On the Table: Plenty

Feeding a toddler is…difficult. This little boy used to eat just about anything, his taste buds were new and he was happy to have anything flavorful hand scooped into his mouth. These days things are a little more peanut butter and jelly shaped but we do have our moments. 

My brother and sister-in-law gave me the most beautiful cookbook for my birthday when they were in town called Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. It written by a London based chef and is compiled completely of unique vegetarian dishes that focuses on freshness and variety. I spent the afternoon just looking through it. I found so many things that I would like to try but I started with something I was pretty sure this kiddo would eat. Mee Goreng is a stir fry noodle dish made with bok choy, green beans, and tofu. It was quick and most importantly the kid gobbled it up! Well, the noodles and the tofu but I'll count this as a win. 

Check it out if you are looking for something new.  Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend! There's lots to do in Cleveland so get on out there!

On The Table: Green Goddess

 

Most days we have salads for lunch. My go-to dressing is a balsamic vinaigrette that I mix up at the beginning of the week but it's starting to feel like we were in a rut. Then one night I went to a friend's birthday party and her husband made a really simple and delicious dressing of just avocado and lemon on a spinach salad. It was really tasty and I was hooked. I started looking around for more dressing along those lines and found this Mexican Green Goddess recipe (and this one too, I combined them). It really delicious! I skipped the cilantro and used parsley instead, the husband is not a fan of cilantro at all. It's so lovely and green and I wanted to share! What's your favorite salad dressing recipe?

Citrus Avocado Salad

I'm going to take this opportunity to thank Bob the Builder for this post. I once was a fool and thought that letting him watch TV from time to time would melt his brain. Not true. Turns out it lets him take a breather and it lets me have a moment with my thoughts about dinner. The other night I threw together this delicious salad for me and the husband with all the goodies from the West Side Market. Here's what you need.

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped kale

1/2 sliced avocado

1 deveined and chopped grapefruit

A few slices of red onion

Shaved hard goat cheese

Balsamic vinaigrette

Chop, chop, chop. Toss it together and serve! I hope you enjoy it, but most of all have a happy Friday!

Creamy Broccoli Soup

I'd recently been talking to a friend about whether or not our boys would eat soup. They both seem to handle to spoon well for cereal with minor spills so it seemed logical. So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I thought it sounded tasty and it looked pretty easy to make. I did my best to follow the recipe with minor substitutions (vegetable stock in place of chicken) and just an addition of a little lemon juice. 

               

While the recipe is clearly very good for you. I felt like it was lacking in the taste department. So if I don't like something, then it's hard to make the boy eat it. He was pretty excited about the cool spoon and the grated cheese on top but he wasn't feeling it either. What's your favorite broccoli soup?

It's in the Sauce

Back on the quest of sneaking in extra veggies here. Yesterday while we were out and about I was trying to decide what we'd have for dinner. I still had half of a butternut squash in the fridge that needed to be used and when I thought "I wonder if I can make a pasta sauce with this." Being the way that I am, I just started to make something up on my own and then looked a recipe up later. And of course Ms. Martha Stewart had one at the ready for me. Here's hers. And now I'll tell you how I didn't really follow all the directions (read I never have all the ingredients on hand so I wing it).

Forgive me, I know these aren't the best photos...anyhow.

Ingredients
Butternut squash (and if you'd like sweet potato)
Garlic
Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Rosemary or sage
Whole milk
S&P

Cooked pasta

Heat oven to 350. Dice the vegetables and peel the garlic, toss in olive oil and S&P and herbs. Roast the butternut squash (and potato) for approximately 20 minutes or until tender. Let cool slightly and put in Vitamix (or just any blender but you already know about my love of it) add cheese and milk and puree in to a sauce, adding milk as needed until you reach your desired consistency. I kept ours on the thick side. Add to cooked pasta and serve warm.

Baby boy was pretty sold on it being macaroni and cheese but it wasn't! We really enjoyed the roasted flavors too! It was the perfect meal for a chilly Monday night!

Super Tomato Sauce

Oliver has been on a bit of a vegetable strike these days that came out of nowhere. The only exception being the kale in his breakfast smoothies. So I had to come up with a plan.

