Whining and Dining

Toddler Test Kitchen: Edamame Pesto

Pesto can really make pasta sing. Pestos can be made of all sorts of ingredients -- one of them being edamame. It's another great way to get some veggies into your little one and weave a little soy into their diet. My parents love to serve this as an appetizer on toasted slices of baguette with a light, crisp white wine like Viognier, Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc.

Most importantly, our daughter loves this stuff as an appetizer or on her pasta.

Servings: 4

Note: Edamame, green soybeans, are available fresh and frozen in well-stocked markets like Trader Joe's.

1/2 pound pasta

1 cup cooked, shelled edamame

1/4cup pine nuts

3/4 cup  extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced ultra-fresh garlic

Sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper

*Sometimes I add about a 1/4 cup of fresh paramesan to this, also.

**If desired, add 1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped for a different spin. 

***To be really fancy, my dad adds a dribble of truffle oil to give it a more refined taste.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

2. While the pasta cooks, combine the edamame, nuts and olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Stir in the garlic and season with salt and pepper.

3. When the pasta is cooked, drain it well and return it to the pot. Add the pesto and toss until coated. Season with salt and pepper liberally to taste. *You can top with fresh chopped mint.

Toddler Test Kitchen: Meatless Corn Dogs from Trader Joe's

Nitrates. Ugh. Just another chemical we have to worry about when feeding our kids. Especially when it comes to hot dogs, which seems to be high on every kids' list of favorite foods.

Recently, I discovered the Meatless Corn Dogs from Trader Joe's. We LOVE them! And what fun to introduce my daughter to a "corny dog" (as I called when I was kid back in TX, the home of Fletcher's Corny Dogs). She loves to hold the stick and dip it into ketchup. And honest to gosh, they taste like the real thing. You would NEVER know that there's no meat.

Find them in the freezer section of your local TJ's. Enjoy them this summer! Such fun. No nitrates. No worries. YAY!

Healthy Taco Salad

Oh how I love taco salad. It's been a love affair ever since I was a kid, growing up in Texas. But let's face it....taco salad can be one of the least healthy amongst all of the salads. By taking a good 'ol fashioned chili recipe from Austin, TX, tweaking it a bit, you can have a really delicious, vibrant and healthy taco salad. (So vibrant that my daughter said, "Oh boy, look at that!")

To accompany my daughter's portion, we served her the Baked Tostitos Scoops, which we called the "boats" for the taco salad. You could let your child scoop on their own or pre-fill each scoop with taco meat and toppings.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

¾ pound ground turkey

4 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 can of black beans or dark kidney beans, drained

2 Tbsp. ground cumin

½ to 11/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. oregano

¼ tsp. liquid smoke

1 Tbsp. salt

½ to 1 cup water

Fixin’s for the salad:

chopped tomatoes

shredded cheese

shredded lettuce or spinach

chopped cilantro

chopped green onion

Directions:

-Brown onion, bell pepper, garlic and meat.

-Add tomato paste, beans, cumin, cayenne, oregano, liquid smoke, salt and water.

-Place a serving of meat on a plate or in a bowl and add toppings and serve.

Meals on the Go: Japanese Balls

Tonight's featured recipe idea inspired me to create a new category, "Meals on the Go." Especially since many of us parents are constantly racking our brains for portable meals.

I thought this was such a great idea to feed an older baby or toddler on-the-go. It's from one of my new favorite blogs, Weeliscious.

Can't wait to make these, wrap'em up and take'em to the beach or zoo or picnic. After all, summer is almost here!

Toddler Test Kitchen: Spicy Baked Macaroni

Leave it to Giada to serve up a new Italian favorite for our family, Spicy Baked Macaroni. Think mac 'n cheese Italian style. It's full of spinach and tomatoes and cheesy goodness. And it's very easy to make.

The toddler of the house LOVED it. She was shoving it into her mouth with both hands at one point. Despite the title, it's really not that spicy. You can omit the red pepper flakes if you so choose. She actually seemed to like this more than my signature mac 'n cheese dish. Oh well.

Here's the recipe that took me forever to find since my parents said the recipe came from Rachael Ray. So finally, I give you Spicy Baked Macaroni.

INGREDIENTS

Salt
1 pound elbow macaroni pasta
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained of excess liquid
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup
1/4 cup Romano, plus 1/3 cup
2 tablespoons butter, softened, plus 2 tablespoons
12 ounces mozzarella cubed (about 2 cups)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and garlic. Cook until the  onion is golden, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, spinach, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.

4.In a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup Romano. Spread the softened butter in a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish and sprinkle half of the bread crumb mixture inside the dish to coat.

5.In a large bowl combine the vegetable mixture with the cooked macaroni, cubed mozzarella, the remaining Parmesan and Romano cheeses, and the nutmeg. Spoon into the prepared baking dish, top with the remaining bread crumb mixture, and dot the top with the remaining butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Try This: Halibut from Costco

Just for the halibut (he he), why not buy your fish from Costco?? This week, we threw some Costco halibut on the grill and it was outstanding. Now, I wish I could say that our daughter enjoyed it as much as we did, but then I would be lying to you. (I vow to offer it again to her).

