“Diet for a Small Palate”
April 10, 2011
"A blueberry pincer grasp meets the World's Smallest Egg Sandwich"
Seems the last time I posted, peaches were in season–could that be right?
Georgia is nearly 10 months old with a fine-tuned pincer grasp. I’ve been busy cooking for two sleepy grown-ups and one small mouth; but, documenting it all on the other hand…
New blog rules. Less chatter, more recipes. Or maybe just recipes. And more for the finger-fooding, puree-smearing set.
Some quick stats to catch us all up:
- Baby G is roughly 17#, nearly walking, and just sprouted her first tooth.
- Her Mom receives roughly 5 consecutive hours of sleep per night. More than the President (I think), but less than her husband.
Grass-fed Beef Balls
Today’s Recipe: Meatballs-In-Law
Inspired by my husband’s Grandmother’s “Christmas Meatballs.” I like that the original recipe is wheat-free, gluten-free and egg-free, so I’ve kept it that way. Georgia loves to suck the sauce off the meatballs, then stuff into her mouth. Makes 20 (1 1/2″) meatballs
- 1# 85% lean grass-fed beef
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (or gluten-free oats), coarsely ground in a coffee grinder
- 1/4 cup minced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 T organic milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 T olive oil
- 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, coarsely ground using a food mill or processor
- 1 T balsamic vinegar
- 1 T Worcestershire sauce
- 2 T brown sugar
- Gently mix the beef, oats, onion, garlic, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl (using a clawed hand works best). Form into roughly 20 meatballs.
- Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook on all sides until a deep brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; transfer to a plate. Remove excess fat from pan, leaving just a sheen behind. Add tomato puree, vinegar, Worcestershire and sugar, stirring up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and stir to coat with sauce; reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered about 25 minutes, turning the balls every 5 minutes.
- Test meatball’s temperature on your lip before serving to an infant. Serve with some chopped up steamed vegetables.
Ingredients: Bananas
Strawberry and Fresh Mint
38 weeks into pregnancy and the ice cream cravings have finally hit hard. Vanilla Haagen Dazs with smashed Chocolate-Vanilla “Trader” Joe-Joe’s followed a solid week of Dr. Pepper floats.
My birthday dinner at Purple Yam (Ditmas Park, Brooklyn) concluded with Halo-Halo, a Philippine iced desert with sweet beans, palm seed, cocogel, agar agar, coconut sport and jackfruit topped with flan and purple yam ice cream. Wowzers. Forget about 8-ingredient desserts at home. I whipped up the following (pictured) in 5-10 minutes from 1-2 ingredients.
The Banana Ice Cream recipe has been floating around the blogosphere and I was psyched to puree something in the food processor other than my usual hummus. Strawberry and Fresh Mint Pops were an excuse to play with the Zoku Pop maker and experiment with homemade mint simple syrup. Not to mention, you can find teeming quarts of Jersey strawberries, 2 for $10, at most farmer’s markets in the area. And they are just about perfect.
Banana Ice Cream (sans cream)
- 3-4 very ripe bananas, sliced and frozen in a single layer
- A food processor
- While still frozen, add banana slices to the food processor. Pulse until the bananas clump; using spoon, scrape banana clumps evenly around blade and continue to process until smooth.
- Magically, the clumps turn into a creamy, soft-serve-textured icy treat. Scoop and serve.
Strawberry and Fresh Mint Pops
- 2 cups chilled, or frozen and thawed ripe strawberries
- 1/4 cup mint simple syrup (recipe below)
- 2-4 Tbsp cold water
- In a blender, add strawberries and syrup and puree. Add water and puree until the mixture is thin enough to be poured into any ice pop molds.
- Pour into molds and freeze. Pops frozen in the Zoku are ready to eat in 10 minutes.
Fresh Mint Simple Syrup
(Good for a month in the fridge. Add to iced tea, bourbons, rums, melons and berries with tasty results.)
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1 bunch mint–fresh from the farmer’s market is best–rinsed well
- Mix sugar and water in small saucepan (2 qt) and heat over med-low while stirring until dissolved. Syrup is ready when it goes from cloudy to clear. Remove from heat.
