Category Archives: Monday Meals

Sweet Soy Glazed Chicken

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Honey Soy Glazed Chicken Legs

Happy Wednesday.  I got to spend today baking in the kitchen with one of my favorite people in the world, Becky McGrew.  We baked something truly decadent and crazy rich, but that will be a post for another day. 🙂  Today is more practical.  At the beginning of the week, I have such gusto for cooking my meals.  I go to the store on Sunday nights and buy my grocery list for meals to get me through at least Wednesday night (I don’t like to buy more than that, lest things go bad in the fridge, waiting to be cooked.)  Thursday morning is usually winding down and trying to find a use for my many leftovers.  It’s good to have a few recipes you can always rely on to be great and interesting in the middle of the week.  Recipes that aren’t hard, aren’t boring and make you feel glad you didn’t just give up and go out to dinner.

This is a perfect mid-week meal because it gets you over the hump in the week and gives you amazing leftovers.  Such a rich, sweet and savory glaze on this chicken pairs perfect with a few light sides like stir-fried snap peas or roasted brussels sprouts with fish sauce vinaigrette.

Honey Soy Glazed Chicken*

12 chicken legs (or other parts, but I’d definitely use chicken on the bone)
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons neutral oil (not olive)
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup honey
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Wash and dry and lightly salt and pepper the chicken and place in a 9X13-inch pan.

Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Toss chicken in the sauce and then arrange, skin-side down in the baking pan. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove pan, turn chicken over, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. Remove pan and turn chicken over once more. Turn the oven down to 375ºF and bake for an additional 15 minutes.  My chicken didn’t get as glazed as the original recipe appears, so I took matters into my own hands and placed the chicken on a serving platter and tented it with foil to keep warm and then put the sauce on the stove in a medium saucepan and let it reduce by half until really syrupy.  BEST DECISION EVER.  I then took a ladle of the syrup and added it to rice as an accompaniment.  BEST DECISION EVER.  I think you could add the reduced soy glaze to just about anything and it would be…the best decision ever.  Totally delictable, dresses up any sad chicken, any sad side dish.  Would be great tossed with roasted broccoli for a stir-fry.  Geez, the possibilities are endless.  Enjoy!

*recipe adapted from Alaxandra Cooks

Beautiful Beets and Second Chances

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This is a perfect Monday post because no one really reads my Monday posts so I can be as nerdy as I want.  Here it comes…

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I took a lot of pictures of beets the other today.  They’re beautiful.  Why aren’t they more popular in this country?  A PINK food?  Come on! Kids should be all over these.  They stain worse than food coloring.  They roast up sweet and savory.  I think a lot of people in this country have been scarred by canned or pickled beets.  That’s the taste they have in their minds.  I can understand why that wouldn’t be the most appealing taste memory.  But think about this – what if someone decided a long time ago that the best way to eat a potato would be to brine it?  Everyone would say, “Eww, potatoes.”  THINK ABOUT THAT!  So, my determination is to try previously unappealing foods in different ways than they are known for.  Roasting is almost always the best way to cook a root vegetable.  It works with just about anything from asparagus to parsnips to turnips.  It’s good to give foods with a bad reputation a  second chance. You never know if you’re one recipe away from your new favorite food.

This post is really just for showing the pics I took of beets.  And if you are curious, peel them, chop them into cubes, coat them in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast them for 30 minutes at 400F until tender.  No brainer.

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Ready for roasting

My family looking at me as if I’d gone crazy while I took pictures of beets for 30 minutes.
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Summer Corn Chowder – perfect for a rainy day

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Corn Chowder and Cornbread

I hope you’re getting rain.  We got a little bit last night and it’s threatening to rain, today.  The clouds are hanging low and the wind is a cool 65 and I feel for a minute that it could be late September instead of the middle of July.  I live for cold weather and I’m still a little perplexed by why I live here, in the desert.  I grew up around here – maybe that’s it.  We long for things unfamiliar or for the relief we feel on the rare occasions we get a break from our usual reality.  I hear people in Seattle long for the beach.  I bet they don’t long for the desert, though!

