Mexican Kale Salad

It's CSA box season for Angelic Organics shareholders and our farmers' market is in full swing so all restraint has gone straight out the window. Three different varieties of crisp lettuces in addition to arugula and spinach, fresh herbs, broccoli, beets, turnips, radishes, scallions, kale and flats of ripe strawberries have taken over the kitchen, not to mention the peas and tomatoes that are starting to roll in from our own little garden plot. And we're just getting the season started!

This is obviously cause for celebration. Where we live, when it comes to fresh local produce, we get it while we can. Winters are rough. Thank goodness there's no season for chocolate or March would be completely unbearable around here. For now though, we're wallowing like a bunch of baby rabbits in nature's bounty.

But where are we going to put all of this gorgeous organic produce?

Main refrigerator compartment? Door? Crisper drawer? Dark, cool corner of the basement? What's the best place to store those luscious lettuces? For a quick crash course, check out this Freshness IQ Challenge put together by the food storage gurus at Wolf and Sub-Zero. As an added bonus, they'll donate a dollar to FoodCorps for every completed quiz.

So how'd you do? I know enough not to ruin juicy summer tomatoes by putting them in the fridge but I admit to storing fresh fish in the main fridge compartment all these years. Who knew?

Now that we have proper storage out of the way, it's time to put the good stuff to work make something awesome like perhaps...a little Mexican Kale Salad?

This is summer for lunch. Or dinner. Or breakfast for that matter. Starting the day off with a salad is a great way to meet your produce quota and helps ensure all those leafy greens get used. Forget Wheaties. Breakfast salad is where it's at. If you're a traditionalist and need a little more breakfast in your breakfast, try slicing a hard boiled egg on top.

Earthy ribbons of deep green kale play so well alongside buttery avocado, salty Cotija, kicky radishes, and crunchy pepitas but it's the lime that really got the kids. Looly, surprise surprise, picked out the avocado, but all three of the 7-and-unders in this house ate this kale salad. By choice. There was no cajoling. No bargaining. They actually dumped kale salad on top of plain pasta to make their own creation - Mexican Kale Pasta Salad, then had seconds. Those are my kids!

Mexican Kale Salad

For the dressing

1&1/2 tbsp sunflower oil (or canola, olive or grapeseed oil)
1 lime, juice and zest
1 tsp agave
1/4 tsp kosher salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper

For the salad

1 bunch kale, sliced into thin ribbons
1 avocado, cubed
4 medium radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Cotija cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup pepitas

To make the dressing combine the oil, lime juice and zest, agave, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients. Pour the dressing over the top and toss gently. Let sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes. Toss it again and serve. Garnish with more pepitas, a sprinkle of Cotija, and lime wedges.

Fruit Salad with Vanilla-Lime Dressing

School's out, summer is in full swing and the KC kitchen staff is more eager than ever to get to work.

I, on the other hand, am readjusting to the amped up summer house volume and the sheer exhaustion of fielding ceaseless requests to paint, set up the sprinkler, help practice piano, go to the park, walk to the library, recall the Spanish word for prairie (pradera, by the way), host a spelling bee, make popsicles, make worksheets, make popcorn, make playdough, put on a puppet show, demonstrate a proper cartwheel, and the dreaded...can we plug in the glue gun?

With the day spiraling into hot glue territory, it's time to act. Fast. So what's quick, simple, can be made from stuff you already have sitting on your kitchen counter and irresistibly enticing to a swarm of sunscreen-slathered, half-dressed ragamuffins armed with a glue gun?

Fruit freaking salad, baby.

Fruit Salad with Vanilla-Lime Dressing
inspired by The Pioneer Woman

For the dressing

1 cup granulated sugar
2 limes, zest and juice
1 cup water
1 & 1/2 tsp good vanilla extract (or the caviar of one fresh vanilla bean)

For the salad

1/2 medium peeled, pineapple, cored and chopped into chunks
1/2 small cantaloupe, rind removed, seeded and chopped into chunks
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 cups grapes, halved
1/2 pint blueberries
1/2 pint raspberries
1 handful fresh mint leaves

To make the dressing, combine the sugar, lime zest, juice, water and vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil, stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and let cool.