- Rub mint leaves between hands for a few seconds to release minty oils. Add a large handful of mint leaves to the pan of syrup; submerge leaves with spoon and let steep 30-60 minutes.
- Remove mint leaves. Transfer syrup to a glass Pyrex measuring cup and let cool. Store in an airtight glass bottle in refrigerator.
Second Wind Linguine
April 7, 2010
Linguine with Gulf shrimp, Asparagus and Basil
As they say on Broadway, the Fridge and Tunnel show has ‘gone dark’ these last few weeks. Turns out, at 29 weeks pregnant, I needed a vacation! But Mama’s back in Brooklyn and back in business.
So I call this dish, Second Wind Linguine. A well-rested chef is a recipe for inspiration, or at the very least, motivation to cook at home again. I thought I’d focus on one stand-out ingredient and chose fresh Colossal Gulf shrimp. So colossal in fact that I halved them lengthwise (a great trick when you need the appearance of 1# of shrimp with a 1/2# budget. Just sharpen your knife first).
I saved the shrimp shells–don’t pay extra for shelled shrimp–and sauteed the shells in olive oil to begin my saute. This is a great tip for developing deep seafood flavor without the time commitment of making stock. Simply remove the whole shells once they are crispy and you are left with a flavored olive oil. Working 2 pots at the same time, you will have dinner ready in about 15 minutes–enjoy!
Second Wind Linguine with shrimp, asparagus and basil
- 1/2 lb fresh Colossal Gulf shrimp, shells reserved, halved lengthwise
- 1/2 # dried linguine pasta
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 bunch asparagus, top 2″ cut into pieces (reserve stems for another use)
- 1/3 cup dry white wine (try a Pinot Grigio)
- 2 tsp unsalted butter
- 7-8 large basil leaves, sliced
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Bring a pot of salted water to boil for linguine. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Add shrimp shells and saute until crispy, 4-5 minutes; remove shells with tongs. Begin cooking pasta to al dente.
- Add garlic to saute pan and cook 2 minutes over medium-low heat, do not brown. Add asparagus and saute 30 seconds; season. Add wine and cover pan; cook 2 minutes. Uncover pan and add shrimp; cook until just curled and opaque, 1-2 minutes. Add butter and stir until melted into the pan juices. Remove from heat.
- Drain pasta and add to pan along with 3/4 of the basil. Toss with tongs to coat. Garnish with remaining basil.
A Day in the Life of a Pregnant Dietitian-Chef
March 10, 2010
Kale & Butternut Squash Risotto with Goat Cheese
Happy Registered Dietitian Day! Hope my RD friends and colleagues enjoyed some well-deserved recognition. For the self-employed chef RD, I earned another day in the kitchen, and an inbox reminding me of my special holiday.
In honor of the holiday, I decided to keep a food journal to share with the blogosphere. Food journaling is something I usually ask of the clients that I counsel. Journals offer the RD a peek into her clients’ diet psyche…should they choose to be forthcoming.
I’ll admit that my day begins smoothly, but things start to get more interesting at 4pm. And eating ends on a high note–check out my dinner pics & recipe!
3/10:
- 8:30 am: Nature’s Path flax flakes with vanilla soymilk, a banana, cup of unsweetened white tea
- 11am: Prenatal yoga, which is making me very hungry. Thinking of lunch.
- 12pm: Two slices whole wheat toast with hummus, sliced avocado and Sriracha hot sauce. 1/2 navel orange, water, multivitamin (a prenatal horse pill), and 2 capsules DHA oil
- 1pm: On the train to a client’s home. One Lifesavers Pep-o-Mint. Some water. Baby is kicking.
- 3pm: An apple and small handful of almonds
- 4pm: Two Choco Leibnitz cookies (chocolate dipped butter cookies, yum)
- 4:15: Baby is kicking again. Noted, likes cookies.
- 4:30: 1/4 cup of couscous with pine nuts and cranberries (several spoonfuls of a client’s dish)
- 6pm: On the train. Another Lifesavers Pep-o-Mint. No one is giving up their seat for me tonight and my belly is practically thumping with baby kicks. Really hate the F train.
