Roasted Edamame

This is my first time trying edamame (soybeans), and I think it turned out pretty yummy!

Ingredients

1 ½ cups edamame (thawed and toweled dry, if frozen)

2 teaspoons of olive oil

¼ teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder and ground cumin

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Line a baking sheet with heavy foil. Place the oil in a medium bowl and add edamame. Stir to coat thoroughly with the oil. Mix all the spices together in a small bowl, then dust the edamame with them, stirring to combine well. All salt and pepper, as desired, and stir again.

Spread coated edamame onto the baking sheet in one layer. Bake for 7 minutes then gently stir with a spatula. Bake for another 7-9 minutes, or until starting to get golden.

These come out slightly crunchy, and a bit chewy, but the flavor is great. Best when warm (they get chewier as they cool). Great addition to a salad in place of croutons, or add to pasta for a bit of texture.

Happy munching!

Whole Wheat Quinoa Muffins

(Yields 12 muffins)

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), is a complete protein, which makes these muffins good for you, as well as great tasting!

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 cup plain yogurt

1 large egg

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup oil

1 – ¼ cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)*

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped dates (or raisins or chopped apple), optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the quinoa, yogurt, egg, brown sugar and oil. Beat with a wire whisk until well combined. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until thoroughly moistened, but do not over mix. Fold in fruit, if desired.

Spray a non-stick muffin tin with cooking spray, then fill each muffin cup level to the top.* Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden and tops feel firm. Cool muffins in pan on a rack for five minutes, then turn out to cool. These are delicious warm or cold!

Enjoy!

*Feel free to use all-purpose flour, instead of whole wheat. Your muffins will rise higher, so you may want to put your muffin tin on a baking sheet to catch any batter that may overflow the tin.