I talked to a mom friend of mine about a "super vegetable" sauce that she'd read about online and that inspired me to make my own. Well sort of, I started with a jar of sauce from the store. Here's what I did.

Ingredients:
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
1/2 red pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup chopped frozen broccoli
Vegetable stock as needed
Cooked pasta
Parmesan cheese

Thanks to the Vitamix I can just put all the frozen veggies directly into the blender with vegetable stock. I chopped them on a low speed then turned it up and onto high to steam and cook the veggies. If that's not an option steam them on the stove and purée.

Warm the jarred sauce on the stovetop and mix in the super veggie mix. Ads grated cheese and stir into pasta. I just felt like this was the added vegetable meal that little man needed. The sauce was thick and tasted almost creamy. Give it a try and see what you think!

Tomato Jammin'

Last Saturday I picked all of these tomatoes at once! It was pertinent that I do something with them. They were on their last legs and needed to be used stat. I'd been thinking of tomato jam since I read an article about it way back when. Then I saw someone on TV making it and it seemed like a sign. I found a few different recipes, here and here. I would like to note that the cooking time is really long so make sure that you have time on your hands for this one! I based mine on those combined with what was in our cabinet and it turned out so delicious! We've used it on an egg sandwich and on grilled cheese. I'm a huge fan and hope that you love it too! I

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On the Grill: Vegetable Feast

We feasted on vegetables from the farmer's market over the long holiday weekend. Corn is a household favorite these days so we have to grill two ears for the boy. He ate both! We also picked up some semi-hot peppers, which were actually fully hot just to be clear. Tossed them on the grill with a little olive oil until they charred up, smashed them with a fork and spread on a nice grilled baguette. It was so simple but so tasty. I think it would make a great dip if you mixed it with the right cheese.

Oliver's place setting makes me happy. Glistening peppers ready for the grill. Yow, they were spicy! And a nice country wheat baguette to round out all those veggies. What are your favorite things to grill?

Hey Chickpea

We went to the grocery store on Sunday morning to shop for the week. We've started a nice routine where we all go together so I'm not trying to do it all myself and entertain Mr. Short Attention Span. Once he's done shopping and sampling one of us takes him to the play area while the other finishes up. Anyway, I picked a recipe for Chana Masala which calls for two cans of chickpeas. But the only ones they had at the store were very expensive and I just couldn't do it. So on a whim, I bought the dried beans. I know that many of you use dried beans all the time so maybe this isn't all that big of a deal. BUT to me it was. I've cooked dried beans in the past and have never felt all that impressed with my results so I almost always return to the ever convenient can. This time it was a success and I'll tell you what I did.

Ingredients
2 cups dried beans (my guesstimate for the recipe that called for 2 cans)
Water, water, water
2 carrots cut into chunks
1 onion, quartered
2 juniper berries
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp coarse salt, I used a Hawaiian black salt
Pepper

I used a teapot to quickly boil some water. Rinse and sort the beans and put into a large pot. Cover beans with two inches of the boiling water and let soak for about an hour, add 1 tsp salt (eyeball it). The beans will increase in size by about double. Pour out that water and fill the pot with fresh cold water and cover the beans by about two inches again. Add the remaining ingredients (including the new salt) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer for about an hour until beans are tender but not too soft. This method helps to keep the beans intact without rupturing the skin. Then I went on with the recipe for Chana Masala which was also pretty good. But I have to say that the beans were the crowning victory of the day and the dish. I'm just happy it worked out. How do you cook your beans?

On the Table: Colorful Veggie Roast

I have to admit that I go the idea for this recipe from an Instagram photo about baby food. BUT, these flavors are so amazing I couldn't help but give it a try.  I added the garlic and goat cheese on my own, genius, I know (haha). I'm not sure how she planned to cook it but here's what I did.

