zucchini – Page 4 – GUTSy Performance Nutrition

Carrot + Zucchini Oat Bran Muffins

July 27, 2014October 5, 2021by Rebecca2 Comments

I am a struggling carrot farmer. Packets of seeds. Different locations within the space. Different weather patterns, sowing dates, and groups of planting hands. Gorilla planting at random when watering. Watering frequently. Pre-sprouting. Row covers. Gleaning scraps of information from the successful carrot farmers I know. They’ve all been attempted.

Let me explain. I coordinate a school garden. I plan the crops, the rotations, the amendment schedule and IPM techniques and timing. I coordinate the students, the teachers, the garden club, and the irrigation. Somehow, I can’t quite coordinate the soil to grow a substantial crop of carrots.

The carrots we’ve managed to grow were fat and tasty, and there is a meager amount of later-planted carrotlings still pushing their way through their sparsely sprouted rows. There’s progress. But carrot farmer, I currently am not.

I see this carrot-failure as a small metaphor for the general way of things lately. I’ve been in a real mental funk, feeling like no matter the new tools I gather and employ, the result is still the same. Lackluster. Not the success I had envisioned.

In light of the set-backs and failures, both personal and carrot-related, I’ve been taking stock of the situation(s). I have a few more tools up my sleeve, a little more determination and knowledge with each new attempt. I tend to not give up easily. In fact, I’m more likely to summon the kind of rage orange-haired people are known for and use it to my full advantage.

Those carrots will grow in that garden. They’ve got great soil and an ideal microclimate. If they’re willing to grow in my home garden with its frequently neglected and weed-infested clay beds, those carrots must grow in the school’s garden. I’m insistent.

Harvesting at least one substantial row of carrots is my personal gardening mission for the season. We will have a good and healthy carrot crop come autumn. I’ve the rage on my side. :)

Carrot + Zucchini Oat Bran Muffins, makes 6 jumbo or 12 regular muffins
Recipe updated: 10/5/21

These muffins are heavily adapted from a recipe in The Sprouted Kitchen that I slowly adapted over months and years. We keep coming back to them and each time the muffins turn out better. They are a perfect way to begin a laidback summer breakfast AND they use up summer squash or zucchini and carrots–because let’s be real, I have five summer squash in my fridge from the last two days harvests, at least six more growing rapidly on the plant, and tons of squash blossoms and bees making more magic happen. I’ve EVEN managed to grow a successful crop of carrots in my home garden. If you’re a gardener, know one who shares, or have a CSA box, you too are probably trying to sneak veggies into anything and everything at this stage of summer!

1 cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp. raw apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup / 56 gr coconut oil
1 egg or 1 flax egg (1 Tbs. ground flax seed + 3 Tbs. hot water)
1 Tbs. blackstrap molasses
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pitted dates
3/4 cup grated carrots (about 1 large carrot)
3/4 cup grated zucchini or yellow summer squash (about one small squash)
1 1/2 cups / 180 gr gluten-free flour mix
3/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, pour in the non-dairy milk and vinegar. Whisk and let sit for a couple minutes. Then measure in the oil, egg, molasses, and vanilla. Stir in the carrots, zucchini, and chopped dates.
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, bran, sugar, baking powder, soda, xanthan gum, salt and spices. Then pour into the wet mixture. Miix gently until all the ingredients just come together.
Scoop out the batter evenly into a prepared muffin pan, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F.

Running, Summertime

Savory-Sweet Summer Squash Salad

July 22, 2013August 28, 2021by RebeccaLeave a Comment

I stop suddenly on the trail, leering to the left, then swinging right. Taking it all in. This is one of my favorite places in the world. The place where W proposed, where we walked and ran together that last summer here. Where visiting friends and family were brought. Where I escaped Biology 212 and pondered life instead.

Serenity. Belonging. Ownership. These feelings wash over me.

Breath in. Release. And running again.

I opt for an out and back and take it all in again from the opposite direction, this time reveling in the change of light and the minty-summery-grassy aroma. Watch the sheep far off in the back pasture.

“Life goes on, day after day, but it also has the ability to reinvent itself, to start over.”

Farmers markets. Checking out my “must read” books from the library. Lazing away a post-5k afternoon, curled up with W. Somehow getting my body up and out the door to run 11 miles on a Sunday morning and then getting myself to church. Experiences I didn’t let myself enjoy this past year. Until now.

After months of unease and indecisiveness, starting over. Back to the place that feels like home. The college town that’s been in my dreams. I’ve longed for a sense of community, for fitting in where my values lie. For meeting new and catching up with old friends. I’m anxious to begin. Already beginning. W’s advice “don’t push it; let it happen,” as I restlessly wait for him to join me permanently in the fall. I’d like for everything to come into place all at once, but we’re easing back in to the thick of things.

“This is what the seasons show us. We all have marveled at the apple tree’s ability to rest through a dark, cold winter, then to grow new leaves in the spring, to blossom again, to bear fruit.” We’ve been waiting through the long winter these last couple years. We’re ready to let our flowers bloom. Grow those apples, I say.

