January 20, 2023

Turkey and spinach meatloaf

January 20, 2023/ Rebecca Davis

This turkey meatloaf is quick, nutritious, gluten free, and delicious!

So, meatloaf. A bad one is dense, bland, kind of pasty, and just all around gross. This version is different! One of my secrets is adding in other stuff like onions and spinach to increase the water content, which adds steam while it cooks, which makes for a lighter and fluffier loaf.

The almond meal makes this gluten free, but I also find that it makes the loaf a little lighter because the traditional breadcrumbs and milk can add to the pastiness.

Basically, this meatloaf is a lighter meat and lots of veggies and aromatics held together with just enough egg and almond meal to make it a “loaf.”

I top mine with ketchup, but if you’re watching your sugar, tomato paste or sugar-free ketchup also work really well. My kids love BBQ sauce, so I’ll top one or two of the mini loaves with that instead of ketchup to suit their tastes.

One note about how I make these loaves: I make them as mini loaves because they cook so much faster individually. If you like a traditional meatloaf made in an actual loaf pan, this recipe also cooks well in a pan, but it takes quite a bit longer. Still delicious either way!

Turkey and spinach meatloaf

Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 mini loaves

1 lb ground turkey
1.5-2 cups spinach or greens, roughly chopped
1/2 large onion, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup almond meal or almond flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp kosher salt
pepper, to taste
Ketchup, tomato paste, or BBQ sauce, for topping

Preheat the oven to 400.

Roughly chop the greens. Mince the onion. Add these chopped veggies to a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, except for the ketchup, tomato paste, or BBQ sauce.

Using your hands or a spatula, mix the ingredients until just combined and distributed.

With a large spoon, plop four equal portions onto a sheet pan and smooth each into a rough loaf shape.

Top with ketchup or sauce of choice.

Bake for 15 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165.

May 25, 2022

BBQ chicken

May 25, 2022/ Rebecca Davis

A short marinade in olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard, and soy sauce followed by the best ever spice rub (seriously, triple the recipe and use it on everything), makes this a BBQ chicken worthy of your most discerning guests.

Take me to the recipe!

We’ve used this marinade and rub on all kinds of chicken: breasts, thighs, bone-in, skin-on, boneless, skinless, and an entire chicken. It has worked with every iteration! I was really tired one day and put the sugar in the marinade instead of the rub—still great. My husband likes to put the rub on WITH the marinade and let the whole thing sit for 30 minutes—also great. So if, like me, your attention is divided while trying to make dinner, this is the recipe for you.

A note on cooking chicken:

Roast the chicken between 425 and 450. I use the lower temperature for skinless and boneless varieties to avoid drying out the meat. The higher temperature works with the bones and skin, but keep an eye out to ensure that the skin doesn’t burn. A loose piece of foil over top usually does the trick.
Grill the chicken by heating up the grill on the highest temperature and then turn it down to medium just before putting the chicken on the grill. Cook until the internal temperature is 165 in the fattest part.

BBQ Chicken

Yield: 3 lbs chicken
Time: 60-90 minutes, depending on how long you cook your chicken

3 lbs chicken (any type, but I prefer boneless, skinless thighs or a whole spatchcocked chicken)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp onion powder

Combine the olive oil, apple cider, soy sauce, and yellow mustard. Place chicken in a large container (plastic bag, glass container, mixing bowl, or whatever will hold all of the chicken) and cover with the marinade. Let sit for at least 30 minutes, but up to an hour.

Combine the dry rub ingredients.

Heat the oven to 425-450 (see note above).

Take the chicken out of the marinade, but DO NOT pat dry- we want a little extra liquid. Cover with the spice rub on all sides and massage it into the chicken.

Place on a sheet pan or in a large cooking dish and cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes (a whole chicken or very large chicken parts will take longer to cook, usually about 45-50 minutes). Check for doneness and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 in the thickest part of the chicken.

If any sauce remains in the pan, save it for pouring onto the chicken before serving.

April 13, 2022

Everything potato gratin

April 13, 2022/ Rebecca Davis

This easy side dish is the perfect way to make something that seems fancy (gratin!) while using all the shortcuts (barely any chopping!).

