Fresh Farmer's Market

The great thing about living in DC is that all spring long there are farmer's markets all over the city with great fresh organic produce, breads, honey, cheese, and olive oil. Every Saturday and Sunday roads are blocked off in different parts of the city and local farmers set up shop.

I got up early on Sunday to go to the Takoma Park farmer's market. I was a terrible food blogger because I remembered to bring my camera but alas there was no memory card inside and thus I have no pictures of the actual market. There were so many great things to choose from.

But here is what I got:


A baby eggplant, a bag of fresh spinach, 2 tomatoes, a seedless cucumber and a pint of strawberries.

It hard to shop for produce for one. More likely than not something will go bad before you even get to it. I would have liked to try many more things but I knew they wouldn't last so I was smart about my purchases.

I have done a lot of heavy recipes lately. Heavy as in chocolate and butter and cream, so in other words all the good stuff. But now it's time to lighten it up a bit. Strawberries seemed like the perfect place to start.



And since I have a big bag of oat bran sitting around from making these granola bars awhile back I thought some oat bran muffins were the perfect thing.



I've actually never baked with strawberries. I have put them on top of cupcakes, tarts etc. but never baked them. Theres a first time for everything and what a great first time.

I chopped up the cute little strawberries and mixed them in the batter.



Once in the muffin tins I topped each muffin with some brown sugar and baked for all of 15 minutes.



I was pleasantly surprised by the baked strawberries. They were only slightly sweet but lent great flavor to the muffins. And the oat bran added a nutty hearty flavor which makes you feel heathy when eating them.

These are perfect for a quick breakfast or snack.




Strawberry Oat Bran Muffins:

1 1/3 Cup flour

3/4 cup oat bran

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup oil

2 tablespoons agave syrup

brown sugar for topping


Instructions:

In a bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and oat bran.

In another bowl mix egg, milk, oil and agave

Pour wet mixture into the flour bowl. Add chopped strawberries and mix only until lumpy and mostly combined.

Do not over mix, the muffins will turn out tough. I know this from experience, no one likes a tough rubbery muffin.

Spray muffin tins and fill 2/3 the way with batter. Top each muffin with a sprinkling of brown sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes in a 400 degree oven.



And if you're like me and want to turn your healthy muffin into a bonafide dessert drizzle with powdered sugar icing or even add chocolate chips to the recipe!