In the Kitchen

I have spent a good chunk of time in the kitchen today. I had a big bag of carrots to try and work through so I opted to make some carrot raisin muffins. I found this recipe for Carrot Oatmeal Muffins on the Canadian Living website.

They turned out okay... I added raisins as I didn't have any walnuts. Honestly they weren't sweet enough for my liking. I might have one for breakfast tomorrow with some jam on it. :)

For dinner I tried a meatless recipe for Easy Balsamic Chickpea, Brown Rice and Brocoli Salad. It was sponsored by Newman's Own Dressing. I had never tried grilling peppers before so I was kind of excited to try it for this recipe.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 red pepper

2 cups cooked rice

2 cups blanched small broccoli florets

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2/3 cup Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

1/2 tsp salt and pepper (or to taste)

1/4 cup toasted silvered almonds or sunflower seeds (I used crushed peanuts)

Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Place the pepper directly on the grill. Cook turning as needed for 15 minutes or until charred. Transfer to a bowl; cover. Remove and discard skin and seeds. Chop pepper into bite-size pieces.

Toss the rice with the broccoli, chickpeas, chopped pepper and dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into serving bowl and top with almonds. Serve warm or cold.

The verdict on this new recipe... it was okay. I think the 2/3 cup dressing was too much. I ended up cooking more rice to absorb some of the dressing. I ate it warm so tomorrow will be cold leftovers. I will keep you posted on if its better cold. I would definately give this a try if you are looking for meatless meals!

I'm off to go have a cup of tea and watch the news!

B