Another comforting thing about food is the ability to transport myself into a feeling or a mood simply by the dish I prepare.  Caprese salad makes me long for summer nights, spice cakes make me wish for Christmas, chocolate chip cookies make me think of home.  A warm bowl of chowder with a thick slice of cornbread and a cold slab of butter puts me in the mood for a cloudy day and cooler temps.  So, in the middle of the heat of the summer, on this cooler week with cloudy days and threatening rain, let’s make a memory with a warm bowl of corn chowder and pray the rain stays a while.

Summer Corn Chowder and the Perfect Cornbread*
serves 6

4 teaspoons bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 cup)
2 ribs celery,cut into 1/2-inch dice (3/4 cup)
8 sprigs thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 cups homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock
3 ears yellow corn, kernels removed (about 2 1/2 cups)
5 ounces small fingerling potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 poblano chile, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 1/2 cups half-and-half

Place bacon in small stockpot over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until bacon is deep golden brown and all the fat has been rendered, about 4 minutes. Remove bacon with slotted spoon, transfer to paper towel, and set aside. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat.

Add onions, celery, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste to stockpot; cook over medium-low heat until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 15 minutes.

Add corn, potatoes, and chile; cook until potatoes are tender, 10-20 minutes. Remove and discard thyme. Add half-and-half, and simmer until soup is hot. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, and garnish with the reserved crisp bacon pieces.

*recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Cornbread

 

We only make one cornbread recipe, anymore.  The New Best Recipe is a wonderful encyclopedia of how to make every recipe basically, perfect.  We love this book and it never steers us wrong.  It’s quite bulky, but all the recipes are tested extensively and done in a myriad of ways, and they give a background as to why the recipes work.  It’s very trust-worthy and a definite go-to in times of need of a solid recipe!  Their Golden Northern Cornbread is our go-to cornbread recipe.  It’s light, fluffy, moist and slightly sweet.  Holds together beautifully to be a base for your bowl of soup, or just on the side with some cold butter.

The Best Golden Cornbread
makes 9 servings

2 tbs unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
1 cup (5 ounces) yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
1 cup (5 ounces) AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup milk

Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Grease a 9 inch square baking pan with butter.

Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.  Push the dry ingredients up the sides of the bowl to make a well.

Crack the eggs into the well and stir lightly with a wooden spoon, then add the buttermilk and milk.  Stir the wet and dry ingredients quickly until almost combined.  Add the melted butter and stir until the ingredients are just combined.

Pour the batter into the greased pan (we actually love to use our cast-iron skillet for this recipe). Bake until the top of the cornbread is golden brown and lightly cracked and the edges have pulled away from the sides of the pan, about 25 minutes.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool slightly, 10 minutes.  Cut and serve warm!

 

Cajun Shrimp and Potato Bake

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This is a fantastically easy, hearty, well-rounded meal that is wonderful for the whole family.  I love cutting corn cobs into sundials – it’s not only very pretty to look at, but it makes it very easy for little hands to pick up and dig in!  I created this meal after determining we had nothing to eat 🙂  I had a few fingerling potatoes, 3 cobs of corn, and about 12 shrimp in the freezer.  Oh, and a shallot.  I had a shallot.  It really is remarkable what you can create when your laziness for going to the store beats out your laziness for cooking.  I chopped up everything, roasted them, and served it all in bowls with plenty of hot sauce!

This meal was made possible by the previously stated freezer staple, frozen shrimp, and a strong desire to stay home and out of the heat.  We had leftovers for a few days from this, and for what was probably $5 total, I’d consider that a success.

