Fennel and kale avgolemono soup

For this classic Greek lemon and egg soup, you slowly heat an emulsion of eggs, lemon juice, and broth for a quick, comforting bowl that packs a sweet and sour punch.

Take me to the recipe!

So guys, I’m trying to lose weight. I hate admitting that because it feels like a betrayal of my hard work to unlearn diet culture over this past year. BUT! Thanks to all of that work, I think I can lose a few pounds while maintaining a healthy relationship with food and my body. Because I love food and it’s not realistic for me to give any of it up. And, while I’m still working at loving my body, I appreciate all that it’s done for me and don’t feel like it has to match an unrealistic thin, white ideal.

But the fact is, I weigh more than I’d like to. Baby weight plus quarantine weight plus holiday weight has added up. I started reigning in my eating a few months ago, which helped my mental health. Somehow feasting on unlimited amounts of Nutella to deal with postpartum and covid anxiety wasn’t working. GO FIGURE. But I focused primarily on what I was eating, rather than on how much I was eating.

Now I need to face the statistics that having had Gestation Diabetes during my second pregnancy makes it more likely that I’ll develop Type II Diabetes if I don’t maintain a healthy weight. And, one of my chief physical complaints is back pain and when I’m holding onto extra weight, there’s more stress on my spine. I want to be able to play with and pick up my kids and I can’t do that if my back is out!

Enter, soup! I love soup in the winter anyway for its coziness, but it’s the perfect vehicle for veggies and healthy fats. It’s also filling and EASY.

This version of Avgolemono in particular is one of my favorites. It’s creamy without any dairy and a well-rounded meal with the orzo and veggies. It’s also infinitely adaptable based on your diet and preferences. Doing Whole 30? Leave out the orzo and add shredded chicken. Gluten free? Swap the orzo for rice. Vegetarian? Use veggie stock instead of chicken stock. Want more protein? Add beans or quinoa. Want it zingier? Add more lemon! Want it creamier? Add another egg! The variations are endless.

The only rule with Avgolemono is this: Don’t let the eggs come to a boil! You’ll end up with scrambled egg bits in your broth and nobody wants that.

Fennel and kale avgolemono soup 

Time: about 30 minutes, mostly active
Yield: about 6 cups

6 cups chicken stock
1 tsp salt + more to taste (I’ve added another 1/2 tsp at the end in some batches)
1/8th tsp of black pepper 
1 bay leaf
1 large garlic clove (or 2 medium/small), peeled and lightly smashed
1/2 cup uncooked orzo
3 eggs
¼ cup lemon juice (the juice of 1 large lemon) + more to taste
2 cups lacinto kale (1 small bunch) 
1 small fennel bulb, sliced paper thin

Combine the stock, salt, black pepper, bay leaf and garlic in a pot and bring to a boil. Scoop out 1 cup of the hot stock and set aside to cool. 

Scoop out the garlic clove and add it to a blender. Set aside. 

Add the orzo and cook according to package directions, minus one minute. 

While the orzo is cooking, chop the kale and slice the fennel as thinly as possible. Set aside. 

Add the eggs and the lemon juice to the blender with the cooled garlic. Set aside.

Once the orzo is done, turn the heat down all the way and let the broth just barely simmer. Add the kale and the fennel and stir.

Check the cooling cup of broth. It should be warm, but not hot. If you can comfortably leave your finger in the broth, it’s ready. If the broth is still too hot to touch, add an ice cube and check again in one minute after the ice has melted.

Whizz the garlic, eggs, and lemon juice in the blender until just combined and slightly frothy. Add the warm broth in a stream or in 4 batches if your blender doesn’t open while running. 

Add the egg, lemon, garlic, and stock emulsion to the simmering broth and cook, stirring, for about 5 more minutes. Don’t let the soup boil!

Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, and lemon as needed.

French onion lentil and spinach soup

This soup is healthy, warming, comforting, and filled with iron and fiber. It also tastes better the second day, so double the batch and enjoy the leftovers all week!

Take me to the recipe!

I started making this soup when I was pregnant with Z and the thought of eating meat really turned my stomach. I was looking for nourishing soups that also tasted great and kept me full because while I LOOOOOOVE a soup, they don’t always fill me up unless they’re cream-based or more of a stew.

Enter this soup. It starts off with a base of caramelized onions like you’re making French onion soup. I use a super-quick method for caramelizing onions that might take a minute to get the hang of, but turns raw onions into melty, caramelized goodness in about 20-25 minutes instead of 45-60 minutes. I outline the process here.

