Purple carrot and coconut applesauce

Toddlerhood is a time of highs and lows, for the toddler and for his parents. This week, for example, M, started saying "Go away, Mama;" screaming at the very top of his lungs when he wanted something; and spun in a circle so much that he barfed. But he also said, "I miss you, Mama;" spelled his name (he's a genius! or at least, a genius mimic); and was completely focused and determined while trying to use chopsticks, all of which made my heart grow about ten sizes.

In our bad moments, I'm desperately trying to remember that M's acting out is normal limit testing and that it'll pass, but it is SO HARD. Living with a toddler is like having an irrational, demanding, perfectionist, narcissist for a boss, but who's sometimes so cute and wonderful and effusively loving that you can forgive his disturbing lack of empathy.

All that to say, my kid is normal. And like all normal toddlers, really really loves applesauce. To bulk this one up, I added carrots. I also tossed in some coconut milk to add a little fat for those days when applesauce is a meal. Also, though we're far from apple season, our farmer's market always has barrels of over-wintered apples that are cheap, local, and perfect for applesauce.  

A few notes: I didn't bother to peel my apples because a lot of the fiber is in the skin, but mostly, I'm lazy. However, if your little likes things very smooth or is just starting out with purees, go ahead and peel them. I also roasted these because I like the flavor and a chunkier end product, but if you're looking for a smooth puree, I would boil or steam them. 

Purple carrot and coconut applesauce

2 lbs apples (about 3 very large apples)
8 oz purple carrots (about 2 large or 4 small carrots)
¼- ¾ cup coconut milk

Preheat oven to 400. Peel and chop carrots and apples (don't bother peeling the apples; see note above). Place on a sheet pan and roast for 20 minutes or until carrots are fork tender.

Puree the apples, carrots, and coconut milk. Start with ¼ cup and add more coconut milk until you’ve reached your desired consistency. Store in the refrigerator, but heat for 15-20 seconds before serving to loosen up the coconut milk. Stir and test for hotspot

Yield: 26 oz or about 3-3 ½ cups.

Escarole and white beans

Beans and greens get an upgrade with loads of garlic, caramelized onions, lemon, zest, and a glob of butter melted in at the end. They’re luxurious and comforting and can be eaten for any meal.

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So, my get-the-kid-into-the-kitchen mission backfired this week. We had some yogurt to use up and a friend who is a million weeks pregnant, so I decided to make her Smitten's lemon yogurt cake.  M helped with the measuring and mixing and stirring and we had a lovely time until lunch rolled around and he only wanted to eat cake. Cue the NUCLEAR MELTDOWN. So many tears. Teaching him patience is trying my patience.

But! In my never ending quest to get M to eat green things, I decided to take a stroll down Escarole Lane. And it was successful! (Before the cake crying episode, though. If I had offered this instead of cake, his head might have exploded.)

I think the LOAD of garlic, onions, and lemon (and a dash of crushed red pepper if your kiddo can tolerate a little spice), made a big difference. I usually see greens and beans with either pasta or in a soup (either of which you could easily do with this recipe) but I went for a more straight forward presentation and was surprised at the results. Fry an egg on top and call it lunch or eat it as a side dish with your protein of choice for dinner.

White beans and escarole

Time: About 40 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 cups or 2-4 side servings

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
2 large pinches of salt, divided
3-4 LARGE cloves garlic (if your cloves are small or medium, use 6-8)
2 heads escarole, washed and chopped
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Pinch of crushed red pepper, optional
1/2 Tbsp butter
Several cracks of fresh black pepper, to taste
Zest of 1/4 of a lemon
Parmesan cheese, optional

Heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the onions and cook until deeply browned, about 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat if the onions seem to be burning rather than browning. Stir in one large pinch of salt.

Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add the escarole and stock and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.

Add the white beans, lemon juice, crushed red pepper (if using), and butter and continue cooking until all the liquid has evaporated and the beans are heated through.

Stir in the second large pinch of salt and several cracks of black pepper and taste for seasoning. Adjust according to your preference.

Top with lemon zest and parmesan cheese.