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Cajun Shrimp and Potato Bake
serves 4

1 lb fingerling potatoes, or small, new potatoes, chopped into 1″ pieces
3 cobs of corn, cut into 1″ cross-sections
1 large shallot, or 1/2 a medium onion, cut into thin half-moons
1/2 lb peeled, deveined, frozen shrimp (about 6-8 per person, if they are big)
1 tsp Cajun seasoning (or Old Bay would work great)
Olive oil (about 3-4 tablespoons total)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Preheat the oven to 375. Run cold water over the frozen shrimp to thaw and leave it in the colander while you cut up the vegetables.  Toss the potatoes, corn and onion with about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle well with salt and pepper.  Roast for 25-30 minutes, until corn turns golden and potatoes are tender, stirring once or twice during cooking time.  While the vegetables are roasting, rinse the shrimp again and then lay them out on paper towels, blot dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper and Cajun seasoning on both sides.

When the vegetables are almost done, take the tray out and lay the shrimp on top of the vegetables and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until the shrimp are opaque.  Toss everything together in a big bowl and serve with hot sauce of choice!

Cheesy Grits with Olive Pesto and a Soft-Boiled Egg

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Cheesy Grits with Olive Pesto and a Poached Egg

Grits, Polenta, Cornmeal – whatever you call it and however you prepare it, it can take on many forms and flavors.  To us, slow-cooked grits is about as comfy as comfort food gets.  When done right, grits can be amazing.  Too often, people associate grits with the translucent, gel-like, flavorless substance they encounter at cheap breakfast houses the world over.  I often say that if you don’t like a particular food, you might have just had a bad version. I was this way with grits, apple pie, turnips, pork chops, just to name a few.  When I had a GOOD bowl of cheesy, smooth grits, I was hooked.  When I had an apple pie that was distinctly apple and had a good, buttery crust and wasn’t watery, I understood the appeal.  Sometimes you just have to give a dish a few tries before putting it in the “dislike” category.

This recipe for grits is one of my favorites, so far.  This basic, creamy grit recipe stays the same – just the toppings change.  This makes it one of the easiest weeknight meals to prepare because the grits cook for about an hour, which you inadvertently stir while you’re doing other things.  Then, when it’s time for dinner, you just spoon out helpings, add toppings of choice, and dig in.  I honestly think that it’s a healthy meal, too, because the grits are cooked with chicken stock and you don’t even have to add cheese for amazing depth of flavor, if you use good grits.  I use Lamb’s stone ground grits, (you can find these at United) and they are amazing.  Just a little seasoning and they are perfect.  So, the indulgence level is up to you with this beautiful, blank canvas!

I found a recipe for an olive pesto on this beautiful blog, and with the poached egg, she had me sold.  Only, I didn’t poach mine, I did a pretty fool-proof method of soft boiling the eggs, letting them cool, and then carefully peeling them.  Not so fresh eggs work best with this method.  I will post my own pesto recipe on this blog, soon, as I’ve made it quite frequently and it’s one of those things, like guacamole, that you should just know how to do and do well.  And by “well” I mean, keep it pure and simple!

Cheesy Grits with Poached Egg and Olive Pesto

Cheesy Grits with Olive Pesto and a Soft Boiled Egg*

For the Polenta:
2 cups stone ground grits (do NOT use instant grits)
8 cups water/chicken stock (I did half and half)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, or any other hard cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Get the water and/or chicken stock boiling on the stove.  Gradually whisk in the grits, careful to break up all the clumps.  Lower the water to a simmer and stir, occasionally, for about an hour.  You can test to see if they need more cooking by tasting a bit for crunchiness.  Shouldn’t be too crunchy – think of it like cooking rice.  Stir in the cheese till it melts and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.  Cover and set the burner on low and get on with your toppings.

For the Pesto:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup green olives, coarsely chopped
1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup fresh oregano or marjoram (I discovered they are wickedly similar)
1/4 cup fresh thyme, coarsely chopped

Put all this stuff in a blender, food processor, or tall cup with an immersion blender and pulse till chunky and well combined.

For the Eggs:
1 egg per person, room temp (To make them room temp quickly, simply put them in lukewarm water for about 10 minutes)
a big ol’ pot of water
tablespoon of white vinegar
salt

Get a big pot boiling with water and salt it and add the vinegar.  Carefully lower the eggs into the boiling water.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from the water and let them sit in lukewarm water till cool enough to handle.  Veeeerrrrrry carefully peel the eggs and set aside.

