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The Balanced Kitchen

Time for food. Time for Life.

Roasted Summer Vegetable Dip

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We came home this week from our extended trip to Colorado to an overwhelming amount of produce to take care of. So in addition to getting the kids back into the swing of things at school and getting back into my normal rhythms, I have been trying to preserve lots of summer fruits and vegetables. To use up tomatoes, peppers, and other summer vegetables I usually go with a huge vat of skillet tomato sauce and then freeze the extra for the winter, but this year I wanted to try some else as well: roasted summer vegetable dip.

When I was a teenager one of my favorite meals was ratatouille. My mom would make it every summer and I would be in heaven for days (it gets better over time as the flavors continue to mix with each other). One summer we had some friends coming over for dinner and wanted to come up with a quick appetizer. We ended up pureeing leftover ratatouille, spreading it on thin slices of French bread, and toasting it with some fresh mozzarella on top. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

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This recipe is a simplified version of that same deliciousness, because honestly when you are overwhelmed by the amount of produce threatening to go bad on your counter, or by general life craziness, who has time to stand over the stove keeping an eye on the ratatouille? With this recipe you jut roughly chop, throw it in the oven, and puree when everything is cooked. Pretty easy!…

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Vegetable Chips

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the ebbs and flows of appetite that come with the seasons. For me, during the summer I tend to not be as hungry as I am in the winter. I also tend to crave more fruits, salads, and finger foods. I have also noticed that my boys tend to give me a harder time on vegetables in the summer than they do in the other months—they seem to be constantly seeking out sweet fruits and salty snacks. My theory on that is that they are craving high water content fruits and the salt to stay hydrated.

But they still need to eat vegetables! And since I don’t want it to become a huge battle, I have been working to present vegetables in ways that they are likely to find more appealing—vegetable soups, smoothies, and vegetable chips are some of our go-tos.

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Baked Chimichangas

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I don’t know about you, but getting meals on the table during the summer can be a bit of a challenge. I always think that the summer is going to be slower and more relaxed, and in some ways it is, but then suddenly, because of that relaxation and lack of routine, it is 6pm, I’ve got starving kids, and I haven’t even started thinking about dinner yet! Panic!

That is where quick and easy dinners save the day and I have been depending a lot on quick pastas, egg dishes, and rice bowls of various sorts. These are all great, but we all need something new from time to time… or at least I do.

Enter the baked chimichanga. Now, I know that this is not even close to a traditional chimichanga, especially since they aren’t deep fried, but to be totally honest, calling them chimichangas was quite a selling point with my kids. They thought it was fun to say and if it is fun to say, then maybe it is fun to eat, and then suddenly I have two boys who are in love with a new dish to the point where one declares that he loves chimichangas more than hot dogs (true story!). So maybe I could call them baked-delicious-pockets-of-goodness, but it just doesn’t quite roll off the tongue in the same way….


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Savory Zucchini Corn Muffins

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Zucchini and all summer squash are at their peak right now. They are everywhere. The farmer’s markets and farm share baskets are full of them and they are on super sale in the grocery stores. Given their abundance I have been on the search for new and different ways to cook with them. I’ve sautéed, roasted, and grilled them. I’ve added them to sauces, casseroles, and sweet breakfast muffins. But this week I decided to try something different: a savory muffin. And boy am I glad I did!

These muffins are simple, flexible, and delicious. They are wonderful as a side dish with a cold summer soup, like gazpacho (here is a great, super simple recipe), or with a big salad. They’d be wonderful with a light chili made in the crock pot, so your house doesn’t get too hot. And they’d make a great addition to a barbeque or picnic….

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Grilled Vegetables: A Sign of Spring

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Spring has finally (!) arrived here in the DC area and this weekend we took full advantage of the nice weather and bright sunshine to garden and cook on the grill. The grill is a relatively new addition to our lives. We have had it for about two years and I am so glad that we do! There is really nothing like a meal full of grilled foods—even on the busiest of days it adds a feeling of relaxation that I just love….

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Roasted Veggies: A Short Cut for Quick, Healthy Meals

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We were away this weekend enjoying family and Fall on the Jersey Shore (so beautiful!) and our next CSA pick up is this afternoon, which meant I had to figure out what to do with a whole mess of veggies still left from last week that we had in our fridge. I decided to roast a bunch of them. I love having roasted vegetables in the house. I use them in salads, mix them into pasta and rice dishes, slip them into kids’ lunches, incorporate them into quesadillas, include them in wraps, snack on them throughout the day, and, honestly, I eat them straight off the baking sheets in HUGE quantities.

Another perk: roasting vegetables is a great way to encourage kids to try new vegetables, too. The roasting brings out the natural sweetness in vegetables, which makes them more appealing to a child’s palate, which is more inclined towards sweet….

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