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CSA Special – Kohlrabi two ways

June 15, 2011 By Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner 9 Comments

Well I’ve been telling you all about my new obsession with my local farm…

Stone Gardens Farm here in Shelton, CT.

appetizers CSA Special Kohlrabi two ways

You know how I’ve been stressing to all of you how important it is to buy local right?

So I’ve been having a blast playing with all the veggies in our box every week.

appetizers CSA Special Kohlrabi two ways

One that keeps popping up is this little devil…

Kohlrabi.

Now I’d heard of it.

But I’ve never tried it.

No time like the present.

appetizers CSA Special Kohlrabi two ways

So our farmers Fred and Stacia suggested Kohlrabi chips (ie raw) with some hummus.

The boys and I peeled it up and sliced it thin and grabbed our favorite Trader Joe’s white bean hummus from the fridge.

Ummm, didn’t go over so well.

appetizers CSA Special Kohlrabi two ways

Raw kohlrabi is strong.

Really strong.

Kind of like a cross between jicima and a radish.

I liked it, but the boys?

Uh not so much.

So I got crafty and did what I always do when they don’t like a veggie.

I tossed it with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted those bad boys.

OH EM GEE!!!!

appetizers CSA Special Kohlrabi two ways

These were fantastic!

Totally mellowed out.

They’re smooth and creamy and delicious.

Toss them with some potatoes, onions and mushrooms and you’ve got the perfect oven roasted veggie side dish.

Oven Roasted Kohlrabi

appetizers CSA Special Kohlrabi two ways

WHAT YOU NEED:

3 kohlrabi, peeled and sliced

1 T olive oil

S&P

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Place your veggies in a baking dish and add your olive oil, S&P.  Toss well to coat.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Serve.

And see I used the KALE as a garnish this time…

Reliving my roots at the ol’ Sunset Grill & Tap !

Filed Under: Appetizer Recipes For Kids, Featured, Healthy Recipes For Kids, Healthy Side Dish Recipes For Kids, Kid Favorite Recipes, Lunch Ideas For Kids, Snacks, Vegan Recipes For Kids, Vegetable Recipes For Kids, Vegetarian Recipes For Kids Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

CSA Special – Kale Chips

June 8, 2011 By Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner 19 Comments

My boys love chips.

Ok, well who doesn’t love chips?

But we all know that chips aren’t the best thing in the world to eat.

Enter my CSA…

The good folks down at Stone Gardens Farm provided me with the perfect alternative to the old potato chip this week.

See, I’ve told you all about my first waitressing gig at the Sunset Grill & Tap in Boston.

Well there we had a rule.

EVERY dish was garnished with a big leaf of kale.

So to me, that’s what kale was…

A garnish.

So when I got a big bunch in my CSA share box this week…

appetizers CSA Special Kale Chips

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.

Then it came to us.

The boys and I threw the kale onto a baking sheet with some olive oil and some S&P.

Voila…

The perfect chip for snacking!

Delicious and good for you!

You’ve got to try these!

appetizers CSA Special Kale Chips

Kale Chips

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 bunch kale

1 T olive oil

S&P

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Clean your kale leaves and dry well, you can use a salad spinner if you have one.

Pull the leaves of the kale off the stems and rip them into bite sized pieces.

Lay them out on a baking sheet.

Sprinkle the leaves with olive oil and toss well to coat.

appetizers CSA Special Kale Chips

Lay them back out into an even layer on the baking sheet.

Bake at 375 for 12 -15 minutes.  Until the edges are crisp.

Serve and enjoy!

You can doctor these up with your family’s favorite spices!

Try garlic and parmesan cheese

or

cumin

or crushed red pepper!

Have fun making your own favorite chips!


 

Filed Under: Appetizer Recipes For Kids, Featured, Healthy Recipes For Kids, Healthy Side Dish Recipes For Kids, Kid Favorite Recipes, Snacks, Vegan Recipes For Kids, Vegetable Recipes For Kids, Vegetarian Recipes For Kids Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Asian Week – Dim Sum Dumplings

April 8, 2011 By Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner 7 Comments

Oh man on man do I love dim sum.

I mean really really love dim sum.

In fact my friend Ashlee and I used to travel long long long distances for good dim sum when I lived in LA.

I’d bring Keegan along too…

appetizers Asian Week Dim Sum Dumplings

That’s him chowing down on his first BBQ pork bun at 14 months old.

And he’s my picky eater!

Anyway, good dim sum is much harder to come by here in Suburban CT…

We can’t even get good bagels here so I had to take matters into my own hands.
appetizers Asian Week Dim Sum Dumplings

I used Alton Brown’s recipe, with a few tweaks.

WHAT YOU NEED:

  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped savoy cabbage
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 teaspoons ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 t mirin
  • 1 T Sriracha
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 35 to 40 small wonton wrappers
  • Water, for sealing wontons
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
  • 1 1/3 cups chicken stock, divided

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Combine the first 12 ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl. Set aside.

To form the dumplings, remove 1 wonton wrapper from the package, covering the others with a damp cloth. Brush 2 of the edges of the wrapper lightly with water. Place 1/2 rounded teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold over, seal edges, and shape as desired. Set on a baking sheet and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat procedure until all of the filling is gone.

Heat a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat. Brush with vegetable oil once hot. Add 8 to 10 potstickers at a time to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, without touching. Once the 2 minutes are up, gently add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove wontons to a heatproof platter and place in the warm oven. Clean the pan in between batches by pouring in water and allowing the pan to deglaze. Repeat until all the wontons are cooked. Serve immediately.