My hubby turned to chef Suzanne Goin from Lucques & AOC for her expertise. Here's what he did (excerpt taken from "Sunday Suppers at Lucques."
1. Season halibut with zest of lemon, 1 Tbsp. of fresh thyme and 2 Tbsp. of fresh parsley.
2. Cover and refrigerated it for at least 4 hours.
3. Take fish out to reach room temperature.
4. Get your fire or grill pan going.
5. Brush halibut with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
6. Place fish on the grill and cook 2 minutes. Give a quarter turn and cook for a minute or two longer. Turn over and cook for 2 - 4 more minutes (depending on thickness). Peek inside to see if it is done. When halibut is cooked through, it begins to flake and separate.

We served this with mashed potatoes and a green salad.

We've also eaten salmon from Costco and loved it, too. So if you're on a budget and still want to eat like a king, go check out your fish selection at your local Costco.

Recipes for St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patty's!! To really get your Irish on, I've listed a number of links to top-rated St. Patty's dishes from around the web. Enjoy!

Original Irish Cream - Irish whiskey mixed with cream and sugar with hints of coffee, chocolate, vanilla and almond

Colcannon - A traditional Irish potato dish.

St. Patrick's Day Cookie Pops - Fun and easy recipe to do with kids.

Shepherd's Pie - Traditional English dish, which is a tasty option for celebrating St. Patty's.

White Soda Bread - Try a little Irish soda bread for the celebration with hard Irish cheddar and Irish butter.

Now raise a Guinness and say "God bless all here!!"

Toddler Test Kitchen: Corn Quesadillas

Annabel Karmel is one of the ultimate authorities on how to feed your baby or toddler. Her book for feeding babies, First Meals, was our Bible for introducing solids to our daughter. And she's got loads of ideas for toddler, too, especially the fussy eater types.

Here is a sampling from Annabel Karmel's the toddler cookbook. It's on my list of recipes to try this week.

Ingredients
1 small red onion
1/2 red or orange pepper
7 oz (198 g) canned corn
1 cup (100 g) cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
4-5 flour or corn tortillas
1/4 cup salsa

1. Prepare ingredients
      

Chop up the red onion and the pepper, drain the canned corn. Have an
       adult grate the cheddar cheese.

2. Stir, stir, stir

Heat oil in a pan and stir-fry onion and pepper for 3 minutes. Add corn and cook for 2 minutes until onion and pepper are soft. Add honey - after 1 minute remove from heat.

3. Spread the mixture

        Spread half of each tortilla with a heaped Tbsp of salsa. Then add some of the corn                         mixture.

4. Sprinkle with cheese

        Scatter a little cheese over the salsa a corn mixture. Make sure you don't use too
       much since you will need some cheese to put on top of each tortilla.

5. Roll and cook

        Roll the tortillas up and put on a cookie sheet. Scatter over the rest of the cheese.
       Broil the quesadillas for 1-2 minutes until the filling is hot and the cheese topping
       is lightly golden.

Kid-Friendly Seafood

Fish these days....you never know which kind are the bad ones and which ones are good. Sheesh! As if we didn't have enough to remember. And of course, we continue to hear the experts clamoring for us to serve fish to our families a few times per week. So, how are we, as parents, supposed to remember good from bad in the sea?

You can imagine my excitement when I stumbled across the site, Kid-Safe Seafood. The folks at Kid-Safe Seafood, a collaboration between chef, pediatricians and seafood experts, provide you with a list of the safest fish to eat when, fascinating facts and recipes.

Now you can feel better and avoid making any "fishy" decisions. Ha!

Easy Coq Au Vin

It was another cold day in Los Angeles. And it was a very, very busy day for our family. We needed an easy dinner, a one pot meal that warmed to the core. What we needed was a little Coq Au Vin, French for chicken cooked in red wine. Oui Oui, Monsier!

My husband who is the expert on all things braising was the mastermind behind the dish with inspiration from Julia Child and The Silver Spoon cookbook.

Serves 4

2 Tbsp. Olive oil

1/2 large onion

1 garlic clove

3 1/2 oz. mushrooms (optional - we didn't add tonight)

1 fresh sprig of thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme

1 Tbsp. flour

1 chicken, cut into pieces (we used chicken thighs from Costo)

2 1/4 cups of red wine (Thank you Charles Shaw)

1 1/2 Tbsp. of tomato paste

salt to taste

1. Saute onions, garlic, mushrooms and thyme and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with flour. (**Technically, you are supposed to saute 1/2 cup of pancetta here, too, but we are trying to be a little healthier. The taste is even better when you add the pancetta.) Add tomato paste.

2. Add the chicken. Cover and cook 10 minutes.

3. Pour the wine in and season with salt. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes until tender and cooked through.

This can be served with rice or pasta. We threw in diced potatoes while cooking our chicken a la pot roast style.

We also served this dish with roasted butternut squash (cut into strips, tossed with olive oil and kosher salt; roasted at 450 until golden brown on edges). We also sauteed brussels sprouts (ends cut off, outside layer peeled and cut in half) in some olive oil until edges started to brown. Then, I added a few Tbsp. of chicken broth and continued to saute them until golden brown.

This meal got me thinking....if only we were in France, if only this Charles Shaw Shiraz was a fine Burgundy. If only. Oh well, we can't always have it all, but this meal makes me feel just one step closer.