You'll be relieved to know that preparing a fruit salad requires no advanced training. Wash, peel, core, and slice fruit as necessary and put it all in a bowl. Use whatever fruit you have. Enlist your glue gun-wielding kitchen staff and go to it.

Pour the cooled dressing over the top of the fruit and toss everything together gently. Or if your staff has a case of the pickies, leave the dressing on the side and use it as a dip instead. Garnish the whole beautiful mess with mint leaves.

Don't forget to destroy the glue gun while their slurping the last of the juice from their bowls.

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps (Larb)

I have a house full of Giada wannabees. I don't know if it's the colorful spotless designer dresses that never show oil splatters, the snappy Italian pronunciations (prosciutto! bruschetta!) or the sunny carefree California parties she's constantly hosting. Whatever the case, my kids love Giada. I mean they love Giada.

Seriously, has your 4-year-old wistfully pined for Giada De Laurentiis to be her mother? Have you, after explaining back to said 4-year-old that Giada seems nice but how sad that would be since then you couldn't be her mother, experienced your 4-year-old reassuring that 'we could still be friends'? Given the opportunity my kids would dump me for Giada in an instant.

Well, in case you haven't heard, Giada spent some time in Thailand recently and this month she's sharing a few Thai-inspired recipes in Food Network Magazine, including one for this yummy Turkey Larb. Since we can't hit the Thai restaurant scene much due to Roo's nut allergies, I'm all for making Thai food at home. Larb is right up our alley, low carb for Mufasa, ground turkey for Roo, limes for the ladies, and most importantly, Giada made it!

But here's the thing. My kids are weird about cooked onion. Basically it makes them gag if they figure out it's in whatever they're eating. So, my strategy here is rather than mince, I slice the onion and shallot. That way, the larb gets infused with lots of flavor, but I can pick out slippery onion bits from the kids' servings before any retching occurs. Win win!

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps (Larb)
adapted from Food Network Magazine

For the Dressing

1/3 cup fresh lime juice
juice of 1 large lemon
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp honey

For the Larb

3 tbsp canola oil
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
Zest of 1 large lemon
1 & 1/2 pounds ground turkey
ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
1 head butter lettuce, separated into leaves
1 or 2 Thai chiles (or serranos), stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced (leave the chiles out until you've served the kids if they can't take the heat) 

Zest the lemon and reserve the zest. Set aside. You're going to need it in a minute for the larb.

To make the dressing, combine the lime and lemon juices, fish sauce, and honey in a little bowl. Whisk it all together and set aside.

Heat the oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, shallots, salt, and lemon zest. Cook about 5 minutes until the onion starts to get soft. Add the turkey, season with more salt and black pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until the meat is cooked through (about 5-7 minutes). Add the dressing to the pan and cook a few minutes more. Remove from the heat, stir in the mint leaves and check seasoning. Add more salt and/or pepper to taste.

Spoon the turkey mixture onto lettuce leaves and serve. If you like a little (or a lot) of heat, sprinkle a few raw chile slices on top. Serve with sticky rice and lime wedges.

Black Rice Salad with Sugar Snaps, Avocado, and Lime

Spring has (nearly) sprung woo hoo! Something about longer days and the jauntier slant of sunshine trickling through the windows has me in the mood for crisp green herbs and bright sunny flavors. Enter this yummy black rice salad with sugar snap peas, creamy avocado, lime, and spicy serranos.

This is party food at its best. It's perfect at room temperature, looks great on a buffet, and is just out of the ordinary but plump with plenty of familiar ingredients so as not to scare off less adventurous guests. An ice cold beer, ginger beer, or better yet, a Dark and Stormy - heavy on the lime, will only enhance the experience. Trust me.

Given the dash of heat from serranos, this isn't one for the kiddos...at least, not my kiddos. But as I always say, deconstruct! Black rice was a hit with my usually rice-resistant crew who were happy to suck on lime wedges while putting away plenty of snap peas and avocado slices too - just not all mixed together.

