Resolution Food #2: Quinoa

Okay hear me out.

Red Quinoa with Avocado

I do realize that quinoa isn't the first thing that came to mind when you were thinking about reinvigorating your breakfast and lunch routines. But seriously, quinoa is good stuff. It's so easy to make - just set up 1 cup of quinoa (rinse first) with 2 cups of water or stock, bring to a boil and cook covered on a low heat until the liquid has evaporated - about 15 minutes. And on top of the fact that it works well in sweet and savory dishes, it's loaded with protein, fiber and iron, among other things. 

We've had successes and failures with quinoa in my house. My toddler absolutely loves it. It's great with fruit in the morning and this recipe for Breakfast Grains with Blueberries, Hazelnuts and Lemon from TheKitchn is fabulous (we omit the nuts). My girls enjoyed Quinoa with Avocado for lunch recently and with just 5 ingredients, I couldn't be happier. 

Red Quinoa with Avocado
1 cup of cooked quinoa (we used red quinoa but any will do)
1/2 ripe avocado, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
 

Place all ingredients in a bowl and gently combine. Add salt if desired. 

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Ground beef, quinoa meatballs

More thoughts on quinoa... 

I thought about kibbeh the other day out of the blue – Middle Eastern meat and bulgur meatballs, usually deep fried. I wanted to create something using quinoa and had some fresh mint on hand. I baked these Vietnamese-inspired Quinoa Meatballs and served them in DIY lettuce wrappers. Big thumbs up, especially from my husband who added Sriracha. My kids are not typically fans of lettuce but got a kick out of eating and holding it this way. 

Vietnamese-Style Quinoa Meatballs 
2/3 cup cooked quinoa
1 large egg
1/2 cup chopped red onion
6 oz ground beef
1.5 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
1/2 cup chopped kale (we used frozen)
Romaine hearts
Sriracha to taste

Preheat the oven to 350. Place the quinoa, egg and red onion in a mixing bowl. Add the ground beef and gently combine. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, mint, ginger and kale. I found it most efficient to use my hands to ensure that the ingredients were evenly distributed. Form into balls (about 2 inches in diameter) and place on parchment paper on a baking tray. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes. Serve on romaine hearts with or without Sriracha. 

Check out other New Years Resolution foods right here. 

Vietnamese Style Quinoa Meatballs with Sriracha

Resolution Food #1: Ricotta Cheese

Ricotta is one of those things I only think to buy if I’m making lasagna. My kids don’t currently like lasagna, so it’s been a while since we’ve had ricotta chez moi but with the onset of cold weather, I thought it might be a great opportunity to reintroduce the warm comfort of gooey lasagna to my kiddos. Here’s the not so great news: my 7 year old gave lasagne a sideways thumb (aka, it's so-so) and my 3 year old gave it a thumbs down. Apparently, tomato sauce is only okay on pizza. Hmmph. Here’s the great news: we were able to use one container of ricotta for breakfast, lunch AND dinner - nothing wasted! (recipes below)

My kids gobbled up Ricotta Apple Pancakes for breakfast. They had a hint of sweetness, thanks to vanilla extract and were packed with flavor. These pancakes are based on the quick pancake recipe from Mark Bittman that appeared in the New York Times Magazine recently and are super fast to assemble (in other words, you can do this on a hectic school morning because it's not so involved). 

I used the remaining ricotta cheese to make Ricotta Carrot Roll Ups for lunch. I still had lasagna noodles, which is what I used as a wrapper here, but this can be made with any kind of wrap or tortilla. This was a fun project for my kids to get their hands dirty with - my son loved rolling his own lunch!

Check out other New Years Resolution foods right here.

Ricotta Apple Pancakes

Ricotta Apple Pancake batter

Ingredients
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of flour
4 teaspoons of water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 small apple, peeled and diced

Method
Whisk together the eggs, flour and water until there are no lumps. Add vanilla extract, cinnamon, ricotta and apple and combine. Fry these little pancakes in a pan until golden brown on each side - takes about 2 minutes per side. 

Ricotta Carrot Roll Ups

Ricotta Carrot Roll Ups

Ingredients
4 lasagna sheets, boiled OR 4 small tortillas OR wraps
1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
16 baby carrots
Pinch of salt
Pinch of garlic powder (optional) 

Method
Set out your wrapper of choice on a cutting board. Spread out the ricotta cheese evenly along the edge. Cut the baby carrots in half and place them evenly along the ricotta cheese. Roll up and cut into bite sized pieces. Enjoy! 

Winter Root Soup Before the Storm

Happy New Year!

