Healthy (Local) Snacks Video

Check out Little Locathor in action making herbed yogurt dip and a healthy berry soda in this video.

A Yearful of Blueberries: Blueberry-Corn Muffins

Continuing with my series What to Preserve Now, I wanted to remind anyone who hasn't been to a farmers' market recently, that it is blueberry season. Blueberries, with their firm skim and round shape, are ideal for freezing. Give them a quick rinse, lay them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone pan liner. Leave the pan in the freezer for a few hours or until the blueberries feel like little star-topped marbles. Doing this ensures that you'll have locally grown berries throughout the year, whether for pancakes, soda, or my new favorite muffin. In fact, we just finished up the remainder of last year's berries on this recipe to make room for the new crop.

Blueberry-Corn Muffins
Makes 12

Using corn flour yields a softer muffin than cornmeal. I bought mine from Plapp Family Farms, a local flour grower. Unlike many others, these muffins remained fresh tasting for a few days.

3/4 cup corn flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl, mix together the milk, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Cream together the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the dry and wet ingredients alternatively, starting and ending with the dry. Remove from the stand and stir from the bottom of the bowl upwards to ensure that the batters is completely combined. Add blueberries and very gently fold them into the batter. Fill 12 paper or silicone cup lined muffin tins and bake for 18-25 minutes or until a tester comes out dry when poked into a muffin. Cool slightly and serve.

Now say you, what's your favorite blueberry recipe?

Strawberries: Salsa Style!

Seedling's weekly email tells proclaims that this is the strawberry's peak week. To celebrate this, we're eating strawberries every day: in our cereals, in our yogurt, in our smoothies, and in our salsa. Salsa? Yes, salsa. With a bit of red tomato, it's a terrific partner to grilled chicken, fish tacos, and even chips. Get it while you can.


Paired with Fish Tacos

Strawberry Salsa
Makes approximately 1 ½ cups

¾ cup strawberries, cut into small dice
½ tomato, cut into small dice
2 tablespoons diced red onion
¼ Serrano chile, minced
1 tablespoon cilantro or mint, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lime juice

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and serve with chips or as a sauce for fish or chicken.