You've Got To Taste This

Tuesday was my night to host book club and, next to our stimulating book conversations, the food and drink is the most important thing!  Because I needed a mostly make-ahead menu, and because I do love a theme, I decided on Chinese Chicken Salad.  Our book was Shanghai Girls, and  while I realize that no one in China ever actually eats this kind of salad, it's easy to make, always popular, and a slight nod to the book.  I also stopped by my favorite Chinese take-out restaurant and picked up egg rolls and asked another member to bring a fresh fruit salad that included mandarin oranges.   Dessert was fortune cookies (from the restaurant) and a decadent chocolate-mint brownie that had absolutely nothing to do with China.  But all sucessful book club dinners must include both chocolate and wine, don't you think?

Check out our collection of Chinese recipes, or for more themed book club dinner ideas, see Dinner and a Book, and let me know what you're serving at your next book club gathering.

Italian food is in my blood - literally.  My father's family is from Capistrano, Italy and when his grandmother, his Noni, stepped off that ship onto Ellis Island in the early 1900's, she brought with her all of our family's food traditions and treasured recipes that have been passed down through the generations - all the way to me!

My dad is a fantastic cook - even though he claims every sauce he makes is "not his best" - (in fact, if I had to choose my last meal on this Earth, it would be my father's spaghetti sauce with my mother's meatballs, sprinkled with good Romano cheese and served with a big hunk of crusty Italian bread - and yes, I'm drooling).  As I got older my dad started showing me each step to make his famed spaghetti sauce and, through tasting, watching and many attempts, I think I could make Noni proud.

Now, here's the dilemma, what's a (meat-free) girl to do when she's craving spaghetti Bolognese?  Improvise!  Here is my version of my family's traditional spaghetti Bolognese - just, minus the meat.

**Please keep in mind that my father didn't teach me his sauce recipe using measurements, it was "a little of this" and "a dash of that", so I came up with approximate measurements.  Feel free to adapt to your taste!

My Italian "Meat" Sauce

1 Box of Pasta

8 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (divided)

2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (divided)

2 Garlic Cloves, crushed (divided)

1 tsp Dried Rosemary

1 Can Italian Plum Tomatoes (whole or crushed)

1-2 Tbsp tomato Paste

1 Package Frozen Soy Crumbles

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

Fresh Romano or Parmesan Cheese

Heat skillet over medium-high heat, add 4 Tbsp of EVOO, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 clove of garlic, and a dash of salt and pepper and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes (make sure the garlic doesn't burn, this will make the entire dish taste bitter).  Add the package of frozen soy crumbles - reduce the heat to medium and allow the crumbles to defrost completely - about 8-10 minutes.

Remove soy crumbles from skillet and put aside.

Put the skillet back on the heat, add the rest of the EVOO, red pepper flakes, garlic, rosemary, and a dash of salt and pepper and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the can of tomatoes (if you opted for the whole plum tomatoes, take a fork and crush them once they are in the skillet) and the tomato paste.  Stir well to incorporate all of the flavors. 

Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.  Add more salt or pepper if needed (remember, tasting is the key to a good sauce!)

Add the soy crumbles back into the sauce and allow to heat through.  Set large pot full of water on high heat and cook pasta according to the packet's instructions.

Drain pasta, add the pasta to the skillet with the sauce, sprinkle with Romano or Parmesan cheese, and dig in!

**For all of you meat-eaters out there, don't be afraid!  I had my (very) carnivorous roommate taste my sauce and, in her words, "it doesn't taste much like meat, but it does taste good!"

For every one of my nieces' birthdays, my sister-in-law creates fantastic cakes that always leave me thinking, "How'd she do that?" So when I came across these birthday cakes from Parenting.com, I instantly had to share them! They have 31 Unique Birthday Cakesin all, but here are my top 5 favorites. And if the super-cute pictures aren't enough inspiration, they give step-by-step instructions on how to create them. So, without further ado, my favorites. (All photos by Kenneth Chen.)

