With the holidays right around the corner, many of us are beginning to dust off and open our cookbooks in search of the perfect recipe for this year’s festivities.  I can help!

From now until the end of the year, each week I will post at least one new healthy recipe for you to share with your family and friends this holiday season.  Recipes will vary, however do not expect to gather any elaborate five-course meal recipes.  Predominately, I will feature recipes for smoothies, puddings, muffins, bars, and cookies – and, of course, healthy!!

To start off this series, here is a recipe for Gluten-Free Green Egg Muffins…

Ingredients

• 3 cups Kale (or any leafy green), de-stemmed and chopped into thin ribbons
• 1/4 small Onion (or 4 green onions), diced and finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons Cilantro, minced
• 1 Jalapeño, very finely diced, de-seed and remove white parts to lessen spice
• 1 tablespoon dried Oregano
• 11 Egg Whites (or a small carton of liquid egg whites)
• 7 whole Eggs
• Salt and Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray muffin tin with cooking spray OR line with muffin liners. *Note* If you use muffin liners, add approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the mixture in order to prevent the muffins from sticking to the liners.

Steam prepped kale (or other leafy green) in the microwave for 2 – 3 minutes until soft and wilted.  Place in a bowl and set aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, add diced onions and microwave for about 1 minute in order to help take away some of the strong, oniony taste.  Add onions to the bowl with the kale.

Add cilantro, oregano, jalapeño, salt, and pepper to the kale/onion mix.  Stir to combine.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together whole eggs, egg whites, salt, and pepper.  The mixture should ribbon off the whisk and be fully scrambled.

Distribute the veggie mixture evenly between the muffin cups.

Distribute egg mixture evenly between the muffin cups, pouring over the veggie mixture.  A 1/3 cup measuring cup works well to do the job.

Bake for about 30 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and puffed up.

Let cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.  Try to remove the muffins as soon as possible, while keeping the muffins intact.  If the muffins sit in the pan too long, they continue to steam, and the texture can get rubbery.

Store in the fridge and reheat in a counter-top oven or microwave.

Viola!

ENJOY!