Later, a moment’s jaunt from our new abode, W and I walk through the forest of ferns and Oregon grape, oak and Douglas fir. We contemplate this transition. Our journey has many unknowns. As one of us is uncertain, the other has been given divine wisdom to trust the process. It is a back and forth sort of thing, and we have always worked this way, it seems. Through the major decisions, this leaning on each other. Today, I encourage W to settle in to the journey, to welcome the ups and downs. Both are progress. We are moving forward again. To new beginnings.

Quotes are taken from The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life by Amby Burfoot.

This salad was inspired by a recent trip to Whole Foods Market. I wandered around and around the prepared foods counter until I finally settled on the salad with raisins. It was a solid choice, and I knew I needed to recreate the recipe. I changed the ingredients up a bit, by using millet and adding the summer squash, which in a greedy moment, I snatched more than was needed from my mom’s garden. If you do not have millet, feel free to substitute quinoa or couscous. Don’t skip the raisins, they add the perfect counter balance to the Middle Eastern-inspired spices.

Savory-Sweet Summer Squash Salad, serves 3-4 as a side dish
The vegetables in this can easily be interchanged. Sautéing diced eggplant instead of bell pepper is a great addition for the Middle Eastern flavors.

Recipe Updated: 8/25/21
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
pinch of black pepper
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup millet, uncooked
1 1/2 cups water
Juice of 1/2 a medium lemon
2 Tbs. olive oil plus more for sautéing
1/2 Tbs. raw honey
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 medium yellow summer squash, diced
fresh basil or cilantro, optional

To begin, bring water, spices, salt, and raisins to boil in a heavy saucepan. When boiling, gently stir in millet and cover with a lid. Lower heat to simmer and cook for 25 minutes. When done, set aside.
While grain is cooking, stir together the lemon juice, honey, and olive oil. Set aside.
Dice onion, bell pepper, and summer squashes into a medium dice. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high. Pour in enough olive oil to lightly coat bottom of pan. When hot, add the onion, and sauté for 15-20 minutes, until slightly caramelized. After about 15 minutes, stir in the bell pepper. Add a dash of water as needed to help caramelize.
When onions are sweet and golden, stir in the zucchini and summer squash. Sauté for 5-10 more minutes until squash is slightly soft. Stir in the cooked millet and the dressing. Adjust seasoning and sprinkle with finely minced fresh basil or cilantro, about 1 tablespoon per serving.

Summertime

Who I Want to Be & Summer Brownies

July 2, 2013by RebeccaLeave a Comment

The smoke filled air instantly takes me back to standing in the smoking porch of a favorite pub, years ago now. Almost another life. I watch the dazed people look up from their gaming machines. They meander around as if possessed, plunking more cash into the slots. At the tables, the dealers’ hands flash and fluidly swoop up another round of cards. My sister, and then my friend, squeal when up a few and then subsequently moan when all of it is lost. The lady across the aisle sits reclined and relaxed, one elegant hand holding a long cigarette, the other poised on the ‘bet 5’ button. The woman two seats down banks $1,500 on a quarter machine. Her carefully contained delight emanates the space as she makes plans to see her friends there again within the week.

I delight in nothing more than watching these people, knowing this is not my place. I’m not a smoker. Or a gambler. Not necessarily even a drinker. Oddly enough, this place, this observational haven, reminds me of who I want to be.

W reminded me recently that how I see myself and how I present myself don’t always coordinate with each other. Analyzing this statement and realizing he’s correct got me thinking. I value authenticity, yet don’t always live authentically. Often when surrounded by family, I retreat into a shell and only show the pieces that can’t be so easily criticized. I camouflage how I truly feel because I think someone else will be aided by my self-sacrifice, or I long to avoid conflict and judgement.

As I sit surrounded by people delighting in only the next moment in a smoke-studded casino, I realize they don’t care what anyone else thinks. Heck, they don’t even care about what’s going on in their own lives in this moment. For the moment, they are all-in.

That’s who I want to be. A person that chooses to confront controversy, to embrace how I feel, to present the same person to the outside as I feel inside, despite another’s observation, perhaps in their eyes coming up short. To live a life that’s all-in every experience.

That’s what I did with these brownies. I wanted chocolate and nectarines, the ones on the counter going soft. Not in a pastry or cobbler or something usual. In something gooey and cakey. Yet still with a tinge of health and nutrients. I’m being true to myself now after all. My gluten-free flour blend has a bit of buckwheat in it so it has the fairest hint of a rustic tone, I threw in some honey from my uncle’s bees, a small zucchini, and used extra virgin olive oil. The result was exactly me. Exactly what I wanted to taste and share.

Summer Brownies with Zucchini and Nectarines, adapted from Happyolks

1 cup grated zucchini
2 cups grated, smashed or finely chopped nectarines with juice
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2.5 cups gluten free flour blend
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp salt
2.25 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 11 baking pan with a tsp of oil and set aside. Grate zucchini and dice nectarine and juice onto a cutting board.

In a large bowl, mix together oil, eggs, honey, and vanilla. Fold in the nectarine and zucchini. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture slowly, stirring to combine.

Bake for 30-45 minutes and let cool on a wire rack.