Asparagus Goat Cheese Muffins #MuffinMonday

A savory dinner muffin bursting with bright lemony asparagus and tangy goat cheese.

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It's funny how, when Spring hits, you feel all fresh and new inside when in a brown reality you're surrounded (barely) by bits of buds and shoots. There's not much green around! The local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share food I'm currently feeding my family is the last of the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve out of my basement plus whatever I've canned and/or frozen during the past year.


That doesn't stop me from craving green things. Grabbing a bag of local spinach out of the freezer to make a Peanut Butter, Spinach, and Banana Smoothie helps, but I need fresh green vegetables in my life, too! This craving for fresh greens is yet another way eating seasonally from the farm share has changed my life.

I've never gardened in one place long enough to even think about growing asparagus until it's too late. It's always in hindsight that I think "you know, if I'd planted an asparagus bed our first year here, we could have harvested some before we moved". I've read that "military spouses plant annuals for themselves, and perennials for those who come after them". That's sure been my experience. I've left strawberry patches, daffodils, and/or mint beds all over the globe, but I've never moved to a home that had an established asparagus bed. Maybe someday.

These muffins were inspired by a ravioli I make at work. I kept some key elements and turned them into a savory muffin. This would be good with chili, stew, or a Spring/Summer soup like my Finnish Summer Soup with Kale. I tend to think most muffins are enhanced when served warm with butter, but these were pretty nice served to my classmates at room temperature without any butter. We had wine, though, so that possibly made a difference. Who knows?

For more recipes using asparagus, please see my Asparagus Recipes Collection. It's part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

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Asparagus Goat Cheese Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped asparagus
• 1 large egg
• ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• zest from 1 lemon
• ¼ cup goat cheese (packed)
• 1 cup self-rising cornmeal
• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 12 well muffin pan with paper liners, or spray with an oil spray.
2. Preheat a small skillet (6 to 8 inch is fine) over high heat and add a cup of water to it.
3. When the water is boiling, drop in the asparagus. After a minute or two, when the asparagus is bright green, remove from heat and drain. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl mix together egg, yogurt, oil and goat cheese until thoroughly combined.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.
6. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, folding in the asparagus towards the end and mix until just moistened.
7. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake for 18 minutes until browned on top. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Serve warm or at room temperature.

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page, and here's the list of participants for this month!

• Apple Oatmeal Muffins by Food Lust People Love
• Asparagus Goat Cheese Muffins by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Cacao Nib Muffins with Dark Chocolate Glaze by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheese & Thyme Muffins by Passion Kneaded
• Coffee Cake Muffins by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Oh My Darling Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm