls and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.