Chocolate Zucchini Muffins - Sub in Wheat Free Flour and sub in Spelt Flour

This week I experimented with two different wheat free flours. I made two batches of chocolate zucchini muffins, one with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour and the other with Bob's Spelt Flour. If you take a look at the pictures above the muffin on the left is using the all purpose flour and the one on the right is using the spelt flour. Unfortunately spelt is a yellow light item on the GI diet.

Here are the results of my experiment.
- The gluten free all purpose flour created a fuller and fluffier muffin than the spelt flour.
- The texture of the spelt flour was smoother and more like whole wheat.
- You could tell that there was zucchini in the gluten free all purpose flour, where as with the spelt it blended right in.
- The gluten free flour had an unusual flavor, it seemed to taste slightly "tinny"
- The spelt flour cooked faster then when I made it with whole wheat flour (reduce the baking time by about 2 minutes)
- Both flours made a muffin that was a little too dry

COOKING TIPS: If you are experimenting with a recipe start by just replacing one item in the recipe at a time. See how it tastes and then make adjustments according to what you taste buds think. The next I try these out I think I will add a little extra zucchini to see if it helps with the moisture issue.

RATING: 7. If the muffins were a little bit more moist they would have gotten a better rating

Vegetable Barley Soup Au Pistou - Sub in Brown Rice

I've never made this soup because I'm allergic to barley. I know, poor me I can't drink beer! Last weekend I had so many veggies left over from our Christmas party that I was scouring the GI diet cookbook looking for a recipe that had as many vegetables in it as I could find. This one had alot! It includes carrots, celery, leeks, zucchini, and red peppers.

So instead of using barley I substituted in some brown rice and it worked out quite well. Right towards the end of this recipe you mix in some pesto. There is even a recipe for your own homemade pesto. Since I just happened to have some decently healthy store bought pesto in the fridge I used it instead.

I found this recipe posted on line. So click on the link below if you want to try it out.
Vegetable Barley Soup Au Pistou

SERVED WITH: A piece of spelt toast (Spelt is a yellow light item. I am currently trying to stay sugar free at the same time as staying wheat free due to a suspected wheat allergy in the household so I have had to resort to spelt. It's spelt or starve, so spelt it is for now.)

COOKING TIPS: Don't waste to much time cutting up your veggies. Just give them a quick chop chop and toss them in the pot. If you have any left overs that you plan on eating the next day you may have to add in some more stock or even a touch of water. Because I made mine with rice it soaked up most of the broth. I am not sure if the same thing would happen with barely though as I have never cooked with it.

RATING 7. It was fine, not overly flavorful. I might make it again.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Yummy yum yum! These muffins are my new favorite! Astonishingly they taste good even though they have shredded zucchini in them.

SERVED WITH: My morning coffee. They taste the best the day they're made but I usually freeze them and take one to work each day. When defrosted they dry out slightly but I still enjoy them.

COOKING TIPS: If you want to completely disguise the fact that you are serving vegetables with chocolate be sure to peel the zucchini before shredding it, if not you will see bits of green in your chocolate muffin.

RATING: 9. I will definitely be making these on a weekly basis.