The Balanced Kitchen

Time for food. Time for Life.

Grilled Fennel and Red Onion Salad

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Over the past year or so my sons have shown little to no interest in what I choose at the farm share each week. This has been a source of disappointment for me for two reasons: 1) I love walking through the selections with them and talking about their favorites as well as about new fruits and vegetables they (or we) hadn’t tried yet and 2) I felt like somehow this weekly ritual that I consider to be such a privilege and treat just seemed commonplace to them. Then this week I realized that I was seeing it all wrong.

My older son was playing at the nearby playground while I was picking out our food and I called him over in the hopes that he would help me pick out one last vegetable. He came trotting over, I told him what I had already picked out and asked him to pick out one more vegetable. He walked around the table, looking at everything that was there, and then reached for the fennel. As we walked back to the car he asked if he could munch on a stalk of fennel as we drove home, which of course I happily agreed to, and in that moment I realized that the magic of the farm share had actually been working the whole time. You see, not only did he enjoy fennel (which I did not know even existed when I was his age!) to the point that he couldn’t even wait to get home to eat it, but all those years of weekly treks to the farm share had gotten him to a point where he was able to recognize everything on the table and make an informed decision that was truly exciting to him!

So in honor of his appreciation of fennel I wanted to share with you a favorite grilled salad that helped me to learn to enjoy this vegetable that I was not crazy about when I first tried it. For those of you who aren’t familiar with fennel, when it is raw it has quite a strong anise (black licorice) flavor to it, but if you roast or grill it the flavor changes completely and it become subtle and sweet. This salad can be made on the grill outside or on a grill pan on your stove and it is a great summer salad to serve with grilled meats or veggie burgers. It is light, refreshing, and wonderfully crunchy.


Grilled Fennel and Red Onion Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad, Side
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 small red onions
  • 2 small bulbs of fennel
  • 1 tablespoon crumbled feta, or more to taste
  • 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves, or more to taste
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • half a lemon
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat your grill or grill pan and set it to a medium heat.
  2. While the grill is heating, cut the onion into ½-inch thick slices. Then cut the stalks off of the fennel bulb so you are left just with the bulb. Cut it in half lengthwise and then, like the onion, again into ½-inch thick slices.
  3. Brush the onion and fennel slices with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, on both sides.
  4. Lay the slices on the grill let them cook for 3-5 minutes on each side, or until they are just starting to soften.
  5. Place them on a platter and top with thyme, crumbled feta, a drizzle of olive oil, and a good squeeze from the lemon. Add more salt and pepper, if desired.

 

Mediterranean Spinach Dip

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“I received free samples of Sabra Hummus mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Sabra and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”

Sometimes the best things are simple. Super simple. That was a lesson I was reminded of as I worked to develop a recipe for this Sabra hummus recipe contest organized by The Recipe Redux. You see, I kept trying to come up with some innovative, creative, blow-your-mind-surprising use of hummus. Hummus croquettes and sweet potato toast towers were two of the almost-blogworthy recipes I worked on. Both of them were good, both of them were kind of fun, but as I sat down to write about them I just couldn’t get inspired. And then yesterday it kind of hit me: I was just trying too hard. I was making things more complicated than they really needed to be. So I pushed those two recipes aside, perhaps I’ll come back to them at another time, and decided to keep things simple.

Honestly, when I stop to think about it, making things too complicated has been kind of a theme in my life recently, as well as the hope that I can instead simplify (please tell me I’m not alone in this struggle). This recipe was a wonderful reminder for me that simple is often better. That sometimes we have to let go of our over-inflated expectations for a more balanced reality that will actually make us happier, as is the case with this rockstar, super simple dip.

So in honor of National Hummus Day on May 13th, I give you my Mediterranean Spinach Dip. A super simple, vegetarian, plant-based protein powerhouse of a snack that takes all of 5 minutes to make. Everyone in my family went nuts for this one and an added bonus is that it is another opportunity to get vegetables into everyone’s diet without cajoling or reminding. It works really well with crackers or chips, but also with crudité. My husband also recommends using it as a spread in a sandwich. Haven’t tried this yet myself, but it sounds amazing! Enjoy!


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Mediterranean Spinach Dip
 
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Recipe type: Appetizer, Snack
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 3 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained
  • 1 cup Sabra Classic Hummus
  • ½ cup crumbled feta
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Serve with vegetables, tortillas chips, or pita chips.

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Honey Greens: A Taste of Spring!

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Early spring is by far my favorite time of year. I love it when the colors start to creep back in—the grass becomes more vibrant, the evergreen leafs get brighter, and the buds on the trees start to come to life. And then there is always that one day when it all suddenly POPS! As I was driving my kids to school yesterday I suddenly noticed how GREEN everything was looking and I realize that it was that POP day!