Have you heard about this blizzard that's coming tonight? I'm no stranger to winter storms. I grew up in the north east and spent several winters in the midwest. A little snow doesn't scare me (ice, on the other hand, completely scares me but that's another story.) Yesterday, as my family was grocery shopping, we were approached by some news reporters wondering if we were "planning to stock up before the storm." Nope. Just grocery shopping as usual. The thing is, we only have so much space in our refrigerator. I don't have the luxury of excess pantry space or an extra freezer. And besides, I live in the city that never sleeps so theoretically as long as I'm able and willing to go get something from the outside world, it can be done. Still, I thought about what my day might be like tomorrow if all three of my kids were home and my babysitter couldn't come and I was unable to work. I'd probably want some food on the ready so I didn't have to think about at least one meal. I took a quick look in my veggie drawer and discovered root veggies practically begging to be used: celeriac, rutabaga, parsnip. It was time for them to take center stage. 

I basically threw all of the ingredients together (recipe below) and let this sit on the stove on very low heat for hours. Seriously, it's *that* easy. It's been a hectic day so when I finally had the time, I pureed it, added cayenne pepper and some dill to garnish. Delicious! Admittedly, I've never cooked with celeriac before. I bought it with the intention of experimenting. I was afraid that the celery flavor would be overwhelming but it wasn't. The soup itself is hearty without being overly starchy. It's rooty without being overly earthy. The flavors are sweet and mellow and the added cayenne makes it wonderful. It's going to be perfect to heat up and eat while watching the snow come down tomorrow. 

Winter Root Soup

Ingredients
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 celeriac bulb (celery root), peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 rutabaga, peeled and cut into chunks
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
1 teaspoon of salt or salt to taste
fresh dill (I used about 1/4 of a bunch) plus some to garnish
7 cups of water or stock
cayenne to taste

Method
In a medium soup pot, sauté the onion in olive oil over medium heat. When the onion becomes translucent, add the root vegetables and stir. After a few minutes, add the salt, fresh dill and water and bring to a boil. Simmer for a couple of hours or until veggies are very soft. Add cayenne (to taste – I added 1/2 teaspoon) and puree with a stick blender. Garnish with dill. 

Note: this soup is vegan, dairy free and gluten free. You can absolutely use chicken or beef stock in place of water and if you choose, you can add 1/2 cup of milk or cream if you're looking for a creamy soup. 

Rainy Day Carrot Soup

Driving on rainy days is never a picnic. But today we got stuck in epic traffic thanks to a tree that fell on the highway during the storm, blocking all three lanes. Luckily no one was hurt. After 50 minutes of not moving, my husband said he had to go to the bathroom, my eldest daughter said she was hungry, and my son was awakened from his nap by my screaming, overtired toddler who missed her nap today. Big fun. 

We have guests coming for dinner in two hours and we are still miles from home. I had planned to make roast chicken with Ras el Hanout, sweet potato chips, roasted cauliflower and salad with grapefruit vinaigrette. My husband just turned to me and said "babe, you really should put the chicken in the oven now." Ha. Ha. Ha. 

Its times like these that I'm glad for frozen soup. I can quickly defrost it and serve it to take the hunger edge off while waiting for other food to cook. I made this recipe for Carrot Soup with Coconut and Cilantro last week and froze it. I had the photos on my phone with the intention of posting the recipe at some point soon. Guess that time is now.   

Carrot Soup with Coconut and Cilantro

ingredients

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

2 tablespoons of grapeseed or vegetable oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 pounds of carrots, peeled and cut into pieces  

8 oz fingerling potatoes

7 cups vegetable stock or water

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped  

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of one lemon

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (optional) 

In a large pot on medium high heat,  add the oils and onions. Sauté until translucent, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add the carrots and potatoes and stir. Add the stock or water, bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Add the cilantro, salt and pepper and continue to cook until vegetables are soft. Add the parsley, lemon juice and coconut milk (if using) and purée with a stick blender.  Garnish with cilantro.

Note: a dash of cayenne is delicious in this soup. 

New Food: Bell Peppers

Maybe it's the word 'pepper.' Maybe it's the seeds inside. Maybe it's the smell. My children have been avoiding peppers forever. My son complains loudly at pickup when his school has served peppers as the snack. My daughter won't eat black beans if she can see peppers inside. But somehow, magically, she suddenly wanted to give peppers a try. It's thanks to Daniel Tiger, a PBS Kids character that my son is wild about. He sings a nifty little song that goes like this: "you've got to try new foods 'cause they might taste good!" 

I love that Daniel Tiger. And did you know he's the 21st century version of Mister Rogers? Awesome. 

So I bought a rainbow of peppers, sliced them and plated them. My daughter was genuinely excited to try them – I was psyched. My son never wavered from his anti-pepper stance. 

Here's the bottom line: my daughter tried all four colored peppers and rejected all of them. I told her that the flavor changes when you cook them, and she's still open minded about that. My son put the tip of his tongue on a red pepper, declared it yucky and excused himself from the table. And my baby? Well, she devoured them. :) 

What new foods have you introduced lately?