Blood from an Orange

I love blood oranges. I don't think they taste remarkably different than their orange-fleshed brethren, other than being a bit more tart, but the just look so gorgeous. Unfortunately, this recipe doesn't highlight their glorious colour, but enjoy their blood as it runs into your juicer! Speaking of juicing, these are a particularly challenging citrus to juice: their flesh is pulpy and their skin, while thick, isn't particularly skookum, so they kind of crumble when using a traditional juicer like in the photo above. I discovered that if you gently work from the edges of the halved orange inwards and around on the juicer, it's better than if you do the typical whole-hearted push & squeeze of a lemon or lime. This recipe originally arises from a search on the internet which turned it up, but of course, I couldn't leave it alone! Naturally, you don't have to use blood oranges, but that's what I had in my fridge; so, for breakfast this morning:

Blood Orange Muffins

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup quick or rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp grated rind
2/3 orange juice, freshly squeezed (or "squozened" as we like to say)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chopped sunflower seeds (hulled, of course!)

Mix flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Combine juice, oil and beaten eggs with rind. Mix liquid into dry until just incorporated (don't over stir). Place into greased muffin tin (12 muffins), filling each cup to about 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes.