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Grilled Chicken with Indian/Asian Spices
I was browsing through Jamie Oliver’s recipes when I came across a marinated and grilled chicken dish. I took the idea but adapted it… I do that sometimes, depending on what I have in the house, what I like, and/or what I think might work. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. This time was a big winner. Love when it happens. Especially when all three kids and I like it!
Mix together into paste:
- 1 tsp garam massala
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander seed (first toast in pan then grind with mortar/pestle)
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/2 ground garlic
- juice of one lime
- 2 Tbsp pureed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Coat boneless, skinless chicken thighs on both sides and let sit in refrigerator for one or more hours. Grill until done about 5-8 minutes each side depending on thickness, should read about 140F before you take off and let sit 5-10 minutes before serving as it will keep cooking. (For safety reasons chicken should be cooked to 165F) 
I served it with brown rice (cheated— Trader Joe’s 3 minutes in microwave, baby!), steamed kale and broccoli from our CSA. 
Kids really loved it and I found a new dish that I can also cut into small pieces and serve as appetizers at parties. Woo-hoo!
Colors of Summer
What says summer more than grilled foods, fresh corn and local tomatoes? My husband cooked the other night- another swelteringly hot and muggy day. He grilled a ribeye steak that was simply prepared with salt and pepper. He chooses to grill over hardwood charcoal not gas because he likes the added smokiness of the wood. We used to get the charcoal from Trader Joe’s but they only sell the briquettes now, which have been treated with something that imparts an unsavory smell. He grilled some blanched garlic scapes too to go with the meat. My youngest eats them cut up like little green beans. 
Served with that was Bread and Butter corn and tomatoes both fresh from the farm that day. Since my 6 year old has another couple of loose teeth, we did our corn per usual then sliced the kernels off the cob. Reheated with butter, salt and pepper. A little of all three can go a long way, and just enough to enhance the corn’s flavors by adding the other taste dimensions. (As previously mentioned I usually only use sea salt now. We always grind fresh peppercorns because the pre-ground pepper from tins have lost its punch and flavor by the time it reaches the food).
Red tomato, basil (fresh from our garden), and goat cheese salad is another summer staple. Though last year it seemed as it was just my husband and I eating it, this year, we can hardly get a bite in before my oldest two are hogging it all for themselves. My middle son was even dipping his meat and potatoes into the left over dressing after the tomatoes were all gone. 
Arrange sliced tomatoes on a plate, chop basil in small ribbons (chiffonade), top with chunks of goat cheese (we get TJ’s own brand log), sparinglydrizzle with balsamic vinegar (we use a 50 year old one), a good quality olive oil, and ground pepper to top. We usually use French Grey sea salt or Hawaiian Red sea salt, but we’re out. We used a Himalayan pink (obviously not sea salt) and. But use whatever good quality sea, or mined salt in this case, you have. 
All Blue potatoes we received from our CSA bin. They look like Peruvian purple potatoes, but I guess since there are thousands of different kinds of potatoes, these are from elsewhere. Unlike the “magic” purple beans, these are purplish-blue inside and out even after being cooked. We simply boiled them and served as is. They were firm and had a lovely sweet and earthy taste. The kids loved the color. 
I believe one way to get kids to try foods that might otherwise be seen as healthy (and undesirable) is to add the colorful veggies and not just green ones. It’s also good for them to get the different colors because they have different nutrients.
Lastly we served green zucchini (courgettes) and yellow summer squash. Again my middle son wouldn’t touch them last year, but this year he gobbles them up gladly. 
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My sons have favorite colors. When my eldest was 2-3 his favorite was red, then a couple of years later it was green, then turquoise, then “rainbow”, now he’s got several. My middle son loved “lello” when he was 2-3 then blue, then green, then turquoise and now back to blue. And my youngest’s favorite was orange and white, then green, now blue. In such a short period of time their favorite colors have changed. Well, so have their favorite foods. They still love certain things but they keep adding foods to their repertoire and all of a sudden (Now kohlrabi is my middle son’s favorite food. My youngest asked for salmon or “snapping” for dinner two nights ago. My eldest still loves spaghetti, but sushi and tacos have taken top spot.) I believe if you understand that kids change their favorites, their tastes, their interests as they grow you will find that given the opportunity they may actually like that food they had no interest in eating previously. Give them a chance to try it, eventually they may like it… or even love it!
“Here try it” , “ok” — before he asked for more and more…
Hey! I’m about to start a blog about fun and healthy foods for kids, and I decided to browse through tumblr to get inspiration for a layout. I think it’s really cool that you’ve created this blog, and I wish that my mom had cooked some of these recipes when I was little! Don’t worry. Our blogs’ similarities will probably end there. :)
Thanks! Good luck! I actually only started eating and cooking some of these foods myself just within the last few years (my eldest is 8) because I joined a local shared harvest (CSA) and was given vegetables that I’d just pass by in the stores (I think since I hadn’t grown up with them and wasn’t quite sure what to do). Now, the kids and I love finding something new in our bin because they’ve found that they really like some of the things they’d never tried before. I believe you need to give the kids a chance. Give them the opportunity and they might surprise you (or others) at what they actually will eat.
To get listed on the tumblr directory– I need to get recommended. Please recommend this blog!
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To get listed on the tumblr directory– I need to get recommended. Please recommend this blog!
Thanks! Such a pain to ask, but I appreciate the support.