Assemble!

Spoon grits into each bowl (they may need to be stirred a bit from sitting there.  They form a skin, but it’s okay, it stirs back up just great) and top with a poached egg, a spoon of pesto and extra pepper.

*adapted from thekitchn.com

Rosemary Crusted Pork Chop with Coconut Milk Braised Carrots

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This is a good meal for many reasons.  The pork chops were actually a good thickness, and lean, and were buy one pack, get another pack for free (4 really thick chops in each package.  I get ridiculously excited for discounts in the meat department.)   I bought a 5 pound bag of carrots two weeks ago, and so I am currently looking for different ways to prepare them, and found a stunningly simple and flavorful way on one of my favorite blogs, French Foodie Baby.  Say what you will about my French obsession, but those people KNOW their food, and from a very loving depth that centers around family and love of pure ingredients.  Helene, from FFB, is one of the best writers in the myriad of food blogs out there. I literally exhale with relaxation when I read her posts.  She challenges me and inspires me and makes me want to be better at being thoughtful about what I put on the plate for my family.

The braised carrots in coconut milk was from her blog and I just took the concept and did it in a much bigger batch on my stove so that I’d have leftover finger foods for Olive for the week.  And so I could use up the never ending bag of carrots.  I swear that thing is multiplying.

I don’t know much, but I do know that pork and rosemary are best friends.  So when I saw that Helene put rosemary in with her coconut milk to braise the carrots, I thought: instant pan sauce!  And it turned out wonderful!  The extra sauce from the carrots made an amazing garnish for a thick, crispy, rosemary-infused pork chop!  I was happy with this meal and wanted to share its simplicity and comfort-food qualities with you today!

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Rosemary Crusted Pork Chop with Coconut Milk Braised Carrots
serves 4-6

4 boneless pork chops, thick cut, if you can find them (the ones I found were about an inch thick)
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper – about a half teaspoon of each
2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary – I would think dried would be fine, but it wouldn’t be as aromatic
4 tbs butter or olive oil for pan frying the chops

For the carrots:
1 lb carrots, peeled and chopped into half inch rounds
1 can of coconut milk
2 cloves of garlic, crushed but left mostly in tact
two sprigs of fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Get the carrots on the stove to braise first, as they take the longest.  In a deep skillet, heat the coconut milk over medium heat along with the cloves of crushed garlic and the rosemary sprigs.  Add in the carrots and let it simmer on the stove until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.  I put a lid on halfway through as to not lose too much moisture.  When the carrots are done, remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

For the chops: pat them dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper.  Put the flour and rosemary and a few dashes more of salt and pepper in a bowl and toss well to combine.  Coat each side of the chops in the flour mixture and set aside.  Heat the butter or olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering (or bubbling if using butter) and add in the chops, cooking about 5-6 minutes per side.  If they are browning too quickly, reduce the heat after you get a good sear/crust on each side of the chop.  If your chops are really thick, you may need to transfer them to a preheated oven to finish cooking.  I had to do this for one of the chops because it was way bigger than the rest and wouldn’t cook through without burning the crust.  At any rate, you need a meat thermometer for this because we no longer have to cook our pork to death to be safe.  Some farmer told me that no one’s gotten sick from pork in years, but everyone is still cooking it like they could.  A pink center is fine – I made sure mine got up to 150-160 and called it good, regardless of how the centers looked.

Place the chops on plates and for the sauce garnish, move the carrots to a bowl, reserving about a 1/2 cup of the coconut milk in the pan.  Taste for salt and season as necessary.  Remove the rosemary sprigs and the cloves of garlic and spoon the sauce over each chop and serve alongside the carrots.  If you don’t cook the chops too much, they will be soft enough for a baby to chew, given she has at least 3 molars, which mine does.  She loved the carrots (she’s 15 months old) and ate a few pieces of pork and called it good.  And lately, that has to be good enough for me!  For smaller babies, the carrots would be IDEAL pureed or just left in tact for finger foods.  They are so soft, sweet and a little salty – perfect! I would have blended up the pork with some coconut milk back in the 6-9 month days for Olive.