Ingredients
1 lb. purple potatoes
2 ears of corns, kernels cut off
1 bunch of asparagus
2 sprigs of rosemary
3 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
S&P
Goat cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice potatoes lengthwise. Chop rosemary and garlic, toss with potatoes in olive oil and S&P and cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile cook the corn on the stovetop, fill pot with water and corn and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn off heat and cover with lid to finish cooking. I found this recipe to roast the corn in the oven but I had already removed the husks so perhaps next time. After 10 minutes, I checked the potatoes to gauge how much longer they needed. I determined it was about 10 more minutes so I added the asparagus and tossed. Cook until tender. Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix in with goat cheese while it's still hot so the cheese can melt. Cut the corn off the cob after it cools a bit and mix that in as well.

Serve warm or as a cooled potato salad. This colorful dish is a winner for sure! It's so bright and pretty it was a treat to eat! I made it to pack in lunches but it would also be tasty for dinner as a side! It was SO delicious and filling. JJ and I both seemed to really enjoy it and I hope that you do too!

All Hail the Kale

Tell me, how do you feel about kale? I love it! Our kale garden is growing wild. We have some everyday in our morning smoothies but it hardly puts a dent in the six plants that I bought! I was a little overzealous. So last night I made some kale chips to snack on after dinner. Because I like to eat all the time. I found a simple recipe here but I would tweak it just a bit.

Ingredients

12 large kale leaves, middle rib removed

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Tear apart the kale into medium sized pieces. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes but check them after 10 and toss. I let mine go for 25 because the recipe suggested 30 minutes but that was really too long. I would have preferred mine to be a little less done. A cookie sheet of fresh kale bakes down quickly so don't be stingy with your leaves. Enjoy!

On the Table: Eat Your Veggies

Are you a fan of vegetables? It's so easy to get in a cooking rut and end up making the same things every week, pizza and pasta are easy. So I'm trying my best to mix things up while making sure we get our fill of fresh vegetables. Visiting the farmer's market weekly helps me to find new and fresh things to build our weekly menu around (do I sound like a broken record yet about the market?). 

Fresh salads and stir fries are really quick and easy. These top two meals featuring fresh spinach, zucchini, and broccoli. Then I like to add beans or lentils too to bulk up the meal.

My husband loves green beans so I made an easy side salad of cooked beans with balsamic and garlic to accompany our quick dinner of Luna burgers and oven fries.

Every morning. I have a green smoothie. The ingredients always include spinach, banana, and flaxseed then vary between mangos and peaches, or berries. Sometimes I use kale but my blender is no Vitamix so it can be a little chunkier than I like.

Now that Little Man has mastered the straw, he's all about me sharing with him too. How do you add vegetables into your meals? I'm always looking for something new.

A Trip to the Market

Last Saturday morning was a bit chilly but the sun was shining. We had a very early bird start to the day due to the hungriest person that I ever did meet needing food at 6:00am. A few hours later we got ready to head out on our normal trip to the market. There were lots of people standing in line on that sunny morning gathering their fresh produce for the week. We noted that there seems to be one particular stand that draws the longest lines for their strawberries, even though there are other stands that have them. We chatted with the vendors and farmers and tasted lots of interesting things including blueberry lemon goat cheese, black raspberry jam, maple syrup barbecue sauce, and hemp seed power bars. 

 

 

This week the husband and I were quite hungry so we grabbed a seat on the lawn and picked up some breakfast. He got a ham and egg sandwich on thick slices of brioche and I of course got eggplant parmesan, which turned out to be the most delicious breakfast of champions. Little man got a bag of mini cinnamon sugar donuts. He graciously shared our meals with us all while clutching a donut in each little hand.

And when you eat that much, and play that hard all before 9:30 in the morning, you need a recharge before the day can continue. All in all it was a successful trip! We came home with zucchini, strawberry rhubarb jam, strawberries, cognac fig goat cheese, spinach, and fresh eggs. Stayed tuned this week and I'll share some of the things that we cook up. Happy Monday!

On the Table: Orzo Salad

If you haven't already heard, lunch can be my nemesis. It's either heated up left overs or I'm scrambling to put something decent together at the last minute. I certainly have my good days though, when lunch is a breeze and I'm full and happy. But yesterday I had a peanut butter sandwich at 10:30 and then a bowl of chips at 2:00, that was not my best effort. So today is a fresh start and I made enough for tomorrow too! 

