People frequently joke about the fact that after you reach a "certain age" -- whatever that is -- you get "conditions." So you have to watch what you eat because maybe your LDL cholesterol level is too high or your blood sugar is too high or your weight is, well, let’s not discuss that….
But when you think about it, however old and/or fit you are, it's always a good idea to eat more or less healthy food. Especially at this time of year when we’ve spent the last month or so indulging through the holidays.
I'm not suggesting that we never indulge in rich, fattening, sugary or fried food. I have posted recipes for fried onion strings and chocolate cake, haven’t I?
Just as a general matter, I think it's smart to be aware of your body and the consequences of what you feed it.
Over the new year weekend, I had to prepare recipes that contained less salt because one of our guests has high blood pressure and needed to cut down on salty foods.
Not a problem. In many cases, for multitudes of recipes, other flavor enhancers come in handy — think citrus peel, extracts, ground spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon, herbs such as thyme and basil, chili peppers, fresh ginger, hot sauce — there are loads of choices.
Here’s the recipe for Blueberry Muffins I served. I added both cinnamon and orange peel as well as vanilla extract (I recommend pure Bourbon vanilla extract, not imitation). You could also stir some chopped nuts into the batter.
No salt necessary. They were terrific for breakfast.
Remember these next Purim — they make excellent edible gifts!
Salt-Free Blueberry Muffins
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon or orange peel, optional
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 10 muffin tins. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Whisk the ingredients until well blended. In another bowl, combine the milk, eggs, peel, if used, and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients and the melted butter into the flour mixture and stir until thoroughly blended. Fold in the berries. Spoon equal quantities of the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops are lightly golden brown.
Makes 10 muffins