Enjoy!

Coriander Crusted Chicken

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Corriander Chicken004

 

This Monday meal is a really unique spin on some old standards.  We all get tired of chicken because it’s nearly always in the weekly rotation.  Adding a spice you may not be used to is the best way to make something boring like chicken seem new, again!  This week that spice is coriander.  The seed of the cilantro plant, it has a tutti-fruity flavor and is commonly used in Indian cuisine.  It’s got a wonderful sweet/spicy appeal that makes it ideal for roasted chicken.  We first ran across this spice mix from acclaimed chef, Michael Symon, who combined coriander, cinnamon, cumin and Srirracha for the most unbelievable wings you’ll ever taste.  We’ve  brought those chicken wings to football parties, church potlucks and small get-togethers with friends and they are always gone first.

For this simple meal, I took a few of the spices from Symon’s original wing recipe and tossed the chicken legs in with them, plus some olive oil and roasted it.  Perfection!  They’d be even better if you put them in the rub the night before you were going to cook them.  We simply served the chicken with a side of Srirracha for a dipping sauce instead of making the wing sauce recipe.

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For the side, I did a simple roasted green bean/potato dish tossed with diced, caramelized purple onions.  Such a simple addition and it made the vegetables totally awesome.  Oh, and for my gluten/dairy avoiding friends, this meal is entirely safe for you!  FYI, just to keep things honest, Olive only ate the potatoes out of this dish.  She’s decided this week and last to boycott meats and most vegetables.  It’s been super fun…

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Coriander Chicken with Roasted Vegetables
serves 4

1 lb chicken legs, thighs, wings – just make sure they’re still on the bone.  Yes, this can be done with boneless, but you’ll need to adjust the cooking time
2 tbs coriander seeds, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil

For the vegetables:
2 medium sized potatoes
1/2 lb fresh green beans, ends snipped
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 red onion, diced
3 tbs olive oil

For the chicken: Preheat your oven to 450F.  Combine the coriander seeds, cumin, cinnamon, salt and olive oil in a gallon sized Ziploc bag.  Add the chicken legs and smush and toss and move them around inside the bag to coat all the pieces evenly.  Sometimes I open up the bag and have to move some of the top pieces down to the bottom cause the bottom pieces are spice-hogs.  Leave the bag in the fridge for 30 minutes while you prep all the rest of the vegetables for the meal.

Wash and cube up the potatoes into about 1/2″ cubes.  Snap the ends off your green beans and wash them and pat them dry.  Toss the potatoes and green beans together with the 2 tbs of olive oil and spread them out on a greased, rimmed baking sheet.  Season with a good sprinkling of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and set pan aside.  Take your chicken out of the fridge and arrange the pieces on a greased, foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet.  Place the chicken in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.  Put the potatoes and green beans in the oven on the lower rack beneath the chicken and get on with your onions.  In a medium saucepan, heat the remaining 3 tbs of olive oil over medium heat and cook the onions till they are golden, usually 10-15 minutes.

Check the potatoes and green beans when the timer for the chicken goes off.  If they haven’t turned golden and slightly crispy, leave them in there.  Check the temp of the chicken with a probe thermometer.  If it’s 165, they are done and you can remove them from the oven.  They may take longer depending on the size of chicken pieces you used and the temp of your oven (all ovens lie just a little bit).  If your vegetables aren’t quite done when the chicken is, just tent the chicken with foil so they’ll keep warm.  The beauty of the vegetables is that if they get done faster than the chicken, they can easily be warmed in the microwave.  When the vegetables are done roasting, toss them in with the caramelized onions in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.

