It’s May and it’s high time for a Special Project. Let me introduce a Special Project that will (hopefully) run all summer long: Veggie Tales.

Veggie Tales will include fantastic vegetable recipes made from produce found at the farmer’s market or from my own garden (once things start growing). These recipes will also include fruits and mushrooms, which for arguments’ sake will be part of the special project, and to avoid any fruit-or-vegetable debates.

While the recipes may be simple, the goal of this project is to showcase the vegetables as more than a mere side dish. In many cases, the vegetables will be presented in a way as close to their natural, off the vine form. Also part of this special project will be information on certain produce, including how to prepare and flavor profiles for popular vegetables.

So, please join me as we explore the market and the garden during Veggie Tales! New recipes coming soon and continuing on for the summer!

To start off the new Winter Brews project, here is a twist on Mexican drinking chocolate. In Mexico, it is common to mix chocolate with cinnamon and milk to make a warm, thick beverage. This recipe uses 1% milk and cocoa powder, making it slightly lighter. Nonfat milk would make it less creamy and a higher fat content milk will make it more creamy, so use the milk you prefer.

New Mexican Hot Cocoa
adapted from Cooking Light

1/2 cup water
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of cloves
4 cups milk, 1% or 1/2%
1 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon sticks for garnish, optional

Combine water, honey, cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves in a medium saucepan. Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil. Gradually whisk in milk and vanilla extract. Heat until hot, but do not boil. Remove from heat and serve with a cinnamon stick if desired.

The holidays have come and gone, but winter is here to stay for at least a couple more months. To help muddle through the cold and gray, here is a new Special Project: Winter Brews. These are tasty beverages to help warm you from the inside-out. This is a must-have for January, when the twinkling lights are put away and it seems like every day becomes little more dark and gray.

Imagine stirring a pot full of wonderful, spicy goodness on the stove, then ladling the brew into a mug and sipping in the warmth on a cold night. That is the idea behind these recipes; beverages that are warming for the heart and the home. This project will consist of easy-to-prepare warm beverages with (mostly) simple ingredients from the pantry. Why send you back out into the cold to fetch a missing item from the store?

Here is a basic list of ingredients to have on hand for Winter Brews:

• Sugar
• Honey
• Cocoa powder or baking chocolate
• Spices such as ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger
• Fine grain salt
• Regular or powdered milk
• Heavy cream
• Instant coffee or espresso

Some recipes may contain other pantry items, for example Peach Horchata calls for rice and frozen peach slices and the recipe for Sbiten includes jam or preserves. Sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk are also good items to stock in the pantry when making Winter Brews, and of course who doesn’t love a hot beverage garnished with a cinnamon stick?

So, join me for Winter Brews and we’ll sip away the cold and gray together!

Some things just belong together, like peanut butter and chocolate. These muffins might cross into dessert territory, but could also stand in during brunch. Next time, I might throw in a little more peanut butter. The original recipe called for chopped peanuts, but chocolate chips sounded so much better.

If you do not have whole milk, use fat free or 1% less two tablespoons. Add 2 tablespoons melted butter (in addition to the butter in this recipe).

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Muffins
adapted from Real Simple

2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup chocolate chips, divided

Preheat oven to 350F and coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray. 

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the peanut butter and combine with a pastry cutter or 2 forks until it has reached a coarse, crumbly texture. Stir in the milk, egg, and butter. Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chip.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full with batter. Evenly sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over each. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate chips on top of muffins will remain in tact but will be very soft when removed from the oven. Be careful when removing from muffin tin and allow to cool completely before storing.

After a brief hiatus, Muffin Madness is back! This recipe features a delicious and slightly sophisticated flavor profile, combining white chocolate with apricot and ginger. These muffins are also a bit more decadent and stumble into cupcake territory, so they might make better desserts than breakfast.

Though it may seem intimidating at first, it is quite easy to prepare a muffin with filling, you just might want to warn people before they take a bite! As usual, I felt the recipe was lacking a bit of punch, so I increased the crystallized ginger and added ground ginger (ginger is an excellent taste compliment to both white chocolate and apricot). White chocolate baking bars are normally sold in 4 oz varieties and the recipe only called for 2 oz, so I used the additional amount to top the muffins.

White Chocolate & Apricot Muffins
adapted from Cooking Light

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, minced
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz white baking chocolate, divided
3/4 cup skim or 1% milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/2 cup apricot preserves

Preheat oven to 400F and coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, crystallized ginger, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt. Finely chopped 2 oz of the white chocolate and whisk into the flour mixture. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk together milk, butter, and egg, then pour into the well in the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir just until all the dry ingredients are moist.

Spoon about a tablespoon of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup. Then spoon 2 teaspoons of apricot preserves into the center of each cup (do not spread over the batter). Top the muffin cups with the remaining batter. Bake for 20 minutes at 400F.

Meanwhile, coarsely chop the remaining 2 oz of white baking chocolate. In a small microwave safe dish, heat on high for 10 second intervals melted and smooth, stirring well in between each interval.

After removing from oven, place muffin tin on a wire rack and allow muffins to cool for 10 minutes before removing. Use a knife to “pop” each muffin out of the tin and place muffins on a sheet of aluminum foil. Scoop a small about (about 1 teaspoon) of white chocolate on top of each muffin and use the back of the spoon to “frost” the muffin. Allow chocolate to cool set before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 12 muffins.