Basically, you’re using high heat and a covered pan while also de-glazing every 2-3 minutes to achieve that deep, rich color and flavor by utilizing all of the stuck on bits at the bottom of the pan. It can be tricky to find that sweet spot between browning and burning, but luckily, the onions are pretty forgiving and if they get a little too dark, you can just deglaze with a bit of extra water and turn the heat down a smidge.

Once you have those jammy onions in the bag, you can basically add the rest of the ingredients (with a little watching for a few minutes) and let the stove do the rest of the work.

This soup makes me so so happy. I’ve made it for new moms during those rough postpartum days. I’ve also made it for snow days and arctic days, regular days and special days. I always wish I was eating it in front of a fire wearing a huge sweater and reading a book, but alas, that never happens.

French onion lentil and spinach soup

5 cups sliced onions (about 3 large onions, sliced 1/8th of an inch thick)
3 Tbsp butter or olive oil (or a combo)
2 cups water
½ tsp dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp kosher salt 
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
4 cups beef broth 
¾ cup dried green or brown lentils
1 cup frozen spinach or 1 bag fresh baby spinach 

Time: About 1 hour (30 minutes active)
Yield: about 5 cups of soup

 Slice the onions into 1/8th to 1/4th inch slices. 

Heat the oil and butter over a medium flame in a large skillet with high sides. 

Turn the heat up to medium high and add the onions. Cover and cook, for 2-3 minutes until the onions begin to brown and stick to the bottom of the pan. Pour in about 2 -4 Tbsp of water and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook for 2-3 more minutes and repeat the process. Continue cooking until the onions are a deep brown color, about 20-25 minutes. 

Add the thyme and salt and cook for 1 minute. 

Add the red wine vinegar and cook until evaporated, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the broth and the lentils. Bring to a boil over the highest flame. Once boiling, reduce the flame to low and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes until the lentils are cooked, but have a little bit of crunch left to them. (Continue to cook for another 10 minutes if you prefer mushier lentils.)

Turn off the flame and stir in the spinach, either frozen or fresh, and stir to wilt. 

Test for seasoning. 

Magical breadcrumbs with mushrooms and scallions

The breadcrumbs are the star of this show, but don’t sleep on the mushrooms and scallions either. A simple, make-ahead side dish that’s fast, easy, and relatively healthy, but seems just the opposite!

Take me to the recipe!

First things first, we have to talk about these magical breadcrumbs. What could be so great about a humble breadcrumb, you might ask? I’ll tell you!

They’re crunchy, salty, briny, and aromatic and elevate anything they top. Using panko maximizes the crispiness while the anchovies add a salty, funky note and the garlic lends a spicy bite. We bathe everything in a little olive oil or butter to mildly tame the funk and the bite while increasing the crunch. The results: magical.

There are other fantastic things about these breadcrumbs too: Sub them in for breading or croutons and they make any dish lighter and easier to prepare. They also stay crispy in the fridge for up to 4 days, so make them in advance and top any side dish just before serving.

For this dish, I’ve used the breadcrumbs to top this umami bomb of mushrooms, scallions, butter, and soy sauce. Each time I’ve made these mushrooms, we’ve INHALED them. This dish is simple, quick, and tastes so much more complex than its humble ingredients would suggest.

A quick note: This is a relatively small recipe because I’m guessing (hoping, encouraging, BEGGING) that we’re all having small Thanksgiving meals this year, but if you’re cooking for a (socially distanced) crowd, definitely increase the mushroom portion of this recipe. You’ll have more than enough breadcrumbs with the measurements given.

Also: Be judicious with the salt in this recipe. We are SALT LOVERS in this house, but the anchovies are so salty that we didn’t really need much more than the big pinch of sea salt that I add while cooking the mushrooms. But you do you.

Magical breadcrumbs with mushrooms and scallions

Time: 10 minutes for the breadcrumbs, 12 minutes for the mushrooms, all active
Yield: About 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs (depending upon how “heaping” your cup of panko is), 3 adult side servings of mushrooms (but to be fair, I’ve eaten all of the mushrooms in one sitting topped with a runny egg for lunch)

Mushrooms and scallions:
2 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz mushrooms (any variety, about two containers)
Large pinch of salt
4 large scallions, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1/2-1 tsp soy sauce, to taste
1/4- 1/2 cup Magical breadcrumbs (recipe below), to taste
Flaky sea salt, to taste

Heat the olive oil over a medium flame. When hot, sear the mushrooms on one side and then shake the pan and sear the other side. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the mushrooms turn a darker, golden color, about 5 minutes. If cooking too fast, turn down the heat. Season with a large pinch of salt.

Add the scallions and cook until they begin to wilt and soften, about 4-5 minutes.