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Turkey Meatball Stroganoff

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For your Monday family meal, I am presenting something truly comforting, low in fat and wonderfully flavorful.  Coming, again, from Tyler Florence’s book, Start Fresh, this recipe appears at the back of the book where a few dishes are listed that the whole family can enjoy and be modified for any stage eater.  If I were feeding this to 9 month old Olive, I would smash up a meatball into tiny pieces (they are really soft, anyway) and I would take some of the sauce and pulse it a few times with a few noodles.  I’d even have taken a bit of everything for 6 month old Olive and blended it all up with some extra sauce!  I was never too worried about feeding her a huge variety at an early age.  For 15 month old Olive, this meal is a free-for-all.  I’m really strict when it comes to what and when she eats, but as for how, I still cringe, but I do let her eat with her hands, smash things in her face and even try and “smell” everything (which results in food up the nose).  I know I have a lot of guidelines, so I try my best to not stress too much about the mess.  I still won’t dump a scoop of spaghetti onto her try and leave her to it.  I have boundaries, you know.  🙂  But I think WHAT she eats and the way we treat mealtimes is more important than having to hose down the high chair.  (I’m preaching to myself.  This is a life lesson for me and my need to control things too much!)

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Turkey Meatball Stroganoff*
Serves 4 to 6

1 slice multigrain bread (I used rye) or about 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1.5lbs ground turkey
2 tbs whole milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, minced
1/2 tsp caraway seeds, crushed (just dump some in a plastic bag and roll over them with a rolling pin if you don’t have a mortar and pestle)
Pinch of kosher salt
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
6 ounces sliced mushrooms (any kind)
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 tbs AP flour
1.5 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 tbs sour cream or unsweetened yogurt (I used the latter cause that’s what I had on hand!)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
8 ounces cooked egg noodles (I like the extra wide for baby hands to grasp!)
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

Chop or pulse the bread in your food processor (or with a knife) until very small and crumbly.  In a large bowl, mix the turkey together with the bread, milk, onion, caraway seeds, and salt until combined (err on the side of too wet and add more milk if it seems dry).  Shape the turkey mixture into about fifteen 2-inch meatballs.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering.  Add the meatballs and cook, turning often, until browned, 5 to 7 minutes (I have to use a meat thermometer for turkey and make sure I get the centers up to 160).  Transfer the meatballs to a plate.

Add the garlic to the same skillet and cook over medium heat for a minute or two.  Add the mushrooms and thyme and continue to cook, turning often, until the mushrooms are golden.  Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir to coat.  Stir in the chicken stock and cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Whisk in the sour cream and mustard until smooth, then return the meatballs to the pan.  Turn to coat with the sauce.

Spoon the meatballs and sauce over the noodles and serve garnished with parsley.  I didn’t think this recipe made enough sauce, just FYI, so I think next time, I’d double the parts for the sauce.  Word to the wise!  I like leftover sauce and for the noodles to be absolutely coated!

*recipe adapted from Start Fresh

Fish Sticks and Sticking to Your Guns

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The method is working.  We have a few food rules when it comes to feeding Olive and ourselves.  All these thoughts are fueled by the game-changing book, “French Kids Eat Everything“.  I highly recommend it if you find yourself stressed that your kid eats a limited selection of foods.  Babies don’t know snacking exists.  They learn it soon enough from peers and tv and observing adults who randomly nibble throughout the day, but in the formative first couple years of life where you have most of the control over what your baby consumes, you can show them a different way.  And maybe even learn to eat better, yourself!  Olive gets one snack a day. Yes, she’s 15 months old (almost) and only snacks once a day. (And it’s a good one! Something fun and really tasty. Usually a piece of fruit or some dark chocolate and bread with milk.  You gotta make it something they look forward to.)  It’s in between lunch and dinner, because that’s the longest stretch without food.  We also have to emulate this discipline for her.  How would it be fair to snack in front of her without including her?  And if I want her to be hungry enough at a meal to be willing to try something new, well darn it, she needs to not have eaten a snack an hour before dinner!  Makes sense to me and it seems so obvious, yet so few do it.  We should all eat this way!  Hunger is a discipline that too few of us experience. And the discipline is learned before the age of two.  It can be learned if started after two, but it’s just so much harder (think: excessive whining).