You can make these with any protein source, ground chicken, ground turkey, even ground shrimp!  Great way to get protein into your kids!

Filed Under: Appetizer Recipes For Kids, Dinner Recipes For Kids, Featured, Kid Favorite Recipes, Lunch Ideas For Kids, Snacks Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

And the winner is…

February 4, 2011 By Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner 18 Comments

The winner of our Superbowl Recipe Contest and proud new owner of the Bento Box Lunch Box is…

appetizers And the winner is...

KATE!

at If you can make that you can make this

For her awesome

Crispy Fried Wonton Pizza Bites (serves 8 )

These wonton pizza bites taste fried, but are actually baked, which keeps the kitchen smelling good, and makes life much easier if you’re feeding a crowd. They can be made a day or two in advance and heated up on Game Night.

30 wonton wrappers (I’m guesstimating 3 or 4 per person)
2 large balls of mozzarella cheese
8 – 10 tbsp marinara sauce (shop bought is fine)
30 small slices of salami
1 egg
Vegetable oil

* Pre heat the oven to 400
* Spoon a blob of marinara sauce into the center of the wonton.
* Top with a cube of cheese and a slice of salami
*Crack the egg, and give it a quick whisk.
* Use a pastry brush (or your fingers) to dab a layer of egg around the edges of the wonton wrapper, then fold over into a triangle (try to seal out air pockets)
* Repeat for the rest of the wontons
* Brush both sides of each wonton with vegetable oil and place on a baking tray
*Bake for about 10 – 15 minutes until the parcels are golden and crispy – keep an eye on them
* Season with salt and pepper then serve
They can be made in advance and warmed through in a low oven to re-heat, or forzen, then baked from frozen (15 – 17 mins)

She also has other great variations on this….

Switch out the salami for pineapple chunks and sliced ham
Or mushrooms and a drop of truffle oil
Or chopped black olives
Switch out the mozzarella for goat cheese
Or Cheddar
Replace the tomato sauce with pesto and add chopped cherry tomatoes and mozzarella
Or pine nuts, goat cheese and black olives

Great recipe Kate!  Thanks for entering everyone.

Come back for a new Contest starting Monday!

Filed Under: Appetizer Recipes For Kids, Contests, Featured, Kid Favorite Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Superbowl Countdown – Pancake Popcorn Chicken

February 2, 2011 By Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner 19 Comments

These are a huge hit for big and little kids.

Make a bunch of varying degrees of hot and they’ll disappear off the plate by halftime!

appetizers Superbowl Countdown Pancake Popcorn Chicken

WHAT YOU NEED:

2 cups complete pancake mix

1 1/4 cups water

1/2 cup flour

S&P

Hot sauce

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 pounds of chicken cut into bite size chunks

Veggie or Canola oil for frying

WHAT TO DO:

In a large pot heat 2 inches of oil over medium heat.  While the temp comes up to 350 degrees (you can use a candy thermometer to measure) get your batter ready.

In a large bowl combine pancake batter, water, and a few dashes of hot sauce.  Mix well.  In another bowl add flour, then another bowl add butter milk.  Make an assembly line with the buttermilk first, then the flour, then the pancake mix.  Working in batches, near your oil, begin the coating process.  Dip the chicken into the buttermilk, shake off excess, then the flour, shake off excess, then the pancake mix, and into the oil.  Try to add only enough to keep the temp at 350 degrees.

Once the chicken starts to brown on one side, flip it over to the other.  It should take about 2-3 minutes per side.  Once browned remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

appetizers Superbowl Countdown Pancake Popcorn Chicken

Serve some as is, with ranch dressing.

Toss some in more hot sauce.

I tossed some with my favorite Wild Wings Asian Zest sauce.

Serve with blue cheese and celery!

Filed Under: Appetizer Recipes For Kids, Featured, Kid Favorite Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Superbowl Countdown – Steamy Creamy Crab Dip

January 31, 2011 By Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner 14 Comments

This is a Fitz Family Fave.

Trust me, it’s a touchdown.

When Cooper actually licks the bowl, I know we’ve got a winner.

appetizers Superbowl Countdown Steamy Creamy Crab Dip

Steamy Creamy Crab Dip

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 package softened cream cheese (I use reduced fat)

1/4 cup mayonnaise (I use reduced fat)

1 T crushed garlic

4 dashes hot sauce

1/2 t crab boil seasoning

S&P

1 1/4 cup lump crab meat (picked over for shell bits)

1/2 cup water chestnuts diced

2 scallions chopped

1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice

sourdough baguette sliced thin

WHAT TO DO:

In a large microwave safe bowl combine softened cream cheese, mayo, garlic, hot sauce, crab boil, and S&P.  Mix well.  Microwave on high for 1 minute.  Stir well.  Microwave for an additional minute or so until steaming hot.  Remove from microwave.  Gently fold in crab meat, water chestnuts and scallions.  Stir well.  Transfer to serving bowl and serve alongside slice sourdough bread.

appetizers Superbowl Countdown Steamy Creamy Crab DipYou may want to double this one…it goes fast!

Don’t forget…only three more days to win this awesome Laptop Lunch Box!

appetizers Superbowl Countdown Steamy Creamy Crab Dip

We’re still looking for the best SUPERBOWL RECIPE.  Want the trophy?

appetizers Superbowl Countdown Steamy Creamy Crab Dip

Then enter your recipe here…

Superbowl Recipe Contest

Deadline is Wednesday February 2nd.

Winner announced and featured here on Friday February 4th!

Good luck.

Filed Under: Appetizer Recipes For Kids, Featured, Snacks Tagged With: , , , , ,
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