Today's Recipe From Dr. Weil: Ginger Bran Muffins

Saturday January 10, 2015 A delicious recipe to help you eat and feel healthy — direct to you from Dr. Weil's Optimum Health Plan. Ginger Bran Muffins 6 MuffinsThis old-fashioned recipe makes a muffin batter that can be kept in the refrigerator so you can make 1 or 2 muffins at a time. Or you can make them all at once and freeze them. They thaw in just a few minutes if left on the kitchen counter. Ingredients: 3/4 cup bran cereal (not flakes) 1/4 cup boiling water 2 tbsp olive oil or canola oil 1 tbsp sugar 1 egg 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger 2 tbsp raisins or other chopped dried fruit 1/2 cup unbleached flour 1 tsp baking soda Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pour boiling water over the bran cereal in a mixing bowl. Stir to mix and let stand 5 minutes. Add the oil, sugar, egg, buttermilk, grated ginger and raisins to the bran and mix well. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda. Stir into the bran mixture and mix well. The batter can be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for about a week. Lightly oil a muffin tin if you are making all 6 muffins or place a foil muffin cup in a custard cup if you are baking just one muffin. Don't stir the batter if it has been keeping in the refrigerator. Fill the muffin tin or muffin cups 2/3 full of batter. Bake the muffins for 12-14 minutes or until the top springs lightly back to the touch. Nutritional Information: Per serving: 136 calories 6 g total fat (1 g sat) 36 mg cholesterol 19 g carbohydrate 4 g protein 3 g fiber 258 mg sodium Tomorrow's Recipe: Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie Traditional Shepherd's Pie is usually made with ground meat and white potatoes. I like this one because it has sweet potatoes mixed in and omits the meat filling. The curried lentil filling is sandwiched between two layers of creamy potato filling sitting on a crouton crust baked on top of sweet zucchini. I serve this as an entrée with a simple chopped tomato salad.