Ingredients

1 cup of Orzo pasta

1 diced red pepper

2 cloves of minced garlic

8 chopped olives

1 cup of frozen peas

Grated Parmesan

1 Tbsp dried dill

Salt & Pepper

Balsamic vinaigrette 

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add your orzo and cook for 7-9 minutes (or whatever the box instructs). While the pasta is cooking chop up all of your vegetables and put in a large bowl. Drain the pasta and add it to the bowl. Add your salad dressing while hot and mix in dill, salt and pepper as needed. Top with grated parmesan and stir. Put the whole thing in the refrigerator until cool. Then serve. This dish is so simple and tasty, it's crazy. It would be a perfect side to bring along to your Memorial Day picnics! Enjoy your weekend friends, and also remember to honor those that have served our country. 

On the Table: Strawberry Salad

Saturday was another trip to the Farmer's Market and the winning purchase by far were the fresh strawberries!

It was a beautiful day and that makes for a crowded market so we put the boy in the carrier to make maneuvering the crowds a bit easier.

The line was for berries was at least 15-20 people deep but everyone was patient and nice. Which meant they were all rewarded with quarts of locally grown berries for a pretty decent price.

Just look at these beauties! Strawberries come in a close second only to the beloved banana for the babe so he was pleased. For about a minute I had hopes of making some delicious dessert with these but we just couldn't wait. Oliver ate about half of them on his own by Monday! Here's a tasty lunch recipe that I wanted to share with you now.

Ingredients

Strawberries

Spinach

Avocado

Roasted almonds

Red onion (not pictured above, but I love the combo)

Chop up all of the ingredients and arrange on a plate or bowl. I like to try and make a salad look as fancy as they do at restaurants. It makes things seem more interesting. Toss with a simple balsamic vinaigrette and you have lunch ready in minutes! This spring salad is also great to bring along to a BBQ to have on the side of your main dish. Hope you enjoy!

On The Table: Sandwiches Are Beautiful

My husband eats a turkey sandwich for lunch almost everyday. I ate them too when I was a meat eater but I have to say that I was never really a fan. That's not what I wanted when I opened my lunchbox, my lunchbox with my initials on it I might add. But not all sandwiches are created equally. Nothing is better than a fancy pants sandwich made by someone else. It's not unlikely that we end up with a regular old grilled cheese on the fly around here, but today is different. I was inspired by this one the other day but didn't have all the ingredients. So today I bring you The Queso Fresco Griller

Ingredients
I used 4 slices of an Italian loaf that was a little on the firmer side although a multigrain is usually what I have on hand
1/2 avocado
Handful of spinach
Crumbled queso fresco
Butter

Slice or crumble the queso fresco and put on two of the slices. Cut the avocado in half and slice while still in the skin, then scoop it out with a spoon. Stack sliced avocado on top of cheese and add the spinach on top of that. Then add a little more cheese to make sure the sandwich sticks together nicely. Melt a pat of butter in a pan over medium heat and cook the sandwich on each side until golden brown. This cheese isn't super gooey so I did need to cover it with a lid to make sure it melted nicely. Cut diagonally and enjoy!

I sure hope this brightens up your day. It did the trick for us!

On the Table: Pizza Night!

Let me begin by saying that last night's dinner preempted my planned post for today. It was that good. My husband took a half day yesterday and that meant that not only did he plan dinner, he also cooked it! How glorious.

                           

A few weeks ago I picked up a Bon Appétit on a whim mostly because of the cover image, a delicious looking pizza, and it featured recipes from Jim Lahey of Sullivan St. Bakery in New York. The article said that his recipes were fun and easy but we've had bad luck in the past making pizza dough so I wasn't buying it. Then yesterday, unbeknownst to me, my husband added one of his recipes to the shopping list! I have to admit that I did buy the already made dough from Whole Foods, but I was pressed for time and I already said we had bad luck, give me a break.

So I give you Jim Lahey's Popeye Pie. A deliciously simple spinach pizza with gruyere and fresh mozzarella. Check it out and report back.