Take me to the recipe!

So, I used Jamie Oliver’s method for a quicker potato gratin. Gratin’s usually need up to an hour in the oven, but by combining cooking methods, you can get a creamy, crunchy, crispy dish in less than 30 minutes. Also, using everything bagel spice means that you don’t have to chop any onions or garlic or really measure much of anything.

Just a quick word of warning: Use oven mitts to secure the tin foil over your skillet or tin on the stove. You want a tight seal so that the potatoes steam a bit before going into the oven. ALSO, use caution when removing the foil as the steam is plentiful and HOT.

A note about SALT: I don’t add any in this recipe because most of the pre-made Everything Bagel spice mixes are pretty salty. Check your labels and then decide if you want to add more salt. I would recommend a sprinkle of sea salt over the top of the finished gratin if you feel like it needs more.

Everything Potato Gratin

1½ lbs russet potatoes (about 2 very large), peeled and sliced thinly
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup water
2½ Tbsp everything bagel spice, divided
5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1½ cups grated cheese (mixture of gruyere, asiago, gouda)

Time: about 30 minutes, mostly active
Yield: 5 side servings

Preheat the oven to 425.

In a large oven-proof skillet or tin, spread the thinly sliced potatoes.

In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, water, and 1 1/2 Tbsp of everything bagel spice. Pour over the potatoes in the skillet. Add the fresh thyme and stir well to combine and to spread out the dried and fresh herbs.

Over a medium-high flame, bring the liquid to a boil. The liquid around the edges of the pan will boil quickly. Look for the first few bubbles in the middle of the pan and turn down the flame to medium-low.

Carefully wrap a piece of tin foil over the top of the skillet or tin. I wear oven mitts to do this because I want a tight seal, but I don’t want to burn myself. Let cook over a medium-low flame for 6 minutes.

Turn off the flame and CAREFULLY remove the foil being sure to wear oven mitts and to remove the foil away from you to avoid the hot steam.

Top evenly with the grated cheese.

Cook, uncovered, in the oven for 15 minutes. Top with the remaining 1/2 Tbsp of everything bagel spice.

Let cool slightly and serve.

November 08, 2021

Pumpkin and persimmon butter

November 08, 2021/ Rebecca Davis

Cooking down some canned pumpkin and a few persimmons with maple syrup and spices will make your house instantly smell like the holidays and spice up even the most basic meals.

Take me to the recipe!

I’m a sucker for persimmons. I can’t help myself when they arrive in the grocery stores. But I never know what to do with them. I love baking with them, but I’m trying to have fewer baked goodies hanging around in preparation for baked-goodies-hanging-around season. And if I’m going to eat them on their own or in a salad, they need to ripen, which, in my frozen kitchen, takes forever and a day.

This is my grand compromise: A cooked down “butter” that’s thick and slightly sweet that pairs with toast, graham crackers, apple slices, pretzels, Dutch babies, regular babies, cornbread, muffins, oatmeal. etc. One could also use this “butter” as a fruity addition to an autumnal cheesecake or mix it with an ice cream or other custard. My favorite way to use it is mixed with mascarpone and a couple of eggs and then baked with a pie shell for a spin on pumpkin pie.

The best part about this concoction is that you don’t need to ripen the persimmons. You heard me. As long as you use fuyu and NOT HACHIYA*, you’re fine with unripened persimmons. Of course, the more you let them ripen, the better they taste, so it does behoove you to wait at least a little while before making this butter.

*Why not Hachiya, you ask? Well, those are the larger, more ovular persimmons and if you don’t wait until they’re almost completely mushy to eat them, the tannins in the fruit make your mouth feel gluey and dry. It’s awful, trust me.

Anyway, whatever you choose to do with it, you’re only 20-30 minutes away from the endless possibilities, so get to it!

Pumpkin persimmon butter

Time: 25 minutes, mostly active
Yield: 2 cups, depending on how much you cook down the mixture

1 can pumpkin puree
4 fuyu persimmons
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar (light is also fine)
¼ cup maple syrup
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
1/8th tsp ground cloves
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 large pinch of kosher salt
½ cup water

Peel the persimmons and cut into quarters.

Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a large pot.