We’ve even pushed dinner back to 7:30 the past few nights and she has eaten EVERYTHING.  Whereas before, I was serving dinner at 6:30 and it was a fight to get her to eat for 10 minutes straight (she’d had her snack just two hours before and had drank milk in between, so, consequently, she was only mildly interested in dinner.)  Eating an hour later has been a transformation –  she ate marvelously and ate everything from fish to broccoli to berries to a nice piece of Manchego (the King of Cheese).  So, it’s working!   The next day, she ate like a bird and acted like bananas were the devil (a  former favorite). Even if she has days like that, I try to remind myself that she will not starve and that maybe she’ll eat more at the next meal (this is SO hard.)  This structure of eating has made my days better, too.  I don’t have to constantly find something for her to eat.  Other than her snack, we’re all eating at the same time.  This will get harder as she gains the ability to ask for things and tell me she’s hungry.  I’ll tackle that problem when it gets here.  Hopefully between now and then, she’ll form the habit of knowing when food is served and being willing to wait till we can all sit at the table together for the family meal.  Also, because she eats so much quantity at each meal, she’s often not even that hungry until about 30 minutes before the next meal. So waiting for the meal is as simple as distracting her with playing in another room with Matt, or just including her in the cooking process like holding the herbs, or a peeled carrot, or whatever.  She sits on the counter a lot 🙂

The recipes today come from two cookbooks.  The fish recipe came from Tyler Florence’s book, Start Fresh, which is an absolutely wonderful book filled with recipes I would be just as happy eating as I would serving them to a toothless baby or toddler.  Toward the end of the book, there are recipes for the whole family to share.  My wonderful friend, Becky, sent this cookbook to me as a gift to me and Olive, and she put sticky notes all throughout the book with comments she made about which recipes looked good, which she wanted to try, etc.  It made me miss her so much and long for my genius-in-the-kitchen friend to be beside me, cooking and enjoying these recipes with me.  I’d recommend doing that to any cookbook you buy for someone – it just made it seem like she was here with me as I looked through it.

The tartar sauce recipe comes from the Bonne Femme cookbook and I swear to you, this is THE best tartar sauce I’ve ever had.  It puts every other tartar sauce to shame.  Makes them seem like a joke.  Like mayo with pickles.  This has tang and zip and crunch and so much flavor, I really will never feel satisfied eating any other tartar sauce, ever again.  (Dramatic, much?)  I’ve made two batches since last week and turned the latest batch into a potato salad.  Amazing.  You can’t go wrong with these recipes and I feel that this would even be an acceptable meal for a kid who does not like everything.  Surely on this plate, any kid could find SOMETHING they were happy to eat!

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Oven Baked Fish Sticks with Roasted Potatoes
serves 4

1/2 cup buttermilk
1 lb cod or tilapia fillets, cut into 1 inch wide fingers
1 cup panko breadcrumbs (I ran out of panko and used plain and it worked fine)
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lb assorted baby potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
2 tbs olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Line two rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pour buttermilk into a large bowl.  Add the fish pieces and turn to coat.  In another bowl, stir together the panko, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.  Dredge each fish finger in the breadcrumbs to coat completely and arrange on a baking sheet.

Combine the potatoes (and broccoli pieces, or asparagus or green beans – whatever other green veg you want!) in a bowl and drizle with the oil.  Toss to coat thoroughly, then arrange the vegetables on the other baking sheet.  Bake the fish and vegetables, turning once, until the fish fingers are golden, about 15 minutes.  The potatoes may need longer.  If so, simply take the fish out when they’re done and tent with foil to stay warm.

Serve fish (and potatoes, really) with tartar sauce!

