Last night, the Baker suggested I wrote a cookbook about all my muffins I have been baking up. He suggested the title “Muffin Top”. I laughed, though it might be appropriate since these muffins are so good it is hard to keep your hands off them. Makes you want to eat muffins post-run, for snack, for dessert (and maybe every meal in between). They are healthy, but if you started a 3 muffin a day habit, might not go so well. Which is why I love being able to share my experiments with my early morning Thursday trail run crew.

I have started a list of all the possible combinations I want to try. It makes me really excited.

At this point, I feel like I am working on two projects. One is to create a whole host of creative combinations of muffins. And two is to perfect the muffin mixture itself. That means, I am really looking for the perfect base. Things I could universally change about them all to make them each individually better. One of the things that I discovered with this batch was that the addition of a teaspoon of baking powder makes a huge difference. I am eager to go back and work on the other flavors I have already done to see what a difference it makes. It’s amazing how something so small and subtle can make such a huge difference.

Each week, I build on the previous week and each week am rewarded by the evolution of the muffin. This combination of ingredients absolutely shined. Not only in terms of the flavor profile, but texturally. They were incredibly light with splashes of texture from the mixed in shredded coconut, bits of pineapple and walnut. The strongest, yet not overpowering flavor was pineapple, the coconut was very subtle. They reminded me of pineapple upside down cake.

One of my friends thanked me for the cupcakes. Naturally, I got indignant and thought, “these are not cupcakes! No, these are muffins!” But as soon as I thought about it, I wondered. What really is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake. Does it really just come down to frosting? Yes, no and maybe. If you were to throw frosting on these babies and present them to someone as a cupcake, they would not bat an eye. There are differences in the amount of flour used in a normal muffin vs. normal cupcake (normal meaning Gluten) and that is about it, with cupcakes having less. Bake time and temperature is also different.

I tend to think that the type of muffins I desire are very different than the type of cupcakes. While a banana ginger muffin sounds great, a banana ginger cupcake sounds odd. If I am going to include chocolate in the game, I would never lie to myself and say there is ANY difference between a chocolate muffin vs. chocolate cupcake except the frosting. You don’t get back much in the way of health benefits on that just by calling it something different.

I basically feel that muffins and cupcakes are on a related spectrum and they can be more closely related or not depending on what is included in each. And frosting, frosting I think is the biggest delineation between the two. Whatever their differences, these muffins were delicious and brought up the idea of a pineapple upside down cake, without having to sacrifice its healthiness and heartiness that you want out of a good muffin at breakfast.

Gluten Free Coconut Pineapple Walnut Muffins

Ingredients

1 can pineapple chunks or crushed
½ cup almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup butter
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 ⅓ cups brown rice flour
⅔ cups garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp lime zest
¼ cup shredded coconut, plus more for sprinkling
¼ cup walnuts, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 and line with parchment cups/grease 2 muffin pans (12 muffins). In a food processor, mix together the pineapple, almond milk and butter. Mix in the two types of brown sugar and vanilla and mix until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients including the 1/4 cup shredded coconut and 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts until incorporated. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine.

Scoop about 1/4 cup of muffin mix into the muffin pans, making 9-12 muffins. Sprinkle the muffins with shredded coconut and bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, about 25-27 minutes.

* I was thinking an interesting substitute would be coconut oil instead of butter. Not tested, but probably would work excellent.

I know I am a strange person. That is not news to anyone who knows me.

Yesterday I was reminded again that the things I eat and the foods I crave are also not normal. I was doing an interview for DailyMile and we were discussing food and I mentioned craving salads and vegetables which produced a quizzical look. Later on that day, when I was talking to Scott my massage therapist at Psoas, he said “I never crave fruits and vegetables, just fatty food or sugar, etc”. Never? Really?!

I thought about it for a while since honest to goodness I don’t have sugar cravings, in fact I wouldn’t really say I have cravings at all. Usually on my long runs I start thinking about the food I will refuel with and get particularly fixated on something but it’s not a true craving and even if it were, well, I usually have earned it. On my 34.5 mile run this Sunday I got fixated on the idea of having roast chicken and salad for dinner and ultimately that is what we had. Rotisserie chicken from Limon and a big leaf salad. Really hit the spot.

After all the talk of food cravings or not, last night all I could think about was a big green salad. Not your restaurant style green salad which is usually just beautiful greens plus a delicious dressing. I am talking greens, green vegetables and even a herb-y dressing. Yes, I was craving it. I needed to tame that green monster.