Heat over a medium-low flame until just beginning to bubble. Turn the heat down to low and cook, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until the persimmons totally break down and the mixture has thickened slightly, about 20 minutes.

August 19, 2021

Zucchini with sage and caramelized onions

August 19, 2021/ Rebecca Davis

This simple dish celebrates summer produce and herbs like zucchini and sage. #caramelizedonions #sage #simplerecipes #dinner #lunch #vegetarian

This 5-ingredient dish (I’m not counting water, salt, and pepper) is super simple, but tastes surprisingly complex and can be customized in endless ways to suit your family’s tastes.

Take me to the recipe!

So, I love zucchini. I actually kind of grieved when my glorious early zucchini plant withered and died thanks to a hungry squash vine borer this summer. But, truth be told, zucchini is kind of a zero in the flavor department. One of its best qualities is that it takes on the personality of whatever it’s paired with, right?

Take zoodles, for example. You would think the titular veg would be the star of the show, but those fake noodles are nothing without a great sauce!

Anyway, THIS zucchini dish has caramelized onions and plenty of salt for flavor, sage for herbiness, and goat cheese to give everything a creamy, saucy vibe. The zucchini is really there for body and to provide a base for the other flavors and it totally does the job!

But can we talk about sage for a second? Where our zucchini flopped, our sage flourished and we ended up with the most gigantic and brilliant green leaves. But sage feels so autumnal that I struggle to use it in the summer time. And in all fairness, the combo of caramelized onions, goat cheese, and sage does have an autumn vibe. But when paired with the summery zucchini, you can totally eat this in July without feeling like you’re trying to speed up time.

A couple of notes:

I spiralized the zucchini, but when cooking the zoodles, they produce a lot of water. If you want something a little dryer or just don’t have/don’t want a spiralizer, just chop the zucchini into 1/2 inch cubes. They’ll be less wet, but no less delicious.
We added white fish to this dish the first time we made it and it was my favorite iteration by far. You can absolutely add a can of beans, shredded chicken, or any other protein as well. But anything that requires more than a few minutes of cooking time (the white fish was thin and cooked in about 6 minutes) should be pre-cooked and added along with the zucchini to heat up during the veg’s short cooking time.

Zucchini with caramelized onions and sage

Time: 30 minutes, all active
Yield: 2 large adult servings, 2 kid servings or more if you add protein

2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 -3 cups water
1 tsp salt, divided, or to taste
5-10 x-large sage leaves (about 1½ to 3 Tbsp chopped fresh sage), to taste
2 large zucchini, chopped or spiralized
Pepper, to taste
½ cup soft goat cheese, or to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pan with a tight fitting lid until a drop of water sizzles.

Turn the flame to medium* and add the onions. Stir frequently until some browning begins on the onions or in the pan. Once this happens, add 2-3 Tbsp of water (or, enough to loosen those browned bits from the bottom of the pan), stir and scrape to loosen the browned bits, cover with the lid, and let cook for 2 minutes.**

Repeat this process until the onions are soft and have turned a dark brown color.

*If the onions or the pan are browning too fast, turn down the flame.

**If there is too much water in the pan when you take off the lid after letting the onions cook for 2 minutes, turn up the flame and let the onions cook with the cover off until there’s more browning on the pan that can be deglazed.

Once the onions are browned to your liking (I usually stop after about 20 minutes), add ½ tsp salt and pepper to taste.

Add the sage and stir well.

(If adding protein to the pan, add it now and cook to your preferred doneness.)

Add the zucchini and stir into the onions and sage. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the zucchini is slightly wilted. I like the zucchini to have a bit of crunch, so if you like it cooked a bit more, add a few more minutes here.

Add the rest of the salt and pepper to taste.

Top with the goat cheese and serve.

Me & The Moose

Me & The Moose

Elevated family food

Me & The Moose

Turkey and spinach meatloaf

Turkey and spinach meatloaf

BBQ chicken

BBQ Chicken

Everything potato gratin

Everything Potato Gratin

Pumpkin and persimmon butter

Pumpkin persimmon butter

Zucchini with sage and caramelized onions

Zucchini with caramelized onions and sage

Me & The Moose