Green matzo ball chicken soup

Guys. It's almost Passover, which means, it's matzo ball season. I could eat matzo ball soup daily, but I always want it to feel like a MEAL and it often…doesn’t. There's usually just some broth and the balls. Occasionally you get a carrot or some celery, but there's not much to it. The consequence is that I take 100 years to order in a deli or a diner. I always want the soup, but what else do you get if you don’t want a bad diner salad, but want something with protein and veggies, but that isn't a full meal because you already have soup? CONUNDRUM. I think it might be the thing my husband hates most about me.

Anyway, I think the key to making a great matzo ball is in the timing: Once the matzo meal, fat, seltzer, eggs, salt, and pepper have been mixed together, this gloop needs to REST. I’ve rested the mixture for anywhere from 1-5 hours and I think the longer the better (without going crazy and leaving it, like, overnight).

I also suggest really beating the eggs well with a whisk or a fork. Make your wrist tired. You want the whites and yolks to be very well integrated to help keep the balls together.

Also, the seltzer is ABSOLUTELY necessary.

And a note about salt: I like my matzo balls salty, so if 3 tsp is too much for you, dial it back a bit.

So! This recipe is a long one and definitely best for a weekend or occasion. But there are many places where one could take shortcuts (use pre-made stock, rotisserie chicken, and pre-chopped kale and this is a much quicker process.) On the upside, this soup can actually pass for lunch or dinner, so if you put the time in, you get a rounded meal that's appealing to young (M) and old (me.) M has finally accepted eating leaves of green and not just in puree form, so he's into this soup.

I pureed my first batch to see how it went and it was delicious, but stringy and needed straining. The stringiness of the chives and kale stalks even made ME whip out the strainer and I avoid extra dishes like the plague.

Green matzo ball soup

For the stock:
6-7 lbs chicken (some combo of bone-in, skin-on chicken parts)
2 celery ribs, roughly chopped
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
5-6 garlic cloves, smashed
1 bay leaf
Whatever herbs you have/like (I usually toss in a handful of fresh sage and a tsp of dried thyme)
1 Tbsp kosher salt
Lots of pepper
12 cups water (or more; make sure the chicken and veggies are fully submerged in water and replenish if too much evaporates while simmering)

Add all of the ingredients to a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 3 hours.

When stock is done, strain and collect all liquid. You should have anywhere from 9-12 cups (give or take depending on your cooking method and how much water evaporates).

Save the chicken meat, but discard the rest of the aromatics, veggies, and any skin or bones that were floating in the stock.

In separate containers, store the broth and the chicken in the fridge, covered, for at least 6 hours, or until the fat rises to the top and congeals. I usually leave it overnight. When cooled, skim the fat from the top and store in a separate container to use in the matzo balls.

For the matzo balls:
3 large eggs, well-beaten
3 Tbsp schmaltz or olive oil (I use the rendered fat from the chicken stock and top it off with olive oil if necessary)
3 Tbsp seltzer
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup matzo meal

Whisk the eggs very well. Combine all wet ingredients, plus salt and pepper, in a bowl and mix well. Add the matzo meal and stir well. If it feels lumpy or hard to stir, use your hands.

Cover and chill for at least 1 hour, but ideally 2-3.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

When chilled, form the dough into 12-16 golfball-sized balls using wet hands and drop each into the boiling water as soon as it’s formed. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 40 minutes.

For the soup:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 small shallots, minced
1 stalk celery. minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chives, chopped
3 cups kale, chopped and well packed
Salt and pepper
8-9 cups chicken stock (if not making your own chicken stock, try to find homemade from somewhere else- don’t use the stuff in a box from the store for this)
1 Tbsp
Shredded chicken (about 3 cups or whatever comes off of your cooked chicken from the stock)

Heat the oil in a large stock pot. Add the roughly chopped shallot and celery. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, kale, and chives and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes more.

Add the stock and water and bring to a boil. Turn the flame to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes more to reheat. Test for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.

Pour soup over the matzo balls and serve.

Yield:

Strawberry and cherry granola bars

Say hello to the Frankenbar: Part granola bar, part oatmeal cookie, and part Rice Krispie treat.

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These beauties are free of gluten, nuts, and can be dairy-free if you swap out the chocolate-covered sunflower seeds with a vegan chocolate. The brown rice syrup takes a little getting used to—for me, it has a slightly funky flavor on its own. But the syrup is far stickier than honey or maple syrup, so it's a better binder, and you don't taste it in final product.

