This Is What REAL Food Looks Like!

In the Washington Post this weekend there was an article about dyes in food, and how the average American doesn't know what real foods look like without dyes being added.  Real tomato juice is brown,  and nothing on earth is the color of your lime green or purple yogurt.  That is a great reason to make a home made dinner tonight! 

Since Lent started we have gone meatless on Friday, and also on Tuesday because that is the day that we designated to be "cereal night" and donate what we normally would have spent to our favorite Thai NGO.  The more meals that you go meatless the less you miss meat at the table at all (although my husband is telling me that when I am at a conference next weekend he and the kids will be eating all of their meals at The Burger Joint...I think he's kidding).

Our most delicious veg meal was Friday, I made the easiest homemade bread and we had some stuffed baked tomatoes (Pomodori al Riso) from the Apron and Sneakers blog that were gone in record time.  I got the recipe for the bread from Culinary Chronicles on Tastespotting and it's so easy and requires only 15 minutes of rising for a dense, easy to slice and very very good bread.  The only "hard" part is the eight minutes of kneading, but I'm a wimp about kneading.


Simple Bread
Slightly adapted from Marcia Passos Duffy
Ingredients:
5-6 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tablespoons Dry Yeast
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Fresh Thyme (optional)
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
Sea Salt (optional)
2 Cups Hot Water (120-130 degrees F.)
A cake pan of hot water
Mix 3 cups of the flour with the yeast, sugar, thyme and salt.  Pour in the hot water and beat 100 strokes (or 3 minutes with a mixer).
Stir in the remaining flour until the dough loses its stickiness.  Turn onto a floured surface. Knead for 8 minutes.
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a warm damp cloth.  Let rise for 15 minutes in a warm spot (away from drafts).
Punch down and divide the dough into two pieces.  Shape into round loaves and place on a greased baking sheet.  Cut an “X” one-half inch deep in each of the loaves with a wet sharp knife. Sprinkle the tops with sea salt.

Place baking sheet with loaves in the middle of a COLD oven.   Place a pan of hot water on the lowest shelf. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and bake 40-50 minutes until golden brown.

St. Patrick's Day

I am an Irish lass married to a very Irish man, with two little Irish looking kids, and no one in the house cares for corned beef and cabbage.  What are you going to do?

Tonight we are having grilled petite filet mignon and pesto pasta.  Even when you love to cook you have days where you had to bake 20 baked potatoes for the preschool baked potato bar St. Patrick's Day party, and then lost electricity to the house and were unable to open the garage door with the electric opener, reminding you that you left the house key in the house after giving it to the babysitter a few days ago... So when your electricity comes back on and you finally get back into your house you grill up a couple of FABULOUS steaks, and use Trader Joe's organic pasta and Whole Foods pesto, and throw some raw spinach salad and cold glasses of milk (or pints of Guinness!) and call it a meal.  Whew.

Homemade Ciabatta Bread

What's the best way to make up for a potato kale gratin disaster?  The next night make homemade ciabatta bread.  It smells so good, tastes like a million bucks, and is sure to impress even the pickiest little eater.  Tonight we are having one of my family's favorite dishes, A Sweet Pea Chef's Chicken Parmesan, and a big loaf of my ciabatta bread. 

I don't remember now where I got the recipe, it's been recopied about 5 times in my book I've made it so often.  Here's the crowd pleaser:

Ciabatta Bread

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 1/4 c. flour
• 2 1/2 tsp yeast

Mix the water, sugar and yeast and proof until creamy, about 5 minutes.  Mix flour and salt, add yeast mix and oil to flour.  Mix with dough hook for 5 minutes.  Dough will be wet, DO NOT ADD FLOUR! 

Scrape into a well greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap.  Rise 1 1/2-2 hours.  Flour surface, cut in half.  BE GENTLE!  DO NOT PUSH OUT AIR!  Put dough on parchment paper, stretch into a rectangle, and create dimples with your fingers.  Cover with a damp kitchen towel and rise another 45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 425 F., and cook 25-30 minutes.  YUM!

Is Kale REALLY The New Spinach?

We love spinach in our house, we have a raw spinach salad on the table almost every night, and we toss it in with all kinds of cooked dishes.  Its full of fiber, iron, and vitamins, and my kids already eat it, so maybe I shouldn't rock the boat.

