Cooking With a Muffin Pan

Up until recently I thought the only thing you could to with cupcake/muffin pans is make cupcakes and muffins. What a discovery it was when I read The Daily Dish (my best friend, Shari’s blog) recently and suddenly felt inspired to think “outside the pan,” if you will.

Cooking traditional recipes in a muffin pan is a great way to portion control and also put a new spin on things. It’s also an efficient way to cook things in “grab-n-go” style so that you always have something to munch on. Below are some of the initial muffin pan ideas I have tried along with a few ideas I have for testing in the future. If you have any more I’d love to hear them!

Tried and True:

Going off of Shari’s blog post, I made my own version of grab-n-go breakfast quiches.

• First I minced some mushrooms and broccoli and cooked up about ½ lb of white meat ground turkey
• I then combined a mixture of these ingredients in each muffin circle with one egg white and a very small amount of cheddar cheese.
• I didn't use the muffin cups as Shari did, but I did spray the pan with fat-free Pam first, and then I baked the quiches for about 20 minutes at 350°.
• I love this idea because you can do SO many different combinations of veggies, cheeses and meats, and they stay good for up to about 5 days – just microwave for about 30 seconds! Perfect breakfast for the work week!

Also inspired by Shari, I recently made my own spin on her famous mac-and-cheese recipe portioned out within the muffin circles.

• First I cooked about ½ a box of whole wheat shell pasta, baked about 1 lb of thin-sliced chicken cutlets seasoned with salt, pepper and chili powder (for about 20 minutes at 350°), and minced some broccoli
• Once the pasta and chicken cooled, I cut the chicken into small cubes and combined with the pasta along with salt, pepper, the broccoli and enough egg whites to coat the mixture
• Once all combined I mixed in about 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• I then portioned the mixture throughout the muffin circles and topped each one with a little more cheese.
• Finally, I baked the mac-and-cheese for about 25 minutes at 350° and then enjoyed – delicious!
• This recipe is a great option for portion-controlled lunches that touch on almost all the food groups – protein, carbs, dairy and vegetables!

Some Other Ideas:

• Playing off the mac-and-cheese recipe above, I want to try an Italian version with ingredients you might find in a chicken parm dish (pasta, chicken, mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce)
• I would like to play with a beef stew/french onion soup version of the recipe cooked with small noodles, beef, onions and gruyere cheese.
• I plan to play with a Mexican version of this recipe, which would combine ingredients such as ground beef, cheese, tomatoes, peppers and beans

Follow me on Twitter @THFoodieNYC for updates on how these new ideas “pan” out!