Black Rice with Sugar Snaps, Avocado, and Lime
adapted from Fine Cooking

10.5 ounces (about 1 & 1/2 cups) Chinese Black Rice (I found it at Whole Foods)
3 tbsp sunflower or canola oil
1/2 cup minced red onion
2 serrano chile pepper, with seeds, minced (or less, to taste)
1 tbsp fresh lime zest
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
kosher salt
4 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed and sliced on the diagonal
2 small, firm-ripe avocados (dice one, slice the other)
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
lime wedges for garnish

Put the rice in a large bowl and rinse in cold water 3 times until the water is barely cloudy. Drain the rice and transfer to a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add 2 & 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, turn heat to low and cook until the rice is tender, but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover, and let sit at room temperature for an hour or 2, until the rice is cool.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook a few minutes until translucent. Add the serrano and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine the lime zest, juice, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Whisk together.

Use a damp wooden spoon to turn the rice out into the large bowl containing the dressing mixture. Add the shallot mixture. Toss gently to coat the rice. Let the rice and dressing sit for at least 10 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Just before serving, stir in the snap peas, the diced avocado, and half the mint. Season with salt to taste. Top with remaining sliced avocado and mint. Serve with lime wedges.

Simple Sesame Noodles with Ginger Poached Chicken

Rotini, penne, bucatini, ditalini, elbow macaroni, linguini, fusili, shells, orecchiette, angel hair...The KC kids like pasta especially when it's buttered and buried under a snowbank of Parmesan cheese shaved from a hunk, not shaken from a can.

After 6 and a half years of sauce therapy, Looly is now almost as likely to choose spaghetti with meatballs and marinara as she is to opt for plain (that is, buttered and Parmesan-topped) pasta. Bean and Roo remain steadfast in their loyalty to butter. Progress is not fast.

Asian noodles would be such a welcome change of pace if only I could get the troops on board. Pad Thai and Peanut Noodles don't bode well for the nut-allergic, so we generally avoid Asian restaurants but that doesn't mean we can't rock scallions and soy sauce at home with our noodles.

Perhaps somewhat embarrassingly, my past attempts at any remotely Asian-style noodles, while decidedly edible to me, have been met with unsettling facial contortions and breathy grunts by the KC kids. They complain they're too spicy, too salty, too fishy, too saucy, too sticky, but mostly...there's just not enough Parmesan.

After a lot (and I do mean a lot) of trial and error, we have a winner! It turns out the key to my children's stomachs is simplicity. I really love big, bold, Asian-y flavors and have a tendency toward the more is better philosophy but in terms of impressing the munchkins, restraint is key.

Simple Sesame Noodles
adapted from The Hakka Cookbook

1 pound udon noodles, soba noodles or whole wheat spaghetti
3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp thinly sliced scallions
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
lime wedges
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
Thai red chili paste (optional)

Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, drain and rinse. Combine the oils, soy sauce, green onions, and lime juice in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add noodles and toss to coat. Garnish with lime wedges and cilantro. Serve with red chili paste for some extra oomph, if desired, and ginger-poached chicken (recipe follows).

Ginger-Poached Chicken
adapted from The Hakka Cookbook

6 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
6 quarter-size slices of fresh ginger (unpeeled is fine)
3 cloves garlic
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks
1 tsp salt

Combine the stock, ginger, and garlic in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Carefully, add the chicken pieces, cover, and remove from heat. Allow the pot to sit undisturbed for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and serve over Simple Sesame Noodles (recipe above). Stir the salt into the broth and serve alongside the noodles and chicken.

Bonus: If you happen to be having a wintery, runny nose, tickly throat kind of day like me, I highly recommend you stir a solid tablespoon of Thai red chili paste into your own bowl of broth. Your sinuses will thank you.

Ancho Pork Hominy Stew

The holiday whirlwind is upon us and we're expecting a full house this year. Three generations of grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, and cousins will descend upon us in less than 48 hours and I cannot wait. As far as I'm concerned it wouldn't be Christmas without a little chaos.