Your kids aren't the only ones eating at family meals...every time I bring up a new kale recipe my husband grimaces and moans like he's just been stabbed.  And then, while watching a "Modern Family" episode that we had DVR'd last week, Mitchell comes home from the farmer's market and says, "Did you know that spinach is out?  Spinach is out and kale is in."  We thought that was hilarious and my husband was laughing, so I took that as implicit agreement that I could start throwing kale in everything.  I'm married to a lawyer, though, so I should have gotten it in writing.

Yesterday I saw a recipe on Tastespotting for a potato kale gratin with gruyere cheese, so I decided to try it.  I should have been more worried that it advertised that the kale would be an easy eat for a new eater because it was "smothered in cheese."  We aren't really smothered in cheese kind of people but I still felt that it would be a great recipe, and chose to make some wild Alaskan salmon as our main entree.  Needless to say, at this point in the story, it wasn't pretty.  The gratin kind of curdled and the kale turned a sickly color and the smell, my god, the smell.  I hurriedly threw together some egg noodles at the last minute.  Everyone (including my husband) took a polite adventurous bite of the gratin and then devoured the rest of the meal.

If you are going to teach your kids to be adventurous eaters, it usually means that you are going to be adventurous with your cooking and baking as well.  The best quality in an adventurous chef is to know when to throw a pan of water on for a backup side dish of egg noodles.  But I'm not finished with kale!  Stay tuned for some great recipes because I still have a refrigerator full of more kale.

Here are the spinach vs. kale stats.  I can't imagine kale will ever replace spinach in our diet, but it is awfully good for you:

Kale

Serving Size 1 cup, chopped (67g)
Calories 34	Calories from Fat 4

Hide Daily Values

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0g		0%
	Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg		0%
Sodium 29mg		1%
Total Carbohydrates 7g		2%
	Dietary Fiber 1g
Protein 2g

Vitamin A	206%	Vitamin C	134%
Calcium	9%	Iron	6%
Thiamin	5%	Riboflavin	5%
Niacin	3%	Pantothenic Acid	1%
Vitamin B6	9%	Potassium	9%
Phosphorus	4%	Magnesium	6%
Zinc	2%	Copper	10%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Spinach

serving size 1 cup
Calories 7	Calories from Fat 1

Hide Daily Values

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0g		0%
	Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 0mg		0%
Sodium 24mg		1%
Total Carbohydrates 1g		0%
	Dietary Fiber 1g
Protein 1g

Vitamin A	56%	Vitamin C	14%
Calcium	3%	Iron	5%
Thiamin	2%	Riboflavin	3%
Niacin	1%	Vitamin B6	3%
Potassium	5%	Phosphorus	1%
Magnesium	6%	Zinc	1%
Copper	2%		%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Tikka Masala--in the Slow Cooker

I'm not an expert on Indian food, but I know what my family loves to eat and this dish is great!  It isn't too spicy, but can be spiced up on demand, and can cook away making your house smell like a great family dinner while you are off at work and school.  I'm really not trying to be the poster girl for the slow cooker, but it works so well for our family and family meals.

I've seen a lot of different recipes for this dish that were not for the slow cooker, and just took them and made them my own.  It is mostly adapted from America's Test Kitchen and Merryweather Mama.

Chicken Tikka Masala
serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds boneless/skinless chicken breast
• 1 tbsp fresh grated or minced ginger
• 2 tbsp minced or chopped garlic
• 1-2 red chilies, finely chopped (optional if you like a little heat)
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. ground coriander 
• 2 Tbsp. garam masala
• 3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 3 tbsp evoo
• 1 large diced onion
• 2 tbsp tomato paste28-32 ounces San Marzano diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Mix the garlic, ginger, (chilies), mustard seeds, paprika, cumin, coriander, and garam masala in a bowl. Put half of this mixture in a large mixing bowl and set the rest aside.

Add the yogurt to the mixing bowl and mix it in with the spices and add in the chicken.  Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Add the chicken and all the ingredients EXCEPT the cream to the slow cooker.  Cook on low 7-9 hours.  20 minutes before eating, use stick blender to blend in the cream, and cover and cook until dinner time.  Serve with Naan and basmati rice.  YUM!