More Birthday Recipes

• Play With Your Food
• Birthday Party Recipes
• Birthday Cake Recipes

As an adoptive mom of kids from Korea and Ethiopia, I've really enjoyed learning to cook food from my kids' homelands. Alecha is typical Ethiopian comfort food:  affordable, filling and delicious.  The addition of turmeric may seem unusual; typically in America it is used only for pickles.  But it is a common seasoning in Ethiopia, and adds an authentic and interesting flavor to this dish.

Alecha (uh-LEECH-uh)

Serves 6

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced in coins
• 4 potatoes, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 of a medium green cabbage (about 2 cups, cut into long thin slivers)
• salt and black pepper to taste

Begin by cutting up vegetables.  Add oil to a large heavy skillet on medium high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is soft and getting browned bits.  Add 1-1/2 cups water, garlic, carrots, potatoes, freshly grated ginger, salt, pepper and turmeric. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until carrots and potatoes are beginning to soften.  If liquid evaporates too soon and food begins sticking, simply add a bit more water.

Once carrots are beginning to soften, add butter, cabbage, and remaining 1/2 cup of water.  Cover and cook 5-10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender.  In Ethiopia this is served with injera, a sourdough flatbread.  It also goes well with rice, tucked in pita bread, or wrapped in a tortilla.  Or do like I did last night:  serve it alongside leftover pizza and lasagna!  It is a really versatile dish that goes well with many foods.

There's nothing like a cocktail to start (or end) a weekend morning. And a perfect Bloody Mary is my favorite. (Bar trivia: the Bloody Mary was invented during the 1920s at Harry's Bar in Paris.) But while I may have a stocked food pantry, I rarely have the ingredients for a Bloody Mary on hand and my secret weapon is Stirrings Simple Bloody Mary Mix.

 
This cocktail mix isn't your run-of-the-mill mix -- it tastes fresh and packs a punch of ground horseradish, lemon, and Worcestershire. I just add really good vodka, a cracking of freshly ground pepper, and a fun garnish like pickled okra, green beans, or jalapenos. But there are endless variations on this classic drink: the Bloody Maria, which swaps vodka for tequila; the Bloody Caesar, made with the addition of clam juice or Clamato juice; and the Bloody Bull, made with beef bouillon. So stay classic or go wild with a variation, but don't skip the Bloody Mary at your next brunch.

Studio b -- Image: studiobthebeach.com

I love it when I happen upon something that combines my favorite things: learning something new and my insatiable wanderlust. You can imagine the size of my pupils when I happened upon the article "A Taste of Morocco" in this month's Coastal Living. On assignment, food editor, Julia Rutland, attended a Moroccan cooking class at Studio b in Alys Beach, Florida (located between Pensacola and Panama City).

The main requirements for dinner in the Shepherd household are quick, easy, budget-friendly, and low-carb.  We are blessed to have a large chest freezer in our garage where we stockpile game meats like venison, turkey, and quail, plus bought-in-bulk steak, chicken, and fish.  This makes weekly meal planning and grocery shopping pretty painless, though I find myself drifting back to the same meals again and again.  My husband's health (and mine as well, to be frank) is much better when we avoid carbohydrates at dinnertime, so classic dishes like spaghetti and casseroles are out. 

Always on a quest to find new ways to cook venison (especially ground venison - we have about 24 packs in the freezer right now with more to come!), I came across this recipe for Bacon Cheeseburger Quiche on www.lowcarb-recipes.net.  I used whole milk in place of the half-and-half since we had that on hand for our young toddler, and regular pepper, but otherwise prepared the dish as written.  It was delicious and one of my new favorite uses for venison burger!  Venison can dry out or get overcooked easily due to the low fat content, but the topping of cheese and eggs kept the moist wonderfully moist and flavorful.

Finally an allergy-free treat that doesn’t taste like the dirt its all-natural, organic ingredients are grown in.

