Today we have extra tasty treat for you. My dear friend Maia is stopping by to take Tasty Tuesday to the next level. Maia is a bit of a renaissance woman. That’s a fancy way of saying she’s really good a lot of stuff. She’s a graphic designer, photographer, art director (of Rue Magazine no less), mother, founder of the fab online children’s shop Bitte, and also a great cook. Now that she bought her first house with an enviable yard, Maia has also become something of a amateur gardener this year. Color me impressed. I’m just thankful Maia is willing to share some of the fruits of her labor  – literally – in the form of amazing recipes inspired by what’s coming out of her garden right now. Even if you have to get your produce from the farmer’s market (like I do), for the next few weeks Maia is going to help us make the most of this end of summer bounty. First up: the prettiest Zucchini Muffins that you ever did see.

If you have a garden, this time of year can be a little overwhelming. Trying to harvest and use everything up before it gets stolen by critters or rots can sometimes feel like a full time job. But I always hate to waste any of the goodies too. So I thought I would share a few recipes that will help you make the most of your late summer harvest. Or if you’re not the gardening type, you can still do a lot of fun things with a big haul from the weekend farmer’s market.

First up is a recipe for Savory Zucchini Muffins. It’s a twist on the usual sweet zucchini bread, that as anyone who grows zucchini knows, you get sick of pretty quick. The best part is that these can easily be frozen in a ziplock freezer bag and brought out months from now when you’ve recovered from your zucchini overdose. You could also easily sub out half the flour with whole wheat flour to make them a little healthier for easy breakfasts on the go, or packed into school lunches.

RECIPE: SAVORY ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Ingredients
Makes 12 Muffins
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ cup greek yogurt
• ½ cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• ½ + 2 tbsp cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp chopped fresh basil
• 2-3 minced garlic cloves
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (drained of excess liquid)

Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt and oregano.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, yogurt and egg.
4. Stir the garlic into the melted butter.
5. Whisk the melted butter mixture into the other wet ingredients.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mix, and gently combine. Don’t over mix the batter.
7. Stir in the shredded cheese (leaving out 2 tbsp for topping) shredded zucchini and chopped basil.
8. Spoon even amounts of mixture into a greased muffin tin and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the bread comes out clean.

 

I cannot thank Maia enough for sharing this beautiful recipe with us. Be sure to check back weekly through September for all her delicious ideas.

For the rest of our Tasty Tuesday archive CLICK HERE.

original photography for apartment 34 by maia m. smith