Guacamole

There's one thing that the baby lady has consistently eaten.  Avocados.  In one form or another I seem to be able to get her to eat these.  It started as plain mashed up fruit, then it was mixed with yogurt (nasty, I know, but she loved it).  Now it's progressed into a love for guacamole.  Hooray!  The whole family loves guacamole so I made it one night....for dinner....with no hesitation.  Baby lady ate some other stuff, but B and I didn't want a full meal, so this worked out really well.  I went a little heavy handed on the lime juice for ours, but I dialed the amount down in the recipe below.

Pasta Primavera

Pasta Primavera.  The name just screams Spring.  Literally, primavera means Spring.  I thought that this would be quite fitting to welcome the season and enjoy some fresh produce and make sure that B and I don't sit around eating cake and cupcakes all the time and actually eat something good for us!  I bought a large bunch of asparagus that I was excited about using, seeing as it's a Spring vegetable, and I tried to use some other timely vegetables. Fennel is at the end of its season, and carrots are almost always in season.  The tomatoes and red pepper are in there because they were in the original recipe and because I just like them. 

I had never owned Herbes de Provence before I decided to make this recipe and I'm so glad I purchased them.  I love how they tasted and more than that, I loved how they made my house smell.  It was wonderful.  B came home, walked in the house and was instantly excited about dinner.  Predictably so, the baby lady wanted nothing to do with the entire dish.  I was ok with that though, because it was so good and I was glad that there was more for me to eat.

Garlicky Creamy Broccoli Soup

This picture doesn't exactly scream excitement, but neither does broccoli soup.  It's simple, easy and a great recipe to have on hand on a day when you have no idea what to eat and a head of broccoli is sitting in your fridge.  That's exactly the situation I found myself in the day I made this.  B came home from work not hungry, but I still wanted dinner.  He had declared that this would be "yuck" and didn't want it, so I decided to make it for myself.

The most interesting thing I learned while making this is that there's a basic ratio for "cream of" soup.  It's 3-2-1.  3 parts stock, 2 parts vegetable, 1 part dairy.  I upped the vegetable part a bit and still found this to be on the thin side, but it's really tasty.

And baby lady was rocking back and forth in her high chair trying to get at it, she loved it that much.

Serves 4 as a first course soup, or two as a main dish

Roasted Cauliflower

I swore up and down to tons of people that I was the mother of the pickiest eater alive.  Baby lady would throw almost anything that was put on her tray and it was a game of distraction to get her to open her mouth for a spoon.  For example "ooh, look I have a Tupperware lid" and when she's occupied with that, BAM, we get the spoon in.  She didn't enjoy meals and neither did we.  It was actually something we dreaded, passing it off to the other whenever possible.

That all changed when she started eating table food (like she's a dog...this phrase weirds me out).  It turns out that she wants food, but it has to be for adults.  She has gobbled up salmon, broccoli, soup, pizza, peas and now cauliflower.  I made this as a side dish for myself, hoping that she would eat some as well, and she did!  I'm so excited because B doesn't like cauliflower so I never really make any for myself.  Now someone else in the house will eat it with me!  But I still have a feeling that she's the pickiest eater alive.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Baby Bell Peppers

I found out that my second box from Washington's Green Grocer was going to contain mixed bell peppers.  I had planned on making stuffed peppers of some sort, hopefully a vegetarian one.  Then I got my box and found these tiny beauties inside.

They don't exactly scream out, begging to be made into a main dish, so an appetizer seemed to be the way to go.  I had seen a recipe for stuffed baby bells once, but the only ingredient I had was the baby bell peppers, so I just decided to wing it, and this is what I came up with.

The peppers are stuffed with a mixture of herbs, shallots and goat cheese.  They're then roasted until soft and slightly blackened on the bottom and then enjoyed while still a bit warm.  I took these to a playdate as treats for the mommies and they were a big hit. 

Pea and Arugula Pasta

I received two large (12 or so ounces each) bunches of arugula in my  Washington's Green Grocer and I was at a loss.  B isn't exactly a huge fan of all things bitter and I couldn't imagine that the baby lady would be either, so I went onto facebook and begged my friends for ideas.  I received several suggestions, one of which was an easy pasta dish found here on Martha Stewart's website.

I loved the fact that this recipe had a bunch of peas in it because the tiny one eats those on occasion, and B is a huge fan.  When we traveled to Ireland, he was ecstatic about "mushy peas" being on the menu at all the restaurants.  I told him that he was eating glorified baby food....

Anyway,  I wouldn't call this recipe a winner for my household as I believe B called it "butt weed" at one point, but I enjoyed it.  I liked the occasional bit of bitterness and the brightness of peas (this sentence sound so pretentious) and of course I loved the pasta.  But who doesn't like pasta...oh yeah, my daughter!  I can't get over it.

Citrus and Herb Chickpeas

 

I'm so glad that I tried chickpeas again.  I'm one of those "texture" people who is seriously affected by the way food feels when I eat it.  Shrimp seems to pop when I chew it and beans are strangely grainy, so I make sure to NEVER eat anything with shrimp or beans.  

The baby lady has recently asserted herself when it comes to food and she's decided that unless it's ground beef, she's not eating meat.  That, of course, leaves me worried that she's not getting enough protein.  So I figured that since chickpeas are a great source of protein, I would give them a try and see if she would eat them.  No dice, but I really enjoyed these!  I was so surprised, but there I was, popping them in my mouth like peanuts.  So, at least I discovered another "new" food for me.  