After trying HomeFree cookies for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised with their sweet flavor and the fact that my afternoon sugar rush was actually satisfied.

This New Hampshire-based bakery is dedicated to creating tasty treats that are free of common food allergens such as peanuts, eggs, dairy and tree nuts. But what makes HomeFree unique is that they have managed to build a delicious cookie without the staple ingredients like eggs and butter. Instead, they use soy, whole grains, organic cane sugar and even special ingredients like pear juice concentrate and rosemary extract. I even asked a 15, 12, and 9-year-old to try them and they all gave their approval.

HomeFree also makes a variety of cakes and has a cookbook on allergen-free baking. You can purchase them at their website or at one of the 300 retail locations that sell them nationwide, including select Whole Foods and a growing number of institutions such as schools, camps, and sporting venues.

Based on taste alone, I would recommend these cookies as an everyday treat, but beyond the sugary sweet goodness, they are also a great substitute for those with food allergies.

Childhood obesity seems to be a hot topic these days; President Obama has created the first-ever federal taskforce to address the problem and also plans to reauthorize and increase the budget for the Child Nutrition Act.  First Lady Michelle Obama has also been vocal about the problem and has been making the rounds to all of the big-time media outlets to endorse the national "Let's Move" Campaign.

We even have the famous (and totally adorable) British chef Jamie Oliver hopping across The Pond to help Americans with their serious over-eating.  In the premier of his new show "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution", which airs on ABC on March 26th, Oliver heads to Huntington, West Virginia (named the unhealthiest city in America) to begin the grueling and seemingly hopeless task of changing the community's perception and appreciation of food.

Will he be successful?  (You'll have to tune in to find out!)  We can only hope.  But I think the real question here is - how have we let our children become so unhealthy?  How have we let 1 out of every 3 American children become overweight or obese?  And, if children learn by watching and mimicking, then isn't the older generation to blame?

In your household, how do you balance what your children want to eat with what your children should eat?

Are you running out of kid-friendly dinner ideas?  Check out MyRecipe's Kid Approved page!

Check out these healthy dinner ideas from MyRecipes:

Sneak In Extra Veggies

10 Healthy Foods for Picky Eaters

Healthy Family Meals

This stir fry is a beautiful as it is delicious. You can choose veggies according to your family's preferences.   Just remember to stir-fry the dense or strong-flavored veggies like onions and carrots first, adding more delicate veggies (peppers, mushrooms, bean sprouts) close to the end of the cooking time so that they will stay crisp-tender.

Serve 4

Preparation Time: 40-50 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal

1 cup fresh broccoli florets in bite sized pieces

3 sweet peppers (various colors), thinly sliced

1 cup slivered green cabbage

2 tablespoons sesame oil (or regular oil)

Marinade

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Sauce

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

1. Toast sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for a few minute, stirring frequently, until seeds turn medium brown.  Set aside.

2. Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes.  Mix marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add chicken.  Stir to coat evenly, and let marinate for 10 minutes.

3. Combine sauce ingredients in a medium pot.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently until sugar and cornstarch have dissolved. Cover and remove from heat.

4. Lay coated chicken cubes on a greased broiler rack that is set over a drip pan.  Broil in oven 4-6 inches away from the element for 5-8 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and top of chicken has some nicely browned bits.  Remove from oven and toss with sauce.  Cover and set aside.

5. Add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to a large heavy skillet set on high heat.  When oil starts to shimmer with heat, add onion and carrots.  Stirfry 2-3 minutes without stirring, or until veggies get some nice brown bits.  Add broccoli florets.Stir and cook for another couple minutes to continue browning.  Add sliced peppers and cabbage and cook for about 5 more minutes, until veggies are crisp tender, stirring a couple times. 

6.  When veggies are cooked, add chicken and sauce into the veggie mixture.  Cook a few more minutes, until veggies are well coated with sauce and all ingredients are hot.  Top with browned sesame seeds. Serve over rice.