What To Do With Israeli Couscous--Part 1

Well, the real question is, what CAN'T you do with Israeli Couscous!  It is such a versatile and delicious side dish, salad, or vegan entree.  Tonight we are having a wonderful and easy Israeli Couscous with roasted peanuts that I found on the blog Veggie Belly as a side dish for a roasted chicken and green baby spinach salad.   I changed the spice a little because I have found if you make a favorite spicy dish a little on the mild side for the first time kids try it, and then turn up the heat a little each subsequent time, then before long your picky eater is gobbling up a dish they never would have considered before.

Israeli Couscous with Roasted Peanuts

Couscous:
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup israeli couscous or pearl couscous, uncooked
Everything Else:
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
a few curry leaves, optional
2 green or dried red chillies (or according to taste), chopped.
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, crushed lightly
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
salt
Heat oil in a large non stick skillet. Add couscous. Stir the couscous on low heat till it turns color and becomes light brown. Add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover the skillet and simmer till all the water is absorbed, 5-7 minutes. Couscous should not be mushy.
While, couscous is cooking, take a wok, heat the oil and add cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle, add the curry leaves, and green or red chillies and cook for about 15 seconds. Add the cooked israeli couscous, peanuts, lemon juice and salt. Stir well. Turn off heat. Adjust lemon juice according to taste. Add cilantro. Serve warm.

It's Only Thursday Blueberry Poundcake

It's Thursday, it feels like it should be Friday, and my daughter comes home from preschool in the mood to "cook something."  She is my daughter.

I took out my copy of A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, which is my favorite memoir/recipe book ever, and knowing that we had a big carton of fresh blueberries took out her Blueberry-Raspberry Pound Cake recipe.  We only used blueberries, which we tossed the berries in confectioners sugar instead of flour, and creme de cassis instead of kirsch, but it was a fun afternoon with my youngest child, tossing around flour and butter and eventually getting a cake in the oven that smelled fabulous, and tasted even better tonight after dinner.

The recipe calls for a bundt pan, which I have used many times to make my Mother-In-Law's recipe for Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake.  It's a family favorite.  My daughter, Julia, immediately started recalling the last ten times we ate the chocolate cake.  I kept reminding her, between fishing around for the egg shell she had thrown in, that we weren't making chocolate cake this time, but instead a very good pound cake with blueberries.  When we put it in the oven and I turned on the oven light for her to take a peek she took a big inhalation of cake fumes and exclaimed, "I can't wait to see it turn into chocolate!"

Needless to say, at dessert tonight, no one even mentioned the Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake.

Ingredients:2 cups plus 8 Tbsp. cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. kirsch
1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried well
1 cup raspberries, rinsed and dried well


1. Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Butter a standard-sized 9-cup bundt pan and dust it with flour, shaking out any excess. (If your pan in nonstick, you can get away with a simple coating of cooking spray, no flour needed.)
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups plus 6 tablespoons flour, the baking powder and salt.
4. In the bowl of a food processor, blend eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add butter and kirsch, and blend until the mixture is fluffy, about 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. If the mixture looks curdled, don’t worry. Add dry ingredients and process just to combine. Do not over mix. The batter should be thick and very smooth.
5. In a large bowl, toss berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly across the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake’s center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
6. Transfer cake to a rack, and cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully invert the cake out of the pan onto the rack, and cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Grilled Ratatouille

We are wishing for summer here.  We are even just wishing for spring.  It's been too cold for too long and we felt like donning our bathing suits and laying out in the yard today because it was 46 degrees.  Okay, so I used to do that when it got to be 46 degrees in Kansas when I was a kid, but now I am an adult, and instead I decide to grill!

One of our favorite veggie meals in the summer is grilled ratatouille.  So today, in honor of 46 degrees, we fired up the grill and made grilled ratatouille.  It's easy, it tastes great, and everyone eats it.  What's not to like about that?

So, it took a little longer to grill, and the only fresh herb that I have right now is a sad little basil plant that keeps begging to be eaten.  Dinner was a smash.  In the summer we have grilled chicken with the ratatouille, but tonight warm homemade ciabatta, fresh mozzarella, and some grated parmigiana regianno.  Also, I usually grill my onions also, but I was out of sweet onions and had a new trader joe's product to try, Grilled Glazed Balsamic Sweet Onions, that did the trick. 
Now, I used to think that EVERYONE at the table had to eat EVERYTHING to be a dinner time success.  But now I realize that some kids are going to like some things more than others, and that's okay with me.  My son will eat a lot more grilled zucchini, and less fresh mozzarella, and my daughter will eat more grilled red pepper than any of us, and as long as everyone eats a lot on their plate, and tries a bit of everything I am happy.  No one ever turns down my home made ciabatta, but that is for another post.