Roasted Carrot and Apple Soup

One day, I bought a 2 lb. bag of organic carrots, thinking that I would purée them for them for the baby lady.  The next day, I got my box of mixed vegetables from Washington's Green Grocer, and that contained about another pound of organic carrots.  Then, the baby lady quit eating purées.  Cold.  No more, she cried (which really just sounded like a baby wailing)!  So there I was, stuck with three pounds of carrots, and I had no idea what to do with them.

The baby lady seems to have decided that she loves soup, and because carrots are good for the eyes and because I desperately needed to rid myself of some carrots, I decided that carrot soup was on the menu for that night.  I had some parsnips on hand from forever ago that I was going to toss soon, so I added those, and added about half of a purple onion.  I think it turned out wonderfully and so did the tiny lady who demanded it from her high chair.

Serves 4 as a main dish

Sauteed Cherry Tomatoes

I was making steak and potatoes for dinner and had a massive desire for vegetables.  It was one of those weekends where we couldn't find the time to make it to the grocery store and were unfortunately running quite low on produce.  Luckily for me, B had bought a massive container of cherry tomatoes to make himself a Caprese salad and we had a bunch left over.  I quickly heated up some oil and threw the tomatoes in and a few short steps later, voila!  I had a vegetable side dish...unless we want to get really specific and start calling tomatoes fruits.  But I'm not going there today.

Cucumber Salad

I associate cucumber salad with summer days spent at my grandmother's house.  She always had cucumber salad for my brother and me ready to go and it was vingeary, and fresh and full of cucumbers which may be my favorite vegetable.  I know it's a sad excuse to have cucumbers as a favorite vegetable since they're basically all water, but what can I say?  They're delicious.  Anyway, I was really hungry one night and just happened to have two large English cucumbers in the fridge.  Bingo!  Cucumber salad.  This recipe has a little bit of sour cream, which I don't think was in my grandmother's recipe, but I still thought about her while eating it, and probably will every time I do.

Sautéed Rainbow Chard

A little while ago I got my first box from a CSA type organization.  One thing it contained was a beautiful bunch of rainbow chard.  Now, I've never had Swiss, red or rainbow chard so I was at a loss as to how to cook it.  I decided on sautéed with some garlic and red pepper flakes, based off of a recipe in Joy of Cooking.  Normally I'll only post recipes that I thought were worth the time it took to make the food, and that tasted delicious.  Well, I screwed up badly on this one, and it isn't the recipe's fault.  I also know exactly how to fix it.  The problem...I was extremely heavy handed with red pepper flakes.  So much so that it was hard to stand in the kitchen while this was cooking without coughing.  B and I both tried this, and it tasted very good, and then my mouth lit on fire.  So I know that the recipe is good and I'm completely at fault for the screw up.  I only hope that Washington's Green Grocer sends me another big bunch of chard as I already have plans for what's left of the one I got this week.

That all being said, I was beyond surprised when I undid the bundle of chard and saw how vividly pink and yellow the stalks were.  In my opinion, this is one of the prettiest vegetables ever.  

Serves 2
Takes 10 minutes to prepare

Pasta with Brown Butter Sage Sauce

You know those days where you don't get around to eating lunch, so you snack all through the afternoon and when dinnertime comes around the thought of a big meal makes you feel sick?  Well that happened to me just the other day and while I didn't want a big meal, I still wanted something real and something that my daughter could eat with me.  I was also short on time, so it had to be quick.  Pasta is quick, but I'm not a fan of jarred sauce, so I had to make one.  I remembered reading about brown butter sage sauce and thinking that it sounded delicious and that it looked incredibly easy.  Also, the recent snow didn't manage to kill all of my sage, so I happened to have some of the fresh stuff still growing.  It took me about 20 minutes, most of which was boiling water and cooking pasta, and made myself a nice, easy, tasty dinner.  The baby lady ate a few noodles, so I'm taking that as an approval from her as well.

This serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main course.

Penne with Garlic Mushroom Sauce

When I was little, I was one of those kids who hated mushrooms because they were "slimy".  Then, when I was a teenager I wouldn't eat mushrooms because "eating fungus is gross".  Well something must have happened to me because mushrooms are now one of my favorite ingredients.  I love their earthiness and the way it can almost feel like you're eating meat, without actually eating meat of course.  This pasta dish is hearty, earthy and probably going to become one of my favorite dinners.  Served with some bread and a salad with a bunch of veggies, this meal is awesome.

Serves 4 as a main dish

Ingredients:

4 T. butter, divided 

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. assorted mushrooms, sliced (I used one box of button and one box of baby bella)

1/2 t. dried basil

1/4 t. salt

1/8 t. ground black pepper

1/4 c. vegetable broth

1/4 c. white wine

2 T. olive oil

1 T. lemon juice

2 T. fresh parsley, chopped

2 t. fresh chives, chopped (optional)

parmesan cheese (optional)

1 lb. penne pasta

How:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boiling and add pasta.  Cook according to directions on box to al dente.

In a large skillet, melt 2 T. butter over medium.  Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds before adding mushrooms, basil, salt, pepper, vegetable broth and white wine.  Cook until mushrooms are tender, about 6 minutes.  

Add the remaining 2 T. butter, olive oil. and lemon juice.  Let the butter melt and then bring to a boil for 3-5 minutes and let the sauce thicken to your liking.  Add parsley and chives and then spoon over cooked pasta.  Sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese.  

Enjoy!

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