That green showing up everywhere always gets me thinking about and craving green vegetables. Sadly, though, salad greens are kind of tough and lame at this time of year, but the sautéing greens, such as kale, mustard, and chard, are all great, so I figured now is the perfect time to share my tried and true honey greens recipe with you!

Honey Greens

This is a spin off on a recipe my brother introduced me to years and years ago that used brown sugar instead of honey. Before having his version I had never really enjoyed chard or mustard greens, but once he put these sweet and sour greens down on my plate I was hooked! This is a recipe I often share with clients who are skeptical of greens and is also a side vegetable that I can (usually) count on my boys to enjoy with gusto. If you have lots of mouths to feed and will be doubling or tripling the recipe, I am a big fan of a mix of chard and mustard greens, but you really can’t go wrong with any of them!


Honey Greens
 
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Recipe type: Vegetable, Side
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • Dash of cayenne (optional)
  • ½ cup onion, chopped
  • 1 bunch of kale, mustard, or chard greens. Stemmed, rinsed, and torn into bite-sized pieces.
  • 1 tablespoon rice or apple cider vinegar
  • ½ tablespoon honey (or more, to taste)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil on medium-high head in a large frying pan and add a dash of cayenne (if using).
  2. When the oil is hot and shimmering, but not smoking, add the onion and cook until it is translucent.
  3. Turn the heat down to medium and add greens, stirring constantly. When the greens have turned bright “army” green, turn off the heat.
  4. Add the vinegar and some salt and pepper. Stir to mix and then drizzle the honey over and give it one last stir. Serve immediately.

 

Holiday Self-Care: 6 Cooking and Self-Care Hacks in Times of Overwhelm

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I don’t know about you guys but my to do list is killing me these days! It just doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter no matter how many things I cross off. Sometimes I think that there is a little gremlin who sneaks out in the middle of the night to add tasks to the list(s). Stupid gremlin. I keep telling myself to just keep plugging away and it will all get done, somehow, and I know that is true, but there are definitely moments when it just feels like too much.

In the past few months I have read in a number of different places the analogy that self-care is like putting your own oxygen mask on first when a plane is going down—you can’t help anyone else until you are taken care of. As someone who is a chronic “helper” this can be very hard for me to do, but as much as I resist it, I have found that not only do I do better if I practice some self-care in times of stress, but everyone else in my family does too because I am more patient, kind, and efficient. At the same time, though, in these times of craziness I just don’t have time to go get a massage, sleep late, go to a yoga class, or take half a day off for some “me” time. So instead I have been working on finding ways to simplify and create the space for mini-breaks and I wanted to share them with you to help you get through the seasonal insanity, or to store away for a time when you need a boost….

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Feta Jalapeño Corn Muffins

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Let’s talk breakfast for a minute. When I was a kid I hated breakfast. I mean, I really hated breakfast, but I also needed a good one because, as I have written about before, when I didn’t get protein in the morning I turned into a little monster and got into trouble at school. So for years my poor mother struggled to find foods that I would be willing to eat in the mornings that had protein. Fast forward to current times and I couldn’t imagine starting the day off without a protein-rich breakfast. It is my foundation for the day and I have found that if I start off on the right nutritional foot the rest of the day’s food choices fall happily into place, but if I don’t get what my body really needs then I often make more sugar-laden or impulsive choices later.

For years my solution to this was, and often still is, homemade granola with a lot of fruit and some plain yogurt. The combination of the fiber and protein has worked really well for me and I really enjoy it. But recently I have noticed that sweet breakfasts are a little less appealing, so I have been trying to build up my savory breakfast options. So far my go-tos have been a rice cake with brie, tomato, and cucumber and frittatas packed with vegetables, but I wanted to have another option that I could rotate in and so the Feta Jalapeño Corn Muffins were born….

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Bare Minimum Cooking: 3 Tricks for Easy Meals During Busy Times

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Over the past few days I have been having a lot of conversations with people about how overwhelmed they are feeling. I have come to think that for many of us September is a month of unexpected overwhelm. Here’s my best guess as to why September can be so brutal: for many of us September is a time of transition—a new school year, work commitments start up after summertime lulls, and other communities we are involved with start to kick into high gear with fall activities—and then there are all those pesky things that need to be taken care off that we put off over the summer, or maybe that is just me. So suddenly we find ourselves trying to get into new routines, take care of long lists of things that really should have been done months ago, and snap out of the slower pace of summer. It can be rough and oftentimes something has got to give… and for a lot of people that something is cooking.

But what if you don’t want cooking to be the thing that drops? What if you are working to get into a good routine with cooking so that you can eat healthier, save money, expose your kids to foods other than grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese, etc? Then it is time to do the bare minimum.