Grilled Ratatouille

• zucchini, sliced longways
• eggplant (sliced, salted and drained for a few hours prior to cooking)
• red pepper, sliced and cleaned
• yellow squash, sliced longways
• tomatoes, cut in half
• onions, peeled and cut in wedges or circles

Spray veg with pam (olive oil pam is great!).  Heat grill to 350, grill veg with zucchini on the top rack for 4-5 minutes each side.  Don't worry if it gets a little scorched, it will taste good.  Place in large bowl with fresh herbs, like a handful of fresh torn basil or fresh marjoram leaves, and cut with knives until in bite sized pieces with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1-2 tsp aged balsamic vinegar.  Enjoy hot or cold, as a main entree or antipasto.  YUM! 

Blondies

Nothing helps a kid work up the courage to try a new food, like chili, like a pan of blondies cooling on the counter of the kitchen.  I'm not advocating bribery, I'm just sayin'.

Blondies

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 10 tbsp butter (there, I said it, I did name my daughter after Julia Child)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 c. chocolate chips
• 3/4 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter and flour 13x9x2 baking pan.  Mix flour, baking powder, salt and soda in bowl.  Melt butter over low heat, remove from heat and add sugar, whisking to blend.  Whisk in eggs and vanilla.  Gradually stir in dry mix.  Spread in prepared pan.  Sprinkle with chips and pecans.  Bake 30 minutes until tester comes out with moist crumbs attached.

Chili For A Cold Night

It's the Midwesterner in me, when it gets super cold outside, I think of making chili.  I've also been easing my kids into full-on chili since we have started camping a lot and bringing chili along to heat up on the fire is a lot easier than the "gourmet" camping meals that I've attempted this year.  But we'll get into that when camping season starts!

I also convert almost any chili, soup, or stew recipe into a slow cooker recipe because I just believe that smelling that wonderful dinner aroma when you walk in after school or work really gets you in the mood for eating a good dinner.  So tonight it was chili mac with a little shredded sharp cheddar and it was a success!  It helped that I had some blondies cooling on the counter for dessert--I'm not beyond a little bribery to get my kids to try things for the first time, but there wasn't any bribery involved tonight. 

The great thing about chili is that every family has a different recipe.  This is the one that works for us, but if we didn't have ground beef, ground turkey or chicken would work, and vegetarian is even better!  I made a recipe once that had peanuts substituted for meat, and after they cooked all day they really did have the texture and protein of a meat.  My daughter is allergic to corn and soy, but you could also add roasted corn, polenta, or corn meal to thicken it.

Down Home Chili

• 1 lb lean ground turkey (or lean ground beef, ground chicken or chicken breasts)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 28 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel, or Trader Joe's)
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp lime juice

Brown meat with onions and garlic, drain, add to slow cooker.  Add the rest of the ingredient and mix.  Cook on low in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours, serve over your favorite pasta--elbow macaroni is always good--with grated sharp cheddar to top, and cilantro to garnish.

Celebrate Monday--Best Banana Bread Ever!

My kids have an "early release" on Mondays, to give the teachers more prep time.  As a result, a lot of our family baking is done on Monday afternoon.  I have to believe that most kids love getting their little hands a little dirty with flour and munching on a few extra chocolate chips that dropped innocently on the counter.  Besides filling the house with a wonderful smell, and giving us a little time to talk and bake on Monday, baking at this time gives us lunch box treats for the rest of the week.

Since we just couldn't consume the pile of bananas that I bought last week, it was easy to decide what our baking project would be today--the "BEST BANANA BREAD EVER!" my kids have dubbed it.  It comes from one of my favorite books ever, A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, also author of one of my favorite blogs, Orangette.  I've always loved banana bread, but this recipe almost changed my life, it is THAT good. 

I've used the crystallized ginger in the recipe many times, even though I hate trying to finely chop it.  Today I got lazy and threw in some minced fresh ginger instead.  It tastes as great as ever, but we love ginger around here.  The crystallized ginger is definitely less spicy--take your pick.