And wow was it good. I actually ate WAY slower than I usually do so I could savor each and every bite. The only things that weren’t green in this salad were the baked tofu and the sauerkraut. I felt like a superhero after eating this salad. I felt invigorated and satisfied. It is definitely one that I will be making again and again. Salad may not be rocket science, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be profound on occasion.

Greener than Green Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup broccoli, lightly steamed (to make it less gas producing)

2 stalks of kale, cut into ribbons

4-6 cups of greens including arugula, spinach

2 tbsp fresh cilantro

1 green onion, chopped

1/2 cup sauerkraut

1 package baked tofu

1/2 avocado

1 cup rice vinegar

4 cloves garlic minced

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp fresh ginger

2-3 tbsp mixed fresh herbs

1/2 cup+ peanut oil

Directions:

Mix vinegar, garlic, herbs, sesame oil, ginger in a blender. With the motor running, add in peanut oil until dressing emulsifies.

In a large bowl, put the cut kale into the bowl and add 2 tbsps dressing. With clean bare hands, massage the kale for 30 seconds until the leaves slightly soften. Add in greens, spinach, arugula, cilantro, and green onions. Toss to coat with dressing adding more to taste. Top with steamed broccoli, avocado, tofu and sauerkraut. Enjoy. This salad is definitely a meal, split it into two and have it as a side.

Speaking of weird cravings, last week I was seriously jonesing for chickpeas. I mean really, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I decided for Wednesday dinner that I would call on my inner Greek and make some recipes from Vefa’s Kitchen which I had gotten over the weekend. I made Vegetable and Garbanzo Bean Casserole as well as Chicken Souvlaki. Both were delicious and I am super keen to try more recipes from the cookbook. It is a good one, a classic and a compendium of Greek Food (it’s been called the bible of traditional Greek Food). I won’t share the recipes, but I will share a few photos of the delicious final product!

I am so happy. I love where I live. California rocks. Seriously.

View of the Pacific Ocean from Point Lobos

Over the weekend, I headed down the coast for a super secret mission that involved a trip to the Monterey Aquarium, wine tasting, and all sorts of adventures from San Francisco down to Monterey. There was Whale Spotting from Point Lobos Wildlife Reserve, Porchetta Sandwiches from Roli Roti and a Saturday night picnic of fresh greens, pickled vegetables (Happy Girl Kitchen), and roast chicken & potatoes (also Roli Roti) from the San Francisco Saturday Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. Lunch in Santa Cruz at Walnut Ave Cafe of tofu scrambles and potatoes. There was a perfect run up the Skyline-to-Sea trail and watching the sun go down over the Pacific Ocean. I am sure I am missing a fresh from the market persimmon and loads of Jer’s Chocolate Peanut Butter in there too. It was fantastic. It was the kind of weekend where at the end you sigh and say, “wow, we live in an amazing place”. I ate good food, ran in amazing places, slept in the biggest bed ever, and pulled off the birthday surprise of the century. Ok, well maybe not the century, but I kept a secret for like a month and that is a big deal. While the weekend sounds packed, it was actually the most fun relaxed weekend I have had in a long long time. After the stress of the holidays, we all need a little vacation right?

Looking up and forward to the new year.

After the weekends activities, actually for about a week before and even now, I have been seriously hankering for hearty, pickled vegetable laden salads. Probably post-holiday balancing after eating a few things my body doesn’t like (gluten). I ate really healthy and light for most of the holiday season, but ate my mom’s Stollen that she makes every year and a super secret sugar cookie or two as well. As we were driving back, salad was on our minds and I suggested a salad I had been playing with over the course of the week. Fresh greens, arugula, sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, roast onion and a very bright herb dressing. After a bit of brainstorming, we decided that the additions of a nice soft cheese and avocado would take it to the next level. It was awesome.

This salad balances the light crisp flavors of the greens, dressing, sauerkraut and arugula with the hearthy, warm winter vegetables of sweet potato and roast onion. Profoundly good for being profoundly simple. This salad is a keeper.

Sauerkraut, Sweet Potato and Roast Onion Salad

5 cups salad greens
3 cups arugula
2 sweet potato
2 small red onion, sliced
2 cups sauerkraut
2 small avocado, chopped
½ cup soft cheese, crumbled
red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Baked Sweet Potatoes until tender. With about 10 minutes left before the sweet potatoes are done, roast red onions on a baking sheet with parchment paper until tender.

Compose salad in large bowls. Toss greens and arugula with red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients to taste.