Many of you know that one of my main goals is to help people to realize how accessible and simple cooking can truly be. I firmly believe that even in the busiest of times, cooking is possible and worthwhile. So how to you keep cooking as a regular part of your routine when things are so crazy?…

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5 Summer Dinners for when it is Too Hot to Cook

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As I was driving today I looked down and saw the thermometer telling me that the temperature outside was 100 degrees. Brutal.

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When it is as hot as this it can be incredibly hard to motivate to cook. Afterall, who wants to stand in front of a hot stove, turn on the oven, or even be out near a grill on a day/evening like this?! So I wanted to share five of my favorite easy-to-make meals that require little-to-no cooking.

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  1. Chef’s Salad. The thing that I love most about this meal is that it can be made up of pretty much whatever you have in the house. Start with a base of greens (lettuce, baby spinach, arugula, etc.), add chopped vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, avocados, etc.), add some protein(s) (cheese pieces, deli meat cut up, leftover meat cut up, tofu cubes, hard-boiled eggs, chickpeas, beans, etc.), toss in any leftover cooked vegetables you have on hand, and top with your favorite dressing. Serve with some crusty bread, or even toast, and you are done!
  2. Gazpacho. A classic summer soup full of great vegetables. This is a fantastic version developed by my friend Aviva.
  3. Sandwiches. Use some fancy bread to make it feel more special, if you want. Stack on the vegetables—cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and avocados are all great additions. If you’ve got it, some pesto can be a nice change of pace. No matter what, though, there is no shame in sandwiches for dinner!
  4. Brazilian-style fried rice. Cooking is done in 5 minutes and you can use whatever you have knocking around in your fridge. Perfect.
  5. Leftovers. If you need to supplement, add a salad and dinner is done. Couldn’t be easier!

We’ll be having leftovers for dinner tonight. What about you? Any favorite summertime dinners that help to keep things cool?

Smoked Salmon Frittata

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Each year for Christmas my aunt sends my parents an Irish smoked salmon. If you have never had Irish smoked salmon, you are really missing out. It is a completely different experience from the smoked salmon we eat on bagels.And this year my boys completely fell in love with it. So when we got home from our trip to Colorado the biggest request my boys had from the grocery store was smoked salmon. While I couldn’t give them the Irish kind, I was happy to pick up some of the kind we all know and love.

When I first started shopping and cooking for myself I never bought smoked salmon because I was never able to get through it all in time and it felt like a waste. I would have it on bagels with cream cheese and enjoy it immensely but then I always had more left that I didn’t know what to do with. Years later, as my confidence in the kitchen started to grow, I began playing around with it in different ways and discovered that I loved using it in cooking. It was easy to use and just a little bit added so much flavor (sort of like bacon).

One of my favorite ways to cook with smoked salmon is in a frittata. I love the saltiness and the kick that it adds, plus it pairs nicely with many of my other favorite frittata mix-ins. But the other reason I love smoked salmon frittatas, or any frittata for that matter, is that, along with some crusty bread and a salad, it is a quick, easy, and healthy dinner to get on the table in less than 30 minutes….

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Recipes That Help Me Survive the Busy Weeks

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My sons and I got back from being away for almost a month this past weekend and jumped right back into busy life (plus the boys don’t start school until next week, so I’ve had them around a bunch). Which has meant that this week has been one of those weeks where your main priority is to just keep your head above water. As I have struggled to figure out what’s for dinner based our CSA for the week and the on the quick (read: not planned well) shop I did on Sunday, I have been deeply grateful for two things: my super-quick staple recipes and foods in my freezer.

So in honor of those foods, I wanted to share some of the recipes that have saved me this week….

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10-Minute Flounder Bake & The 10-Day Cooking Challenge

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Up until very recently one of the things that made me the most nervous in the kitchen was fish. I was terrified of messing it up. It felt so fragile and finicky. I was terrified that I would undercook it and I was terrified that I would overcook it. And, if I am being completely honest, there are certain fish that still scare me a little. But as I have experimented and tried different things out I have learned a couple of things:

  • Simple seasoning works well! Complicated marinades can be great but are not necessary. If you’ve got salt, pepper, and some lemon. You’re good to go.
  • The broiler or a hot oven is your friend. Quick, high heat cooking works really well for fish because it doesn’t dry it out.

The recipe I am sharing with you today is a great example of both of those rules. Just a little seasoning and a super quick, hot heat and dinner is ready! This recipe is so easy and so quick that it is perfect for those evenings when you get home late and aren’t sure what to do for dinner. Other than having the ingredients on hand, it requires no pre-planning, since you can cook the fish from frozen, yes frozen! And anyone can make it! Really!…

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