Mufasa must have been extra good this year because he is now the proud owner of a brand spanking new Big Green Egg. So while he's working out plans for several holiday roasts on his new toy, I'm turning my focus to what we're all going to eat in the days leading up to and in between the major celebrations.

Thanks to the chest freezer, I've been squirreling away banana bread, squash muffins, and countless freezer bags of soup for weeks now. Next on the list is one of my personal favorites, this spicy ancho chili spiced pork and hominy stew.

Ancho Pork Hominy Stew
Adapted from Cooking Light, December 2009

2 tbsp ancho chile powder
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped, or 2 tsp. dried oregano
1 & 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin*
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 & 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces (about 1/2-ich cubes)
1 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 & 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 (28 ounce) can hominy, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

For garnish
fresh lime slices
fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 cup queso fresco, crumbled

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Set aside 1 & 1/2 tsp of the spice mixture. Add pork to the remaining spice mixture and toss to coat.
2. Heat 2 tsp of the oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally (the pork does not need to cook through at this point). Remove the pork from the pot and set aside.
3. Add the remaining 1 tsp oil to the dutch oven. Add the onion, peppers, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Return the pork to the pan. Add the remaining 1 & 1/2 tsp of spice mixture, broth, hominy, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover partially and simmer for about 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh lime slices, cilantro, or queso fresco.

Makes 6 (1 & 1/3 cup) servings

*The original recipe calls for half as much cumin but can one go wrong with pork and a little extra cumin? I think not.

My advice is double the recipe. You'll need a huge pot but the payoff is so worth it. Eat round one for dinner tonight and pack away round 2 for some night in the coming weeks when you've eaten a few too many sugar cookies to turn on the oven. This freezes and reheats beautifully and is such a nice departure in flavor from the typical Christmas roasts and hams we'll be eating next week.

Lemony Chicken Skewers with Sunbutter Satay Sauce

Ordering Thai takeout is a perilous operation here at Kid Cultivation. The risks are great with Roo's peanut and tree nut allergies.

Generally, one parent gets the kids to bed while the other places a covert phone call to Bodhi Thai. While stories are read and molars of unwitting children brushed and flossed, a lone wolf slinks out to procure the contraband soup, dumplings, and noodles. Thirty minutes later we eat in stunned silence, slurping and savoring the bright, salty, citrus-y freshness and making peace with the crunchy peanuts we've been missing.

Then it's hazmat time. The trash immediately goes to the dumpster out back, counters are wiped, tables scrubbed, mouths disinfected, clothes burned, fingernails removed...okay, maybe not but it is a process to say the least.

Fortunately Sunbutter is our friend. And Lemony chicken with Sunbutter satay sauce is our Thai infatuation.

Sunbutter Satay Sauce
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
3 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1&1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup creamy Sunbutter
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp dry sherry
1&1/2 tsp lime juice, freshly squeezed

1. Heat a small, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add both oils, shallots, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the shallots are tender and transparent, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Cool to room temperature and serve with lemony chicken skewers (recipe below).

Lemony Chicken Skewers
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Juice of 3-4 lemons
3/4 cup olive oil + 1 tbsp
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 tbsp green onions, thinly sliced
2 pounds chicken tenders
wooden skewers

1. To make the marinade, combine lemon juice, 3/4 cup oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and green onions. Stir well. Place chicken tenders in a glass dish or large zip top plastic bag. Pour marinade over the top. Marinate in refrigerator overnight.
2. Heat a grill pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tbsp oil to pan. Cook chicken tenders until done, about 3-4 minutes per side. Allow to cool slightly, insert wooden skewers lengthwise and serve with Sunbutter Satay Sauce and fresh lime wedges.

Egg-Free Blueberry Lime Bread

Breakfast time is a challenge around here. Bean loves eggs. Roo's allergic. Looly likes oatmeal. Bean and Roo won't touch it with a ten foot pole. Bean likes beans for breakfast. The sheer thought makes Looly gag. Roo would prefer to skip the breakfast ordeal all together and sip a little soy milk. Standard offerings like toast, bagels, yogurt, waffles, and cereal are hit or miss. Mostly miss. And we need to be out the door by 7:40 am. 