- 7pm: 3 celery sticks, 1/2 can Aranciata (fancy pants orange soda, on sale this week)
- 7:45: Kale and butternut squash risotto with goat cheese. Cleared the pantry of Arborio rice. Cleaned our plates.
- 10pm: One Liberte low-fat peach yogurt with 1/4 cup blueberries.
Kale and Butternut Squash Risotto with Goat Cheese
Sweet Madeira wine (what was open in the fridge) found a tangy partner in goat cheese, and some spice with freshly cracked black pepper.
- 4 cups chicken stock or broth
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3/4 cup Arborio rice
- 1/4 cup Madeira wine
- 1 cup grated butternut squash (about 1/3 medium squash)
- 3 cups chopped kale
- 1 tsp butter
- 2 oz goat cheese, crumbled, divided
- Heat chicken stock on a back burner until simmering; turn to very low heat.
- In a medium pot, saute onion in olive oil until transluscent, about 3 minutes. Add rice and stir until well-coated, 1-2 minutes. Add wine and stir until evaporated.
- Add 2 ladles-full of hot stock to rice pot. Stir until liquid is almost absorbed. Add more stock, one ladle-full at a time, and stir until liquid is absorbed. After 10 minutes of stirring, add the kale and squash. Continue to add liquid and stir continuously until all liquid has been incorporated and the rice is al dente, about 18 minutes.
- Add butter to the rice and stir vigorously until risotto is creamy. Add 1 oz goat cheese and stir until melted. Add fresh-cracked black pepper to taste.
(Don’t) Hold the Mayo!
January 25, 2010
After confessing my second trimester mayonnaise cravings on Facebook, fellow readers replied with their favorite mayo memories:
“when i was little i LOVED mayo sandwiches on white bread. and i also put mayo on hot dogs.”
“Mayo, bologne and diced green peppers on white! That was my mom’s obsession.”
“I used to love mayo and American cheese sandwiches when I was little. Aahhh!”
Mayo is the stuff childhood comfort food was made of; but as adults, we are expected to know better or at least order the low-fat variety. Usually I save my slather of mayo for egg salads and BLTs, but my inner child (literally) prefers a steady stream.
So, thought I’d make my very favorite pasta salad that comes straight from the people at Hellmann’s (food companies love to send RDs promotional samples and recipes–did you know mayo is naturally rich in Omega 3 ALA’s?). This recipe reminded me of something I had in Spain, where vinegar, fish and veggies make up many a large midday meals.
Tuna & Bow Tie Salad
Tuna & Bow Tie Salad (Hellmann’s)
- 8 oz bow tie pasta
- 6 T Hellmann’s Regular or Light Mayo
- 2 T red wine vinegar
- 2 T chopped fresh basil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 (6 0z) cans tuna, drained and flaked
- 1 (9 oz) package frozen green beans, thawed
- 2 cups halved grape tomatoes
- 1/3 cup chopped red onion
- Cook the pasta according to the package; drain and rinse with cold water until completely cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine mayo, vinegar, basil, garlic and pepper.
- Add remaining ingredients and pasta; toss well. Chill if desired.
Chunk Light tuna makes a killer Tonnato sauce
New Toy for a Healthy New Year!
January 2, 2010
The Zoku quick-pop maker
Watching my banana pops freeze
Roughly 10 minutes later...
The finished pop!
Happy New Year to all! In 2010 I have an even greater reason to eat healthfully–I’m eating for two! A baby Fridge and Tunneler will appear sometime in June, no doubt with a healthy appetite.
When you blog about food, and “pregnancy-induced nausea” hits for the greater portion of the first trimester, you slack a bit in the postings. A fairly good excuse, I think. While I still fit behind the sink and stove, we’ll see what the third trimester brings.
So each Christmas, Mrs. Claus-in-law brings her chef-in-law a fun kitchen tool or toy. This year I may have dropped a hint for the Zoku popsicle maker, a kit that produces frozen treats in less than 10 minutes. Instant gratification appropriate for the busy New Yorker (quick shout out to the Zoku company, fellow bridge and tunnelers located in Hoboken, New Jersey). I gifted the very same pop maker to my sister to make homemade treats for and with my milk-allergic niece Abigail. Here’s hoping she outgrows this allergy in 2010.