Banana Bread with Chocolate and Ginger

• 6 tbsp (3 oz) unsalted butter
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large ripe bananas)
• 1/4 cup well stirred whole milk plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat to 350 degrees F.  Grease a standard 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl microwave butter until just melted.   Cool slightly.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  Add chocolate chips and ginger and whisk well to combine.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl (have you run out of bowls yet?) lightly beat eggs.  Add mashed banana, yogurt, butter and vanilla and stir  to mix well.  Pour banana mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir gently with rubber spatula, scraping down the sides as needed until just combined.  Do not over mix.  The batter will be thick and a little lumpy but there will be no unincorporated flour.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top.

Bake until loaf is a deep shade of golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean--50 minutes to one hour.  cool in loaf pan for 5 minutes and then tip onto rack and cool completely before slicing.  I dare you to try.  It's so good hot!

Superbowl Sunday--Healthy Snacks

There are so many ways to serve Superbowl snacks that are healthy and yummy, without all the added salt and fat.  One of our favorite football munchies is homemade hummus, whole wheat pitas and kalamata olives.

The recipe is really easy and varies from family to family depending on what you love.  We always go heavy on the lemon, garlic and cumin, and hardly ever put in olive oil at all because our texture is so smooth from putting in so much lemon juice!  Try it and season it to your own families taste.

Blend (with food processor or blender):
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed
1/2 cup of Tahini (sesame paste)
The juice of two lemons (or more!)
2 cloves garlic, minced (or more!)
1 tsp ground cumin (or more!)
salt to taste
olive oil or water to create the texture you want if you don't love it lemony.

Serve with warm whole wheat pita and olives.

Vodka "Cream" Sauce a la Murray

With the right tools in the kitchen you can make your favorite family foods a lot healthier, and no one will even notice!  My stick blender is my favorite tool in the kitchen and when you are making soups or sauces a stick blender is the best ingredient since good old cream.  I have been able to eliminate cream from most of our "cream" dishes, like this beautiful and so rich and tasty Vodka Cream pasta sauce by whipping the sauce into submission with my trusty stick blender.  It is able to emulsify just a bit of extra virgin olive oil into tasting positively creamy, and with a fraction of the calories.

Pasta with Vodka "Cream" Sauce

• Whole wheat pasta of your choice (we love Barilla Plus!)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion or 2-3 shallots
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (or more to your taste)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup vodka
• 1/4 cup fat free chicken broth
• 14.5 oz can San Marzano crushed or diced tomatoes

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat oil, add onion, saute 4 minutes.  Add crushed red pepper and garlic, cook 1 more minute.  Add vodka, bring to boil and reduce heat.  Simmer 3 minutes or until reduced by half.  Stir in broth and tomatoes, bring to boil.  Reduce heat, simmer 8 minutes, remove from heat and blend with stick blender.  Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, season to taste if necessary.  Garnish with parma reggiano and/or fresh basil. 

Roasted Chicken

Our family loves a roasted chicken.  We have it once a week and why not?  It is inexpensive, easy to prepare, tastes great, reheats well for lunch the next day, and is a different meal each week when you pair it with different sides.

I have to admit, even though it's easy, we've had our share of mistakes.  You can under cook it, season it wrong for your family's tastes, or cook it to a crisp, but once you have it down it is a snap.  A whole roaster chicken is usually far less than a package of 3-4 boneless chicken breasts--it is usually about $5.  So make some mistakes!  And then, you will have a full proof meal that your family will always feel is nourishing and fulfilling.

Tonight we had it with a mix of green beans, cauliflower, peas, romanesco, and a little garlic butter sauce, and roasted polenta slices. 

Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken, cleaned, legs trussed with kitchen twine

kosher salt

ground sage

ground or fresh thyme

a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Use kosher salt to generously salt the cavity.  Add sage, thyme, and any other desired herbs.  You can add onion and/or lemon to the cavity but you will have to add about 30 minutes to the cooking time.  Rub the outside skin with butter and lightly season with salt.  Cook about 90-115 minutes until instant read thermometer reads 180 in the breast.

And it's the weekend, right?  Oh, wait, it is only Thursday!?  You've got to be kidding me!  Well, I served a cocktail like we were kicking off the weekend and it was delicious!  My husband and I enjoyed a new concoction--a HONEY SIDECAR!  The perfect drink when you want to pretend it is the weekend.