Fortunately all the kids love fruit and they do drink milk in the morning, but facing a full day of school on milk and fruit alone won't cut it. More often than not I opt for a pressure-free snackfest to get something into their stomachs. And I'm always, always, on the lookout for new additions to the snackfest platter.

I've been honing my egg-free baking skills in recent years and I have a few really good eggless quick breads up my sleeve. Unfortunately, Roo still won't eat most of them. But the girls enjoy them and at least I don't have to worry about a stray crumb getting onto his apple slices. Now that he's attempting bites of toast and a triangle of grilled cheese from time to time, one of my goals for the year is to come up with a breakfast bread that Roo will eat.

Egg-Free Blueberry Lime Bread
adapted slightly from Bakin' Without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro

3 cups flour plus 1 tbsp to coat blueberries
1&1/4 cups sugar
1&1/2 cups milk
3 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp lime zest
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen, but not thawed)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray one large or 4 mini-loaf pans with cooking spray.
2. Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, milk, lime juice, baking powder, baking soda, and lime zest. Mix until well combined. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine blueberries and remaining 1 tbsp flour. Toss lightly to coat. Gently fold blueberries into batter.
4. Spoon batter into prepared pans and bake 50-55 minutes for full size loaves, 35-40 minutes for mini-loaves, or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, invert pan and remove loaf. Cool completely.

I thought this bread was quite good - summery, bright, zesty, and it really hit the spot with a cup of green tea. Looly loved it and begged for more. The other kids were less impressed. Roo did not appreciate the chunks of real berry, too much textural variability going on for him. And Bean, usually my carb-lover, was underwhelmed. She asked for banana bread instead. hmph. So, the search continues but I'm keeping this one in the repertoire even if it's for Looly and me alone. More for us!

Pineapple Mango Sorbet with Chili, Lime, and Salt

Digging through the freezer for a long lost package of onion bagels to go with my smoked salmon, I stumbled upon the ice cream bowl for the KitchenAid and realized we had yet to make ice cream this summer. Utter blasphemy.

With half a carton of Costco mangoes ripening on the counter and a fresh pineapple looking for a home, the recipe pretty much wrote itself.

It wasn't all tropical fruit and smiles, though. Blood was shed.

Relax. She's not doing what you think she's doing. Just an unfortunate incident with a vegetable peeler.

The kiddos loved theirs just like this. Icy cold, smooth, crisp, and pure. But I couldn't stop thinking about a summer long ago spent walking the waterfront in Veracruz crunching jicama and pineapple in copas de frutas coated with chili, lime, and a sprinkle of salt. Can you see where this is headed?

Vacation in a Cup Pineapple Mango Sorbet

1/2 of a fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into pieces
3 mangoes, peeled and pitted (watch those little fingers with that slippery peeler)
1 cup sugar
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp. dark rum (optional)
chili powder (optional)
sea salt (optional)
lime wedges (optional)

1. Puree pineapple and mango in a blender until smooth. Add sugar, lime juice, and rum and process until well combined. The kids gave me a hard time about the rum, but 1 tsp. distributed throughout an entire batch of sorbet is not going to kill them and it lends a nice subtle counterpoint to all that fruity sweetness. Chill mixture in the fridge for an hour or so.

2. Pour cold mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the instructions (or pour into any freezable container if you don't have an ice cream maker and chill several hours until firm). Store in an airtight container in the freezer.

3. Top with a squeeze of lime and dust with salt and chili powder before serving. Voila! Your Mexican tropical beach vacation in a cup.

Tuna Tartare Two Ways

We don't eat enough fish. We stopped making it regularly somewhere between the day I wrestled half a filet of lemony whitefish from the cat after Looly chucked it off her highchair tray and the onset of Roo's food allergies.

In any event, Starfish brand fish sticks (don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em) and the occasional salmon fillet round out our current seafood rotation. I've been longing for the return of homemade fish tacos and sauteed scallops and finally decided this week that it's time. Bring on the tuna!

