Meatless Monday: Lemon Cornmeal Waffles with Raspberry-Rhubarb Compote

Saturday was perfect weather in southwest Michigan. Mr. Prevention and I both ran outside, though not together. I ran my 3.7 mile route. About 2 miles into my run, I had hit my stride. I use an app called “Run Keeper” and every 5 minutes it tells me how long I’ve run, the distance I’ve run, and my average pace. I guess it can be said that I need a serious warm-up because my pace started around 11:18 min/mile and by the end of my run, I had improved to 10:38 min/mile. 😀

Right when I had come upon the school where I run their outdoor path around their field, I saw there was a group of people occupying the baseball diamond in the center of the path. They were playing cricket.

I was spaced out, jamming to my music, and was running the perimeter path, around their game. At least I thought. It wasn’t until I was following along on the path that I realized the game spanned 180 degrees, not 90 like baseball, and I was jogging THROUGH their cricket game. I took out one ear bud as I was jogging by, laughing at myself and apologizing. They graciously accepted my apologize and probably enjoyed the laugh I gave them.

It was a great run to start the outdoor running season and put me in a good mood the rest of the day.

Sunday, unfortunately was rainy and grey most of the day.

So, I did what I usually do when the weather isn’t the greatest…I cooked and baked. Yesterday, I was a machine.

I made breakfast first — these lovely Lemon Cornmeal Waffles with Raspberry-Rhubarb Compote. With rhubarb in season, Mr. Prevention’s love for anything raspberry, and my over-ripe Meyer lemon stash, these were all too perfect of a Sunday brunch selection. My breakfast-hating better half even wolfed these down, paying compliments to both the intense lemon flavor of the waffles and the perfectly sweet raspberry compote. I have to agree.

Today, leftovers…between coffee and these waffles, Monday will be okay.

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Lemon Cornmeal Waffles with Raspberry-Rhubarb Compote slightly adapted from Cooking Light

Compote:
1/3 cup sugar
2 stalks fresh rhubarb, sliced
1 (12 oz) package frozen unsweetened raspberries

Waffles:
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 cup boiling water
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp lemon rind, grated
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
4.5 oz all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup fat-free milk

Directions:

Combine compote ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Simmer 15-20 minutes or until rhubarb is tender and mixture thickens, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and keep warm.

To prepare waffles, combine cornmeal and 1 cup boiling water in a large bowl. Let stand 10-15 minutes or until cooled to near room temperature.

Preheat waffle iron.

Add eggs to cornmeal mixture; stir with a whisk to combine. Stir in butter, lemon rind, and lemon juice.

In a separate bowl, weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup. To the bowl, add the next 4 ingredients (through baking soda); whisk to combine. Add flour mixture to cornmeal mixture; stir to moisten the flour some.

In the now empty flour mixture bowl, combine the yogurt and milk; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add yogurt mixture to cornmeal mixture, whisking just until combined.

Spoon about 2/3 cup batter per 8-inch waffle onto hot waffle iron, spreading a bit with the back of the measuring spoon. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until done; repeat procedure with remaining batter. Serve waffles with warm compote.

Yield: 6 servings (1 waffle with 3-4 tablespoons compote)

Nutrition Information (per serving): 288 calories; 5.3 g. fat; 62 mg. cholesterol; 496 mg. sodium; 45.3 g. carbohydrate; 2.8 g. fiber; 9.8 g. protein; 18.2 g. sugar

Result: These were super lemony with the perfect raspberry and rhubarb touch. The yogurt made these tangy, just as buttermilk would. Quick to make, the only wait time is for the cornmeal to cool off. These reheated great in the toaster oven. Enjoy!

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 A full work week ahead…and May is just around the corner. Whaa?

Be well,