Go Ahead and Get the Blues
The world around us offers a full palette of blue hues, from the ever-changing skies to the wide azure sea. We live in denim and paint our bedrooms blue for a calming place to lay our heads. But our food tends toward the browns, the greens, the beiges, with pops of orange and red. But the blue foods are some of the most nourishing, and should be on everyone’s shopping list. This Blueberry Blue Cornmeal Cobbler is a juicy treat that places two blue all-stars front and center.
Flavor Forward
First, the blueberry. One of the most beloved fruits on the planet, it’s juicy, sweet, and beautiful. Minnesota adopted the Blueberry Muffin as the official state muffin in 1988, expressing both our love of the blueberry muffin, and the Minnesota sense of humor. Blueberries even grow well here in the Northland, so we go a little crazy for them when the first local berries ripen.
Check out my Easy Blueberry Breakfast Bars Here.
Seriously Healthy, Too
Any list of superfoods will include the potent little berry, rich in Fiber, Vitamin C and K, zinc, magnesium, potassium, and concentrated flavonoids. When you see blue, it means the food has plenty of anthocyanins. These plant chemicals are associated with lowered risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, alzheimer’s disease and cancer. They are even good for bone health and your eyesight, and good for maintaining a healthy weight.
Blue Cornmeal For Even More Goodness
We are lucky to have a great source for blue cornmeal in Minnesota, Whole Grain Milling Company, based in Welcome, MN. My local Coop carries it, and I keep a bag in the freezer. Blue corn was develpoed by the Hopi, P:ueblo and Cherokee tribes, before Columbus arrived, making it an ancient grain. It’s also higher in protein than white and yellow corn. There are many varieties, and new ones as well, which range from deep purple to light blue to a pale grey when ground.
I wrote about a stunning purple corn here.
Like blueberries, blue corn has beneficial anthocyanins, lutein and Zeanthin. It’s non-gmo and actually grows and produces better in a dry environment with no added fertilizers, making it a perfect crop for organic farmers. I love it for the color, and the sweet, buttery flavor.
Try my blue cobbler, and combine two blue superfoods in one juicy study in blue. You’ll be glad you did.
Blueberry Blue Corn Cobbler
Ingredients
- 3 pints fresh blueberries washed and patted dry
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons unbleached flour
Topping
- 1 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 1/2 cup blue cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup organic sugar
- 1/2 cup melted plant-based butter
- turbinado sugar
- non-dairy ice cream or whipped topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Get a 2-quart baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, maple and lemon zest and stir. Sprinkle the unbleached flour over the berries and stir to coat. Transfer to the baking dish.
Topping
- In a measuring cup, stir the almond milk, vinegar and flax, let stand for five minutes to hydrate the flax and curdle the milk a bit.
- In a medium bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Stir in the melted "butter" just to swirl it around a bit, then stir in the milk mixture. Scrape out of the bowl over the berries, covering them evenly.
- Sprinkle evenly with Turbinado sugar and bake for about 55-60 minutes, until very bubbly and the topping is baked through in the center of the cobbler. Cool for 5 minutes before scooping portions of warm cobbler into bowl and top with non-dairy ice cream or whipped topping.