These bars are also completely adaptable based on preferences and allergy concerns. Can't find dried strawberries or cherries? Use other dried fruits. Don't have any nut allergies? Use almonds or peanuts and their respective nut butters instead of the sunflower seeds and seed butter. Can't find chocolate covered sunflower seeds? Swap in the aforementioned vegan chocolate to make the bars dairy-free or use chocolate chunks or M&Ms.

This recipe is also a great way to use up sunflower seed butter if you have some left over. Again, one of those ingredients that can taste kind of funky on its own (unless you make this homemade version which is GREAT), but adds a nice nuttyness when combined with all of the other ingredients.

Strawberry and cherry granola bars

Time: 45 minutes, mostly active
Yield: about 18 large bars

1 1/2 cup quick rolled oats
1 1/2 cup puffed rice cereal (brown or white is fine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup chocolate covered sunflower seeds
2/3 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped
2/3 cup dried strawberries, roughly chopped
1/3 cup freeze-dried cherries
1/3 cup freeze-dried strawberries
6 Tbsp melted coconut oil
1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp sunflower seed butter (1/3 cup works, but the bars are slightly crumbly)
1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp brown rice syrup

Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment and lightly grease. Set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, melt the coconut oil. Whisk in the sunflower seed butter and the brown rice syrup. If not coming together, microwave the wet ingredients for 10 seconds at a time and try whisking as the ingredients warm.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones. Using a spatula or your hands (I always use my hands), stir well to combine.

Dump the mixture into the parchment-lined baking pan and pack down.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or just until the edges begin to brown.

Let cool completely before serving. The bars stay crunchy for one week in a sealed bag at room temperature, but go ahead and freeze some or all if you won't eat within a week.

Green curry fish stew

Soup and stew are famously my favorite things. Well, this one is a Thai-inspired curry soup/stew that is both rich and light, familiar and new.

Get the recipe here!

For me, one of the things I like about having a child is that his needs are so immediate that caring for him forces me to be in the moment much more than I ever was pre-parenthood. That required compartmentalizing has gotten me through the past few days. I feel this way about cooking too. It's an activity that forces me to pay attention and helps me to block out the worry that can sometimes drag me into its vortex.

So, Green Curry Fish Stew! It's a very delicious vehicle for vegetables and while not technically "hiding" them, the vegetables become part of a whole and don't taste like themselves necessarily. When M was a baby, one of his favorite purees from Baby Foode was chicken, carrots, mango, and Thai red curry paste, so he's always liked these flavors.

My version of a Thai-inspired curry is not at all traditional and is also technically more of a soup than a stew because there's a lot of sauce. But to me, that's the best part, so I'm not complaining.

And don't be scared of kohlrabi. If you can't find it, cabbage or broccoli stalks are the closest substitutes and also the closest in taste. You can eat kohlrabi raw, sauteed, boiled, or roasted and it's available in most grocery stores and farmer's markets. Here is a great description of what kohlrabi is and some suggestions about what to do with it.

Green curry fish stew

½ large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cup fish stock (or chicken/vegetable stock)
1 can full-fat coconut milk
5-7 Tbsp Thai green curry paste (or just go ahead and use the entire little bottle)
1 pint mushrooms, chopped
1 bunch baby broccoli (if using regular broccoli, use 6 oz or about 2 cups)
1 medium kohlrabi bulb, chopped (or just use the broccoli stalks if you can’t find kohlrabi)
2 cups raw baby spinach (1 cup frozen)
1 lb white fish (thawed or frozen)
2 Tbsp fish sauce
Cilantro for garnish

Heat oil over a medium flame and add onion and garlic, cooking until the onions are opaque, about 3 minutes.

Add the chopped mushrooms and cook until they start to wilt a bit, about 5 more minutes.

Add the baby broccoli and cook for one minute.

Add the coconut milk and the fish stock and bring to a boil.

Add the spinach, kohlrabi, and fish and bring back to a boil (this only takes a minute). Push the fish down to make sure it's covered by the cooking liquid.

When the pot is back to a boil, reduce heat all the way to low, cover, and let simmer until the fish is flaky, about 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish and if you start with frozen or thawed filets.

Once the fish is cooked, stir in the fish sauce and sprinkle with cilantro.

Makes 7-8 cups, which was about 4 adult servings and 2 toddler servings