Honey Sidecar

1 oz Cointreau

2 oz American Honey bourbon

1 oz sour mix

Shake with ice and serve up in a martini glass.  YUM!

Coconut and Chicken Curry Soup

Nine months of the year we grill almost every night.  It is a healthy, tasty and quick way to prepare meats, veggies, flat breads, and even dessert!  So on these cold, dark days of winter my family eats much differently than the rest of the year.  This time of year my slow cooker becomes my best friend, and we eat soup, soups, and more soups.  Soup is the best way for us to warm our bones, and feel satiated on cold evenings.

I transformed this recipe from Cooking for Seven to suit our needs and tastes and it has become one of our cold weather favorites.  EVERYONE gobbles it down, and if there is any left it reheats the next day beautifully for lunch.  That is IF there is any left.  There rarely is.  You could prepare it the way Cooking for Seven does, but I love smelling it in the slow cooker all day.  It fills the house with the smell of WARMTH!

Coconut and Chicken Curry Soup

• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 of a large onion, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth
• 1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk (I use light)
• 2 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (or a little more to taste)
• 1 small green bell pepper, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish
• 1/2 cup unsweetened chipped coconut
• 2 cups freshly cooked jasmine rice

Add the first seven ingredients to the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

In the last hour of cooking open it up and shred the chicken.  Add the sliced green pepper. 

Serve spooned over jasmine rice and garnish with the cilantro and chipped coconut on top.  Heaven!
Makes approximately 6 servings

Tuscan Veggies on the Side

Contrary to what my children will tell you, occasionally we do have a really good, juicy hamburger.  We don't eat a lot of red meat, maybe once every month or two, so when we do have it we really live it up.  My husband hinted, after watching this new Richard Blais show on the Science Channel "Blais Off"(yes, Science Channel!  He tries to see if science in the kitchen can improve traditional favorites like pizza and hamburgers--we're hooked!) that a brioche bun sounded really good for the next time we had hamburgers.  While I'm not willing to go 80% "lean" beef like Blais, I did look for a good brioche recipe on Tastespotting.  It turns out that the secret to great brioche is refrigerating the dough for 24 hours.  24 hours?!?  What, am I supposed to plan ahead or something?

So tonight we had some great cheeseburgers under the broiler (it is below freezing outside so the grill was out), with sides of farfalle pasta and tuscan vegetables.  I made up the recipe for the tuscan vegetables on the spot because these were the vegetables I had on hand.  I like to serve at least two types of veggies every night so the question to the kids is, "WHICH veg to you choose?"  Not, "please, please, please eat this vegetable!"  They are used to choosing one, and sometimes they even eat both without being prodded.
It turned out great, try it for yourself!  It's great over the pasta as a sauce, or on the side as it's own dish.

Tuscan Veggies

1 thinly sliced sweet onion
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp minced garlic
1.5 cups sliced white mushrooms
1 can rinsed cannelini beans
3-4 tbsp fat free chicken broth
2 cups fresh baby spinach
optional shredded parmagiano reggiano

Heat oil over med high heat, add onions and cook until golden, about 5-10 minutes, add garlic and cook 1 minute.  Add mushrooms and chicken broth and cook until mushrooms are softened (about 5 minutes).  Add cannelini beans and top with spinach and steam spinach with remaining liquids at the bottom of the pan, about 3-5 more minutes.  Serve topped with parmagiano reggiano.

Empanadas

As a family we have always eaten simple, quick, mexican meals frequently.  The kids love creating their own meals with tortillas, rice, shredded chicken, black beans, fresh spinach, chopped tomatoes, fresh and homemade salsas and cheese.  While this will probably always be in the repertoire for soccer nights, we have discovered....

EMPANADAS!

Everyone loves them, it is quite possibly our QUIETEST meal with everyone munching!  They are great with black beans and fresh salsa and spinach on the side (or your favorite crunchy green salad), and they are fabulous with a cold margarita or my infamous sangria on the side.  I found these on Evil Shenanigans, but they were beef and I made up my own delicious shredded chicken filling.

A word of warning, these are NOT for quick dinner soccer nights.  Filling these babies takes awhile but it is worth it!  If you do have any left over, they heat up wonderfully and are very portable for taking to work or school the next day.