If, during the cooking of the mushrooms and scallions, the pan feels too dry or the veggies start to stick, add a little bit more olive oil. But keep in mind that the mushrooms may release their juices as they cook more."**

**Depending on the type of mushrooms you use, they may release a lot of water. If this happens, you can either turn up the flame and cook, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until the liquid has evaporated. Or, if your mushrooms and scallions are nearly cooked and there’s still a lot of water in the pan, drain it before adding the butter.

When the mushrooms and scallions are cooked, turn the flame all the way down. Add the butter. When it’s melted, add the soy sauce and stir to coat. Turn off the flame. Taste and add more soy sauce if necessary.

Top with breadcrumbs (recipe below) and flaky sea salt if necessary, just before serving.

Magical breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp olive oil or butter
2 whole anchovy filets (or 4 1/2 filets depending on how your anchovies are canned)*
1 heaping cup panko
2 large garlic cloves, minced (about 2 Tbsp)

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over a medium-low flame. Add the anchovies and cook, breaking them up with a wooden spoon or spatula until they’re completely dissolved, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the panko and cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes. If the breadcrumbs start to darken, turn the flame down.

Add the garlic and stir well. Let the mixture cook, untouched for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom of the breadcrumbs start to turn golden. Turn off the flame and mix the breadcrumbs. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan before using.

If saving for later, let the breadcrumbs cool completely and then store, covered loosely, in the fridge for up to 4 days.

*A quick note about anchovies: Sometimes they’re cleaned and the two sides are left connected when they’re canned. I consider that a “whole” anchovy. If they two sides are separated, I consider that 1/2 of a filet)

Roasted strawberry and rhubarb butter

Roughly chop some fruit and toss it in the oven for a spring-y fruit butter that’s naturally sweet, SUPER EASY, and extremely versatile. #meandthemoose #strawberryrhubarb #fruit #fruitbutter #naturallysweet #jam

Rhubarb season is here! Turn this tart veg into a thick, spreadable butter to use all day, every day.

Take me to the recipe!

Roughly chop some fruit and toss it in the oven for a spring-y fruit butter that’s naturally sweet, SUPER EASY, and extremely versatile. #meandthemoose #strawberryrhubarb #fruit #fruitbutter #naturallysweet #jam

Roughly chop some fruit and toss it in the oven for a spring-y fruit butter that’s naturally sweet, SUPER EASY, and extremely versatile. #meandthemoose #strawberryrhubarb #fruit #fruitbutter #naturallysweet #jam

If you’ve searched Instagram recently, it’ll come as no surprise that rhubarb is a very photogenic vegetable. The variations in color lend themselves to ombre-ing and chevron-ing to your heart’s content. But today, we’re keeping it simple by doing neither of those things.

Instead, we’re turning strawberries (fresh or frozen!) and those giant rhubarb stalks you find in the grocery store (or your garden if you’re lucky enough to grow your own) into a butter akin to apple or pumpkin. Because why should fall fruits and vegetables have all the fun?

In early spring, I use frozen berries because it annoys me that strawberry and rhubarb are a perfect combination, but their growing seasons only overlap for a hot minute here in New England. Buuuuut, I found some giant berries in the grocery store recently, so I went for it with the fresh ones a little earlier this year.

Roughly chop some fruit and toss it in the oven for a spring-y fruit butter that’s naturally sweet, SUPER EASY, and extremely versatile. #meandthemoose #strawberryrhubarb #fruit #fruitbutter #naturallysweet #jam

A couple of notes:

• Let the berries and rhubarb cook until the juices start to get a little syrupy. You can test this by sticking a spoon into the hot liquid (DON’T USE YOUR FINGER!!!). If the strawberry juice coats the back of the spoon and doesn’t drip off entirely, you’re about done. Make sure that your berries don’t burn because they can taste bitter.

• This is a TART butter because, well, rhubarb is tart and that’s the beauty of it. If you like things a little sweeter, you can add a bit of sugar or use more berries than rhubarb. OR, you can combine the tart butter with sweeter things like cakes, cookies, sweetened yogurt, and whipped cream.

Roughly chop some fruit and toss it in the oven for a spring-y fruit butter that’s naturally sweet, SUPER EASY, and extremely versatile. #meandthemoose #strawberryrhubarb #fruit #fruitbutter #naturallysweet #jam

Roughly chop some fruit and toss it in the oven for a spring-y fruit butter that’s naturally sweet, SUPER EASY, and extremely versatile. #meandthemoose #strawberryrhubarb #fruit #fruitbutter #naturallysweet #jam

Roasted strawberry rhubarb butter

Time: About 1 hour, 45 minutes, about 5 minutes active time
Yield: 12 oz (1½-2 cups)

4 heaping cups strawberries (fresh or frozen)
2 heaping cups chopped fresh rhubarb (about 3 extra extra-large stalks or 6-8 smaller stalks, chopped into 1-inch chunks)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Wash and chop the rhubarb. Combine with the frozen strawberries on a parchment-lined, rimmed baking tray.