What would be the first pop of the new year? I had two ripe bananas, which steered me towards a pudding-style pop. This recipe is in honor of my niece Abigail, who loves bananas and sticks to soy milk these days.
Banana Soy Smoothie Pop with Honey and Nutmeg
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1 1/2 cups vanilla soymilk
- 1-2 tsp honey*
- pinch of nutmeg
- Using an immersion (hand) blender or traditional blender, combine the above ingredients. Add more soymilk if mixture is too thick to pour into popsicle molds.
- Pour into the Zoku molds, or regular popsicle molds, and follow directions for freezing.
(*Omit the honey if sharing with a child under one year of age)
Ode to City Snow: Gingerbread Snowflakes
December 17, 2009
Cutting out ginger snowflakes
Adding some detail...
Brown snowflakes--just like in NYC!
Ready to be iced
Gingerbread Cookies
(from Simply Recipes)
For cookies:
- 3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 Tbsp ground ginger
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup unsulfered molasses
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and spices. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. Divide dough into thirds, form discs, and wrap each in plastic. Chill one hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let sit at room temp 5-10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350. On lightly floured parchment paper, roll a dough disc to 1/8″ thick. Cut out cookie shapes. Decorate with raisins or candy pieces if desired (and you don’t plan to ice them).
- Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake until just crisp, but not browned, 8-10 minutes. Let cool on pan a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Makes 16 5-inch cookies.
Royal Icing
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- Mix the egg white and lemon juice with a third of the sugar. Heat in microwave until the mixture’s temperature is 160.
- Beat in the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. If icing is runny, add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency. Fill a piping bag (or ziptop sandwich bag with tip cut off) and use to decorate shapes.
Forgotten Leftovers: Cans of Pumpkin
November 30, 2009
Pumpkin Bread with Pecans
You may have had good intentions of making pie, pudding or cheesecake; but come Cyber Monday, you’re left with unopened cans of pumpkin that may be destined to gather dust until next year. (I still remember that jumbo can of Libby’s that took up residence in our cupboard until being donated to the church pantry sometime in July). First off, feel good about what’s inside those cans: high fiber, low calorie, vitamin A-packed vegetable puree that is pre-cooked and recipe-ready. I’m including a sweet and a savory recipe below. All you need are two 15 ounce cans of pumpkin–or one of those jumbo cans of Libby’s.
The pumpkin bread recipe comes from my sister, Kristi, who bakes it every year during the holidays. Chopped pecans or walnuts added to the top before baking toast perfectly by the time the bread is done.
The Pumpkin and Yellow Pepper Soup comes from Cooking Light magazine and I prepared it for clients several times last fall. The addition of smoked paprika gives it some heat, turning out an earthy, spicy and sweet concoction. One cup of this soup is only 88 calories, so you can feel just fine about indulging in some pumpkin bread for dessert.
Quick & Easy Pumpkin Bread
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup canola or safflower oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 can pumpkin
- 3 cups flour
- 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or combo of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
- Butter and flour two loaf pans. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
- Beat sugars and oil in a large bowl. Mix in eggs and pumpkin; set aside.
- Sift flour, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a medium bowl. Stir into the pumpkin mix.
- Divide the batter between the loaf pans; sprinkle with nuts, if using. Bake about an hour, checking for doneness at 50 minutes.
Pumpkin and Yellow Pepper Soup with Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 1/2 cups chopped yellow bell pepper (about 2 large)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped carrot (about 2 medium)
- 1 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
- 1/2 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 5 cups fat free, low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (15 oz) can canned pumpkin puree
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp unsalted toasted pumpkin seeds
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
- Heat oil in a 4-6 qt heavy pot. Add bell pepper, carrot and onion; cook 10 minutes or until tender. Add paprika and garlic; saute 1 minute. Add 3 cups broth and black pepper; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the vegetables and broth until smooth. Stir in remaining 2 cups of broth and the canned pumpkin. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat & stir in lemon juice. Makes seven (1 cup) servings. Garnish each bowl with some pumpkin seeds and parsley.
