Photo: Tofutti Break

Last week I left you with a taste of Canada while I was tasting New Orleans. Now that I’m back, you’re probably expecting a post about beignets (our first food stop was Cafe Du Monde!), gumbo (I enjoyed a version made with duck), boudin (I had some at Green Goddess, a wonderful off-the-beaten-path cafe) or some other delicious NOLA specialty. But, instead, I’ve come back with a Mediterranean-inspired quick dinner idea!

My sister and I had big plans to go shopping and out to dinner one night, but were thwarted by uncooperative children who kept me at the hotel way longer than expected. So, instead, she took me to a favorite local spot for a late dinner, some wine and catch up conversation. She did the ordering—I was just happy to be out with her!—and then out came our appetizer, a deliciously loaded hummus platter.

I didn’t think much of it until I started digging in. Creamy hummus topped with chopped cukes, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, roasted garlic (chunky whole cloves!) and shredded rotisserie chicken. Served with warm high-quality pita, the dish was hearty enough to be our main meal. And then it came to me—what a wonderful, healthy, QUICK family dinner (for everyone 8+ months). Why hadn’t I thought of this before?!

So there you have it. I come back to you from New Orleans not with a cajun treat, but with a Mediterranean dinner inspiration. Go figure! With beans, animal protein (optional!) and salad all rolled into one, it’s just too good an idea not to pass along to y’all. Have you made something like this before? Think you’ll try it? I’m going to this week. It’s a perfect just-back-from-vacation-there’s-nothing-in-the fridge meal!

Photo: Martha Stewart

It’s no secret that I don’t usually cook kid menu staples like mac and cheese, plain pasta with butter, hot dogs or chicken fingers. It’s not that I don’t like (some of) these foods when they are home made with whole ingredients—I do!–but only every once and a while, and it never seems the right time to make them. I’d much rather invest the same amount of time to make more interesting and healthier foods.
But now we’re talking kids party, and you can’t have a kids party without some reliable kid friendly food. Not only does my “everything in moderation” philosophy apply here, but so does my (our!) need for convenience. It’s super easy to turn up the health and sophistication of chicken fingers, plus you can make them ahead of time, which is especially important for party food (but also great for any weeknight meal or packed lunch food).
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10-Minute Lemon Thyme Scallops

This week is all about the Best Of ChowMama 2009! To help ensure that you begin 2010 with a recipe box loaded with quick and healthy recipes that your whole family will love, I’ve hand selected my favorites (recipes that I return to over and over again) and the most popular recipes as measured by traffic and comments (ones that worked out well for me and you).
Today is all about main dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tomorrow I’ll hit ya with veggie sides. Wednesday has snacks and apps covered. I’ll serve up healthy sweets and desserts on Thursday. And, on Friday, I’ll list the best parenting posts of 2009—because how we feed our families is most definitely a parenting issue.
Enjoy. Try a new recipe. Chime in with your favorite 2009 ChowMama posts or what you’d like to see more of in 2010.
And, of course, THANKS for a great year. Cheers!
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Photo: Bon Appetit

So, have you recovered from Thanksgiving yet? We have. Sort of. We’re definitely hungry again, but the idea of planning involved meals makes me want to poke my eyes out. Okay. That was a bit dramatic, but you get the point: this week is all about low maintenance cooking. This recipe may not seem low maintenance at first glance, but it’s surprisingly easy. In fact, it came together on the fly. I had chicken and green olives—the rest just fell into place.
The dish has a French/North African flavor profile that gives it an exotic flair that’s also warm, comforting and mellow (i.e., kid friendly!) at the same time. Nothing more than a bunch of ground spices give this dish its layered flavor—you can’t get simpler than that. And don’t be afraid of the olives if you’re feeding a little one. She just might like them (my ChowBaby does and he was thrilled to chomp on pitted ones with ease). If not, the olives are easy enough to pick out.
Serve over rice, noodles or, even better, couscous. And consider doubling the recipe for leftovers. Like a great stew, this is even better the next day.
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Photo: ex.libris

As you’ve surely gathered from my recent posts, it’s been a bit of a bloodbath here. I cannot stop making sweets! After a long weekend of hard work finishing the nursery—and rewarding ourselves with decadent treats along the way—we needed a light, but satisfying Sunday night dinner.
On one of my breaks from telling the ChowPapa where to hang this and where to put that, I picked up a deliciously gooey, fresh ball of mozzarella. With a day old loaf of bread and heirloom tomatoes from Saturday’s farmers market hanging around, Panzanella was the natural thing to make.
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Okay. Who follows me on Twitter? (You don’t?! Well, get to it already! @ChowMamaStacie, of course!) While I try to keep my tweets to great recipes, food news, and other relevant family, kid, and food stuff, I occasionally leak a 140 character sigh. These exhales (sometimes groans) usually follow a day or two long Twitter silence because I’ve been overwhelmed with work, personal stuff (a technical term), or exhaustion at trying to balance it all while 36 weeks pregnant. What’s this have to do with food? If you followed me on Twitter, you’d know.
This has been a nutty week. And it looks like the upcoming weeks are shaping up similarly. Not sure what it means for my ability to keep up while in the home stretch of pregnancy and during the first few weeks after baby’s arrival, but I can tell you what it has meant this week: relying on quick, easy, comforting standbys. Meals that take no more than 30-40 minutes, largely unattended. Meals that require no more than one pot and a few utensils. Meals that can be made in a big batch and are adaptable—so that leftovers don’t have to look exactly the same two nights in a row. Meals that I can make with my eyes closed.
These are two meals I’ve already made this week. Both are great transitional meals—perfectly cozy for the the slight autumn chill in the evening air, but still light. Make them once or twice and I promise you, too, will be able to make them with your eyes closed.
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