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Tartar Sauce
makes about a cup

3/4 cup high-quality mayonnaise (we think, aside from homemade, that Hellmans REAL mayo is the best.  No low-fat or miracle whip crap.)
2 tablespoons chopped cornichons (small sour French pickles)
1 small shallot or 1 scallion (white part and some tender green tops), minced (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or fresh parsley and chives
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons capers, drained and chopped
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon or chervil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a bowl, gently fold the mayonnaise, cornichons, shallot, parsley, mustard, capers, vinegar, and tarragon together (don’t mix too vigorously, or your sauce will be too smooth). Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and preferably 2 hours, before serving. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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Caesar Salad and Chilling Out

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We’ve been trying to eat outside on our patio table more often as the weather warms up and the days get longer.  I want to enjoy myself in this zen-like way where I don’t care about a little extra mess, where Olive eats everything we serve and she isn’t wildly distracted by the dogs and the wind and the trees and the air and where I lean back in my chair, leisurely taking bites of my food and just enjoy the moment and the concept of taking a little longer than usual to eat dinner.  But instead, what has happened the few times we’ve done this, is I get all worked up and stressed trying to feed Olive and trying not to make a complete mess without her in the playful looking restraints of a high chair, and I end up trying to scarf down my food so that I can tend to whatever mess is going on, or try to block Olive from feeding all her food to Cash.

I do this to myself.  (For the record, this stress is only with food and dining – I am okay with a muddy kid or a messy house or whatever – but please, don’t put food in your hair and whatever you do, do NOT drop food from your tray!) I don’t enjoy the experience of something different and out of control, I let that ruin the experience for me.  Now, my sweet husband might just say, “Let’s not eat outside anymore if it bothers you so much!” (always trying to keep me from feeling anything but joy) but I think what I need, instead, is MORE dining experiences where not everything is micro-managed by my desires for things to look and go perfectly.

It happened again this Sunday – we had a picnic in the park with some people from our church group and we brought a tish bit of an ambitious lunch.  Matt had made all the components for this really great Vietnamese pork and noodle salad and everything was so delicious, but I instantly got down about: 1. the wind blowing lettuce and dirt in my face 2. my baby walking around the blanket and the park NOT eating and spitting things out that we tried to make her eat (God bless one of our friends who had the brains to bring a banana 3. just the overall lack of control I had over the components of my meal – it was messy and I needed a bowl and lots of napkins and NO wind, but I didn’t have those things and I became really negative and I am 100% sure I ruined the experience for Matt, who was trying his best to stay positive while eating beside a big rain cloud (me).

Whenever I struggle with sinful things in my life like jealousy or greed or pride or even the need for control (a sin, I believe), I try to do a bit of immersion therapy on myself and directly expose myself to the thing I can’t seem to handle as often as possible until I am over it.  It has worked in the past and I think I will try to apply it here.  I resolve to eat outside MORE often.  To let messiness happen MORE in situations where I’d like to appear perfect, and I resolve to look at my situations like Olive would – like an opportunity she’s never had before and quite possibly might never have again!

An opportunity you might never have, again, is enjoying a properly made Caesar dressing, because absolutely no restaurants make this dressing right, or from scratch.  This recipe is so flavorful and has just the right balance of tanginess from the lemon and anchovies and creaminess from the oil that it’s nearly like a beautiful, homemade mayonnaise  with a kick!  I see this salad happening a LOT during this hot summer ahead!

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Just a little behind the scenes shot of how I usually take my food photos 🙂

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Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons*
makes about a cup of dressing

4 tbs lemon juice, plus more to taste
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1 large egg yolk
4 anchovies, plus more for garnish, if you like
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tbs bacon grease from 4 strips of cooked bacon, or melted butter that has been cooled
Torn up romaine lettuce
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Combine all the ingredients except the canola oil in a tall, wide cup and blend with an immersion blender and then slowly drizzle in the oil.  Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper and extra lemon juice.

Toss leftover cubed up bread on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil, and toast until golden brown.

Toss a couple tablespoons with the lettuce until nicely coated.  Top with croutons, cut up pieces of the bacon and extra Parmesan cheese.  And lots of cracked pepper!

*recipe adapted a lot from Ruhlman’s amazing sounding Chicken Fried Pork Belly Caesar.