Chicken Empanadas

For the dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup lard, or vegetable shortening
3/4 cup warm milk
1 egg, beaten

For the filling:

1/2 sweet onion, diced VERY small

1 tbsp olive oil

1-2 tbsp minced garlic

2 cups shredded chicken

1-2 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp ground red pepper

3-4 tbsp finely grated sharp cheddar or mix cheddar and jack

In a medium bowl combine the flour, cheese, salt, and baking powder until well mixed.  Add the shortening and, with your fingers, work the mixture until the shortening is well distributed and no pieces remain.

Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the warm milk.  Stir until the mixture forms a ball.  You may need to add additional flour if the mixture is too sticky.  Cover and allow to rest while you prepare the filling.

Heat the oven to 375 F and prepare two sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a skillet over med high heat add the oil and onions and cook until translucent.  About 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook additional 2 minutes.  Add shredded chicken and spices, heat through.  Remove from heat and add cheese, mix, and you are ready to fill your empanadas!

Divide the dough into four pieces, and on a floured surface roll it out until it is very thin (about 1/8 inch thick).  Cut out 3″ circles of dough. 

Brush the top edge of the dough with egg wash then add a teaspoon of the meat filling.   Fold the dough over and press to seal.  Crimp the edges with a form.  Repeat until you have filled the first pan.  Brush the tops with egg wash then bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until puffed and lightly golden.

Basic Shredded Chicken

A lot of our "fast" meals in the week, meaning meals after piano or soccer or other curve balls that get thrown into our schedule, are based on shredded chicken.  My kids love shredded chicken in almost anything, and if you have it already in the fridge you can whip up Pho Ga, quick Mexican night, chicken sliders, or a hundred other recipes that everyone will love.

Here's the basic slow cooker recipe:

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Add fat free chicken broth on top of the chicken in the slow cooker until is ALMOST covers the chicken.  Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Shred.

It couldn't be easier and it stores great in the refrigerator for up to a week.

French Onion Soup

This blog came about this evening as my family sat around our table slurping up our favorite french onion soup recipe, sopping it up with french rolls and feeling content and warm as the freezing wind railed outside our dining room window.

My husband, Dan, and my 5 and 7 year old kids, Julia and Ryan, have come a long way back to eating french onion soup on a cold night. Dan and I always enjoyed cooking and eating out before we had kids, enjoyed fine wines and tasting menus, and soups that cooked all day. We tried to make our own Ethiopian injera after a particularly good meal at a local restaurant, and roasted our own peppers over a gas flame to make a great antipasto. Then came the kids.

After our firstborn came into the picture we more than a few miserable dinners where I would cook for hours and dinner lasted about 90 seconds before meltdown. We simplified, kept great ingredients, tried not to eat steaming soup over a newborn's nursing head at the table. And then came the "Terrible Three's." My son who devoured any vegetable or fruit that came his way decided that he would eat nothing with a "speck" on it. That included grill marks, pepper, or any variation in color of any kind. He also decided that he loved peanut butter sandwiches, but couldn't bear to eat the crusts. He wanted the crusts, separately, after eating the crustless sandwich. I started buying chicken nuggets to serve him while we ate "good" food. I was a failure. Serving my child junk, and continuing to eat dumbed down food to include my one year old in our family dinners.

I finally decided we were all going to eat the same thing. And we were NEVER going to eat reheated chicken nuggets. I was going to figure out how to CREATE adventurous eaters, and our family was going to eat great food.

I have some ideas that might help some families, and if anything helps another family get out of the terrible three's bad eating habits I'll be happy! So my first post will be my recipe for French Onion Soup, adapted from a Cooking Light Recipe from over a decade ago that has copied over several times in my well used recipe book.

Roasted Vidalia Onion Soup

3-5 large Vidalia onions cut in wedges
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
32 oz fat free chicken broth
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
a shake of ground red pepper
finely shredded gruyere or swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 425 F. Place 13x9x2 inch roasting pan in oven to preheat with oven.
Add onions, sprinkle with oil stirring to coat. Bake uncovered until golden and tender, stirring twice, about 50 minutes.
Stir in garlic, bake 2 minutes. Add broth and spices, stir, cover tightly with foil, bake 20 minutes.
Remove foil and bay leaf. Transfer to large bowl and blend with stick blender until pureed.
Serve hot with rolls or toast points and a bit of the shredded gruyere. YUM!