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I find that my children love the idea of eating a rainbow. I try to give them many colors of vegetables and fruits throughout the week. One vegetable that incorporates it all is Rainbow Chard. They love the earthy sweet … Continue reading
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
A request was put in for me to bring my banana cream pie (this one I’d created the crust out of banana Cheerios) to a friend’s barbecue. But it was forecast to be one of the hottest, most horrifically humid days of the hottest July’s on record, last thing I wanted to do was stand over the stove whisking the eggs and sugar until they reach 165°F. So instead, I baked a crisp. At least I could leave the kitchen while it was in the oven. 
I had some rhubarb from my CSA and I bought some organic strawberries (we’re into blueberries round here now). They make such a great sweet-tart combination and I wanted to use up the rhubarb.
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
In a bowl mix:
2 cups of strawberries, cut·
1 1/2 – 2 cups of rhubarb, cut
sugar- about 1 Tbsp, just enough to coat them
juice of 1/4 lemon
2 Tbsp flour 
Crumb topping:
2 cups oats·
2 cups oat flour (or wheat flour)
1 cup minus 2 Tbsp loosely packed brown sugar
1/4 c maple syrup
1 stick butter (if you use unsalted add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt) cut into small pieces.
Mix ingredients together until you notice crumbly appearance.
Pour into 9×9 inch glass pan and top with crumb mixture.
Bake it at 400°F for 20 minutes then at 325° for 20 minutes. I warmed it later at my friend’s in the oven and served it with vanilla ice cream. 
My eldest son loved it! The other kids weren’t interested that evening, but had some as left-overs next day. Next time I’ll make nectarine and blueberry pie or crisp, my other favorite combo.
Potluck
We went to my friend Amanda’s house to celebrate summer and enjoy food together. I’d suggested a food and dessert gathering since I write a food blog and she writes a dessert blog. Unfortunately the day of the potluck I was feeling rather crappy due to a migraine and I didn’t get around to making a tapenade and tomato and basil salad, but luckily we had plenty of food. Two other families joined us, my migraine medication eventually worked, and it turned out to be a perfect evening. It looked like the setting in a magazine. They’d even set up an inflatable water slide for the kids. And it was really pretty smooth sailing with all 10 of them (ages 3 to 13) for 6 hours!
Our gracious and talented host made more than she should have— watermelon, feta and mint salad, a delicious, soft, yet chewy sourdough no-knead bread with huge sea salt crystals on top, and divine profiteroles for dessert that she blogged about here. Our friend Holly made prosciutto, melon and mint skewers and potato and green bean salad. Our other friend Kymm made grilled asparagus, asparagus with prosciutto and a pasta with beans, spinach, tomatoes and garlic. All yummy. Don’t remember who provided the corn- oven roasted, (steamed) in their husks, then shucked and finished on the grill but I do remember how delicious it was and how much the children loved it!
My husband prepared Moroccan style lamb kebabs the day before and I made a cocktail for the grownups! Yes, this is a blog about kids food but, who makes the food? Parents. Who needs a cocktail every now and then? Parents. So, this is the summer drink I adapted from a recipe I saw in Food Arts by Jeff Hollinger of Absinthe in San Francisco. I made a “simple” syrup of ginger, pink peppercorns, lime zest, sugar and water. I let it sit for at least 8 hours. 
Then I poured about 2 oz of syrup over ice (straining the big chunks), splash of cranberry-raspberry juice, 2-3 oz of citrus vodka, and filled rest with San Pellegrino Limonata. We dubbed it the Blogger’s Lemonade. It was zesty, spicy, lemony but subtle. A mint leaf or two is great added as well, which a few of us did too! 
The lamb was a leg cut into approximately 2 inch pieces. He made a paste that he covered the pieces with for at least 24 hours before grilling. The paste: toasted whole cumin then ground, ground coriander seed, ground allspice, and ground cinnamon. Mixed them together with chopped shallots, garlic, lemon juice, cilantro, fresh grated ginger, olive oil. Soak skewers in water so they don’t burn badly when grilling. He made about 18 skewers with 6 pieces each on them. Served with yogurt sauce. Yogurt, garlic, cilantro, mint, lemon juice. (If you want recipes with actual measurements, please contact me and we’ll figure it out for you!)
When it was time to eat there was much chatter about hotdogs. Some of the kids were expecting them and some of the parents were considering serving them. I said that my kids would eat the lamb and we’d been at a birthday party earlier where they had hotdogs, so I’d reather we didn’t have any. Often when things like hotdogs are given as a choice, kids tend to choose them. I got into a discussion with my friend H about a restaurant she loves to take her kids to because there is no children’s menu, no substitutions and the kids actually eat what they’re given. I said, take that philosophy home with you.
Well, I must have made enough noise (yea, I tend to do that) and no hotdogs were cooked. The kids had what we had. And they sat on a couple of large quilts in the grass, eating away happily while the parents sat under the new pergola, eating, drinking wine, talking, and laughing— and sometimes just glancing over at 10 kids enjoying a summer night. 
They had fun with it too—the skewers were sometimes used as spears for the lamb and other foods. And the kids really ate it.
Later there were s’mores with homemade marshmallows (I have a lot to live up to next time I host) and the profiteroles. It was late by the time we all left— happy, full and ready to do it again. 
Thanks to Amanda and Jonathan for the photos- damn migraine! Left my camera at home!
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The farm at which we belong to the CSA and also where we sometimes get milk.