My intention was good. Make a batch of wholesome, homemade granola bars to last us the week. I grabbed oats, wheat germ and slivered almonds. Up next, dried fruit. Shredded coconut caught my eye. That’s dried fruit. Hmm. What else? Raisins. Nah. Cranberries. Perhaps. Dried apricots. Definitely maybe. Let’s see, what goes well with almonds and coconut?
As I ran through my options—my healthy options—chocolate chips caught my eye. Almonds. Coconut. Choc… No. Focus! Dried fruit. But… No, buts! Well, except, dried fruit is full of sugar. (Right?) Despite my efforts to stay on the fruit-n-nut express, I was derailed. I couldn’t stop thinking about the scrumptious combo of chocolate, almonds and coconut. (Hello, Almond Joys!). It had to be made.
These may not be the everyday snack that I set out to make, but they are a way healthier treat than any candy bar! And I totally nailed wholesome.

Read more …

Photo: hermitsmoores’

Upon my recent return from New Orleans, I gave you a killer family meal idea: a hummus platter dinner. A great tip for sure  (has it become a go-to weeknight meal at your house, too?), but not exactly the Big Easy flavors you may have expected. I owe you. And it’s pay up time. Sort of.
New Orleans has a ton of great seafood and draws a lot of inspiration from traditional French cooking. This equates to (among other things) a lot of creamy seafood preparations like a favorite of mine, crawfish etouffee. Since I didn’t indulge in any such dishes this past visit, I decided to make one at home. Except I didn’t use cajun seasoning. The big kid is going through a “no spicy” phase, so I substituted Old Bay for my favorite Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning. Hm. I guess that means that  this isn’t much of an homage to New Orleans after all. Oh well. It’s good. And it reminds me of my shrimp salad, a favorite lobster roll substitute inspired by the Old Bay brown butter I had at Momofuku Ko.
Read more …

It’s no secret that I love eggs for dinner, whether a “proper” meal like my quickest curried eggs, a poached egg to complete a bowl of soup, or an egg salad sammy to save us from take out. So, the first thing I thought of to make my meal of french lentils over wilted spinach heartier was, you guessed it, an egg.
This rustic salad comes together effortlessly. The greens are dressed in the simplest vinaigrette (I used olive oil, white wine vinegar, dijon, salt and pepper; a bit of finely chopped shallot would be nice, too). The lentils quick cooked and finished with creamy dijon. And the eggs fried in a flash. Layer one over the other—spinach, lentils, eggs—break the yolks, and take a big bite. Serve with crusty bread and wine (for mama and papa), and you’ll be transported to the French countryside. Perfection. In no time flat.
Read more …

My littlest ChowBaby is already 5 months old. I can hardly believe it! Time is flying and, relatively speaking, it’s been a smooth ride. But, all that said, my big guy is missing me. Lots. And so I’ve decided to carve out even more one-on-one time with him. We’re having tons of fun, but our new Monday afternoon excursions are putting a cramp in my dinner style. By the time we’re back home and settled in, it’s about 30 minutes to eatin’ time. And, when trying to coordinate dinner, 2 baths (ha!) and 2 bedtimes, there isn’t much flexibility.
So the new challenge: come up with even more healthy and SUPER quick recipes. This one was inspired by the Martha Stewart app, my new source for perusing recipes (on the go!). This recipe couldn’t be easier. And in the 30 minutes that it takes from start to finish, you can also make rice (cook in rice cooker or on the stove top according to package directions) or quinoa pilaf (cook on the stove top according to directions then toss with olive oil, white wine vinegar, dried cranberries, slivered almonds and green onion) and roast some asparagus (clean, trim, toss with olive oil and salt on a rimmed baking sheet; as soon as salmon is done, heat oven to 350 degrees and roast asparagus until cooked through, time will depend on how thick your asparagus is).
Read more …

We recently had friends over for brunch. They don’t have kids (yet!), so we made a plan for 12:30 pm (a “morning” plan for after noon, imagine that!). That would have normally taken the pressure off of cooking the day-of, except for the fact that we had other friends over the night before, friends for whom I cooked dinner, friends who also have no children and stay up later than we usually do. I needed a plan. A plan that would make back-to-back entertaining possible. Even with two little kids.
And it did. My plan—it worked!
If you ask me, every brunch needs a) coffee, b) savory eggs, c) something sweet and d) something light and healthy to balance out the eggs and sweet. My brunch menu was complete with all of these essential elements and all I had to do the day-of was put eggs in the oven and toss together a salad. THAT’S ALL.
Read more …

Photo: Dana Treat

Yes! Those portobellos look good—and they are—but let me start with a quick update. Immediately upon returning from New Orleans, I got hit with a stomach bug. With a big project coming to a head (exciting details coming soon!) and having already taken a week off, the timing couldn’t have been worse. So, though I’m almost fully recovered, I feeling maxed out. Not good timing with so much to do and still having to put dinner on the table every night!
I know that you know the feeling. I’ve learned—the hard way—that I have to prioritize my work and life demands as soon as I start feeling maxed out. Otherwise, I run the risk of driving myself into the ground (yes, I’m one of those people). I hope you’ll be patient over the next few weeks as I close out my big project and rely heavily on go-to recipes, many of which I’ve already shared with you (ie, i’ll have fewer new recipes to post). During this time, I may not be able to consistently maintain the Weekly Digest and I’ll probably point to other people’s recipes more than usual.
Read more …