Cook for 25-30 minutes, until the fruit is soft, the strawberries have released their juices, and the juice has started to become syrupy (see note above). Watch the berries closely after about 20 minutes to ensure that they don’t burn.

Let the fruit cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Scoop the fruit into your blender. Whatever juice gets onto the spoon is fine, but don’t add any remaining syrup.

Blend until smooth.

Store in the fridge for up to 7 days.

Healthier apricot carrot cake

Cake with vegetables sounds healthy, but is usually far from it. This version lightens up the traditional recipe with dried apricots, applesauce, and coconut sugar; reduces the fat and swaps in coconut oil; and swaps out half of the white flour for whole wheat. Add in walnuts for Omega-3s (or leave them out to make this school safe) and you have a healthier option for your Easter table that’s equally delicious and showstopping.

Take me to the cake!

I’m still struggling with the eternal question: Is it worth it to healthify desserts? If my kid factors into the equation, then yes. He’s often satisfied with a “healthy” sweet. I, on the other hand, really wanted a doughnut for breakfast and no amount of healthy treats was going to cut it.

However! If there’s a recipe ripe for healthifying, a dessert starring a vegetable is it.

I started recipe testing this cake by dumping everything into a bowl and calling it a day. The results were delicious, but dense, so I decided to do as others have done and whip the eggs and sugar at the start to make the crumb a bit lighter. Often, cake directions tell you to cream butter and sugar / butter and eggs / sugar and eggs (as in this case) until they’re “light and fluffy.” Unfortunately, the coconut sugar is so dark that you’ll never really achieve this. What you want instead is just to aerate the eggs, sugar, and other liquids. Don’t worry about it too much, just make sure that you see lots of bubbles once all of the liquid is combined.

Alone, this cake is delicious, but tastes like a muffin or a quick bread, not a cake. But slathered in cream cheese frosting, this is a CAKE.

Can I tell you a secret about making the frosting? I don’t measure the sugar. You heard that: I don’t measure the sugar. I mix in a couple of large spoonfuls and then add more to taste. I like a frosting that isn’t too sweet and the beauty of cream cheese frosting is the tang, which gets totally masked by too much sugar.

Apricot carrot cake

Adapted from Bake from Scratch and Natasha’s Kitchen

Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (about 45 minutes of active time, including frosting the cake)
Yield: 8 GIANT slices, 10-12 normal slices

1 cup apricots, chopped
1 Tbsp flour (AP or Whole Wheat)
4 eggs
1 cup coconut sugar
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour (pastry or white whole wheat are also great)
1 cup AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
¼ tsp fine sea salt
12 oz carrots; trimmed, peeled, and shredded (about 3 cups, lightly packed shredded carrots)
1 cup walnuts, toasted (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375.

Grease two 9-inch cake pans, or a 12-cup muffin tin liberally with melted coconut oil or cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a small bowl, chop the apricots and toss with 1 Tbsp of flour (either AP or whole wheat). Set aside.

Toast your walnuts in the preheating oven, keeping an eye to ensure that they don’t burn while you continue prepping your other ingredients. Set aside.

Trim, peel, and shred your carrots. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together the eggs and sugar for about 3 minutes on a medium high setting (or on high if your hand mixer isn’t very strong). The eggs won’t get lighter in color because the coconut sugar is quite dark, but you will see lots of little air bubbles formed and the volume of the liquid should increase.

Reduce the speed of your mixer to low (medium-low for a hand mixer) and slowly add the oil, applesauce, and vanilla extract.

Sift the dry ingredients together into the wet ingredients. Fold until just combined and no lumps remain.

Fold in the carrots, apricots, and toasted walnuts (if using).

Pour half of the mixture into each cake pan (or, fill each muffin cup until about 2/3 full).

Bake, rotating halfway through, for 20-23 minutes for the cakes or 15-18 minutes for the muffins. You want the cakes to be springy when touched and for a tester to come out with a few crumbs or clean.

Let the cake cool entirely before icing.

Cream cheese frosting
2 blocks cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter (1 cup), softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more to taste

Combine the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment on your mixer or your hand mixer, combine and whip the butter and cream cheese on high for 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla and salt and whip on medium to combine.

Add the powdered sugar a few Tbsp at a time and SLOWLY whip the sugar into the rest of the mixture on low (otherwise you’ll have powdered sugar all over your kitchen). Once the initial amount of powdered sugar is incorporated, add more, a few Tbsp at a time, to taste. When all of the sugar you want is incorporated, turn the mixer back to high and whip for 3-4 more minutes.