I don't normally advocate lying to kids. My children have a firm understanding of lots of difficult topics...poverty, natural disasters, war, death. They know our beloved cat did not disappear last January to go to live on a farm somewhere. And for the most part, they handle it. But raw fish? Let's just say I didn't send a memo before I put it on their plates.

Tuna Tartare for the Wee Ones (grown-up version appears below)

1/4 pound fresh, high quality tuna steak
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp. canola oil

1. Slice the tuna steak into 1/4-inch cubes and place in a large bowl.
2. Whisk together soy sauce, juice, and oil. Pour over tuna. Marinate in the refrigerator for an hour or more. Serve with rice crackers.

So they didn't embrace their first tartare experience with all the gusto I'd hoped for but miraculously, they each chewed and swallowed an entire quarter inch cube of raw tuna before politely expressing their dissatisfaction - a far cry from the days of "Yuck!" and "Are you trying to kill us?!" All that and no one threw up or even gagged a little bit. That's a victory if I've ever seen one.

Whatever the kids don't finish, just toss into the grown-up version below.

Spicy Tuna Ceviche
adapted slightly from Barefoot Contessa

2 pounds fresh, high quality tuna steaks
1/2 cup olive oil
3 limes, zest and juice
1 tsp. wasabi powder
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. Sriracha sauce
1 tsp. coarse salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced
1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

1. Dice the tuna steak into 1/4-inch cubes and place in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, combine oil, lime juice, zest, wasabi powder, soy sauce, Sriracha, salt, cayenne, scallions, onion, and jalepeno. Stir well. Pour over tuna and toss gently to coat. Marinate in the refrigerate for about an hour. Add avocado and toss gently just before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with rice crackers, wonton crisps, tortilla chips, or shovel it into your mouth directly out of the bowl with a fork like me.

Rainbow Agua Fresca Fiesta

It's summertime. Around here that means Mama School. Nope, no highbrow philosophy class for me, rather, the kiddos and I are exploring a few special topics we all wish we had more time for during the school year. And guess who gets to play teacher. Uh-huh.

This summer, Mama School is offering our ever popular cooking course, along with piano/music, reading with special emphasis on poetry, weather cycles, and Spanish.

The kids know several Spanish words, but I've been trying to encourage them to string more phrases together and most importantly, to make an attempt to talk to people using the Spanish they know. What better scenario to practice our basic greetings and introductions than a pretend party with chips and guacamole and a few fancy drinks to clink? Agua Fresca time.

With an abundance of fruit in the house, we each chose our own fruit flavor. Here's the rundown:

Looly: Pineapple
Bean: Strawberry
Roo: Watermelon
Amy: Honeydew with basil-infused simple syrup from mojitos the other night

In retrospect, the whole flavor choice thing led to a lot of blending and rinsing when we could have been practicing Spanish greetings. But we embraced the moment, adding fruit names and colors to our lesson for the day. I find that's one of the coolest things about working with kids in the kitchen. No matter what we make it inevitably ties into all sorts of additional learning. Fractions, measuring, vocabulary, music (can you really cook without it?), poetry (Amelia Mixed the Mustard by A E Housman, for instance), you name it.

So anyway, we chopped la piña, blended las fresas, juiced la sandía, and...

"Hola. Me llamo Roo y me gusta la agua fresca de sandía."

Agua Fresca Rainbow

2 cups fruit of your choice, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped (We made several batches using watermelon, pineapple, honeydew, and strawberry but you could expand your own rainbow with mango, cantaloupe, cucumber, guava, passion fruit, etc.)
1 cup cold water
2 tbsp. sugar
Juice of 1 lime

Puree the fruit in a blender or with an immersion blender. Pass through a strainer or other fine sieve to remove pulp. Combine strained puree, water, sugar, and lime juice in a small pitcher. Stir until sugar dissolves and serve over ice.

Each batch will make about 2 servings. If you want the full rainbow effect, make a few different batches using a variety of fruits in complimentary colors.