Clean Zucchini-Eggplant Muffins

A Fun part of my job (direct care) is to help the clients cook. Yesterday, some really odd vegetables had appeared in the kitchen, likely from the weekly farm share they get. It took some thought, but I identified orange zucchini; skinny, curved eggplant, and purple okra. Cooking the okra will be a challenge, since I’ve heard from Southerners that it’s quite delicious and not slimy if cooked correctly. I’m wondering if I can coat it and bake it, to avoid all the fat from frying it, and still make it come out good.

We made muffins out of some of the zucchini and eggplant. It was sort of an invention, and I took a quick peek online to see if eggplant bread had ever been done: it had. I didn’t look for a zucchini-eggplant combination – I didn’t want to know if it had been done before, so we could think it was our own invention. And since most recipes use white sugar and white flour, I’m sure ours was different.

I put this recipe through an online nutrition calculator. At 180+ calories per muffin, it’s not low calorie, but if you leave out the optional add-ins, you’ll reduce the calorie count. Each muffin, with the add-ins, has 3.2 grams of fiber, though.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

½ tsp. baking powder

1 ½ cups shredded zucchini (summer squash should work, also)

1 ½ cups shredded eggplant

1 ½ cups agave nectar

2/3 cup olive oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract (use the real thing for the cleanest muffins)

4 large eggs

½ cup dried cranberries, raisins, or other dried fruit (chop larger fruit into raisin-sized pieces) – optional

½ cup chopped almonds, walnuts, or other nuts – optional

½ cup chocolate chips (use real chocolate for the cleanest muffins) – optional

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 24 muffin cups (four 6-cup tins or two 12-cup tins), either with paper liners or cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, mix the zucchini, eggplant, agave nectar, olive oil, vanilla, and eggs. Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir in the remainder of ingredients, if using.

Divide batter among the muffin tins. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.

This should also make a good bread, using 2 bread loaf pans and cooking about 40-50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.