Apple Butter: the choice of colonists everywhere
November 25, 2009
First off, Happy Thanksgiving! Many of you will prepare some dish for the occasion, something you look forward to eating all year; yet, reserve just for this day. To what degree your family’s spread resembles that shared in Plymouth, Massachusetts may be far from your mind (just pass the stuffing already). But curiosity got the best of me when I came across a copy of The Colonial Cookbook, by Lucille Penner.
Maybe it was just the light reading I needed, because I read it cover to cover and earmarked at least 10 recipes I wanted to prepare. I have to say I had “a moment” when, having read Colonial Cookbook’s recipe for fried ham with red-eye gravy, I went to the East Village restaurant Back Forty and found it on their brunch menu–it’s for real! (Red eye gravy, by the way, is a pan gravy made with strong coffee. Definitely a unique flavor that pairs well with salty/sweet ham. I ordered it and was not disappointed).
One of those earmarked recipes happened to be apple butter. Our final CSA pick up of the year supplied us with over a dozen empire apples, which I was quick to turn into–according to my colonial reference–a special favorite of the Pennsylvania Dutch:
“Apple butter was made everywhere in the colonies….at harvest time, a huge kettle was set up over an outdoor fire. The cooking and boiling of apple butter went on until there were no more spare jugs or crocks to be found.” So, equipped with my gas stove, a pot, and empty jelly jars, I was ready to be colonial for an afternoon.
Below is Penner’s recipe for apple butter, and some step by step photos.
APPLE BUTTER
- 3 cups sweet apple cider
- 2 pounds apples (around 6)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, or mix of 1/4 tsp ground clove and 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- Boil the cider in a 4 qt saucepan for 15 minutes.
- While the cider boils, peel and core the apples; chop into small pieces.
- Add apple pieces to the cider. Cover and cook over low heat until tender, about 1 hour, stirring often.
- Remove the pot from heat. Using an immersion blender or masher, blend apples until smooth. Leave a little texture behind if you’d like. Stir in the honey and spices.
- Put the pot back on the heat and cook over very low heat, stirring frequently until the mixture thickens, about 30 minutes. Cool the apple butter 1-2 hours in the pan. Transfer to jars and refrigerate. Makes about 2 pints.
Also, consider making the recipe in a slow cooker.
Adding chopped apples to boiling cider
Apples cooked for an hour then blended
Apples cooked until thickened, then cooled, jarred, and spread on pumpkin bread
Potato Pancakes Go Purple
October 26, 2009
How do you celebrate Oktoberfest, a pile of purple spuds, and an amazing 7-0 TCU Horned Frogs football season?
You make potato pancakes, and you make them purple.
We held a tame (lame?) Oktoberfest celebration in our living room last night: no meat, one can of beer, and a Coen Brothers flick. I mashed up a pile of purple spuds from our CSA to make a dense & hearty pancake, a slight departure from the traditional grated, crispy variety. Below are some photos of the cakes and all the accoutrement–caramelized onions, strained yogurt and applesauce–along with a super easy recipe.
Oh, and Go Frogs!
Purple Potato Pancakes with caramelized onions, strained yogurt and applesauce
Purple Potato Pancakes with Caramelized Onions
- 7-8 medium purple potatoes
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 egg
- generous pinches of salt & pepper
- Spray oil (Pam)
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1/2 cup strained or Greek yogurt, or low-fat sour cream
-
Put the potatoes in a pot and just cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork-tender 15-20 minutes. Strain and let cool.
- In a small pot, heat the olive oil and add the onion. Cook over medium-high until some browning occurs. Turn down heat to low and continue cooking at least 20 minutes.
- Peel the potatoes with a paring knife (skins should come off easily), and run through a ricer or mash with masher. Add butter and mix with fork. Add milk and egg and mix. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
- Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out potato balls (about 15) onto a plate. Heat a nonstick griddle to medium and spray with oil. Cook four at a time, flattening the potato ball with the back of a spatula (spray spatula with oil to prevent sticking). Cook about 3 minutes each side, or until golden brown.
- Serve with the applesauce, yogurt, and caramelized onions. Enjoy!
Mashed potato balls, cafeteria style (pre-smooshing)
The super-sweet caramelized onions
My simple yogurt-straining contraption (paper towel and a take-out container)
