Determined to plough through as many items on my “to do list” as possible before the weekend hit, I needed a dinner option that would mean minimal preparation time in the kitchen. Add to this the prospect of a chilly winter’s night ahead, another round of after school activities and tired children at the end of it all made my decision easy. I turned to a reliable family favourite, my Slow Cooked Beef Goulash (recipe posted on May 17th) – with a twist. 

This time I also added a a whole diced bulb of celeriac for an additional boost of savoury flavour and goodness. When I peered into my pantry I spotted a 400 gram tin of firm, creamy white cannellini beans which are high in protein, fibre and B vitamins. I like to add variety and experiment with tried and true recipes, and so I tipped in the beans just before I put the pot into the oven to cook without interruption for 3 hours. My rice cooker made fast and almost mess-free work of steaming medium grain rice, which was piled into bowls and the hearty meat, vegetables, beans and rich sauce spooned generously over the top. 

That single muffin in the photo above is all that’s left of the batch I made this morning. I used my Raspberry, Coconut and White Chocolate Muffin recipe posted on June 16th as the base and also added two mashed bananas. It’s such a time saver having an easy to make muffin recipe like this one, that you can whip up off the top of your head on a regular basis. 

Just before placing into the oven, I sprinkled a crumble-style mixture over the top of each one. I was inspired by the tasty topping on that teacake recipe in this month’s Delicious magazine, the one that I baked, my family ate and I wrote about on Wednesday July 17th. My muffin crumble topping is simply a combination of 2 tablespoons each of brown sugar and rolled oats, 1 tablespoon of desiccated coconut and a little olive oil to bind it together. These muffins present well and feel fabulous with every bite because of the textures and burst of flavours. This crumble topping can be used on your favourite muffin base as a way of “mixing it up” a little and keeping your family’s tastebuds interested and pleasingly satisfied.