Thunderstorm Orzo Salad

These two love the rain. The more lightening and thunder, the better.

 This one...not so much. 

When the sky gets dark and the rumbles start, Bean tends to look like this. Pathetic, I know. At least it's not bed time. That's the worst. Well, it's the worst right after the fingers in her ears all-out screaming attacks that occur every time we get a middle of the night storm.

Bean requires more than a little distraction to cope with the booms. Like, a whole lot of boiling, chopping, stirring, whisking, pouring kind of distraction. Come on, Bean. Let's go make a salad while these guys look for worms.

Thunderstorm Orzo Salad
inspired by Cooking Light

1 cup orzo or other small pasta
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1/2 cup pitted, chopped kalamata olives
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled (divided)
1/4 cup red wine vinaigrette (recipe below)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and rinse in cold water. Combine the cold pasta, spinach, onion, olives, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and 3/4 cup of the feta cheese in a large bowl. Pour the red wine vinaigrette over the top and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with remaining feta sprinkled on top. 

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp agave (or honey, or granulated sugar)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or more to taste, I prefer a vinegary vinaigrette)

Combine the vinegar, mustard, agave, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Add the oil in a slow, steady stream whisking all the while until you have a thick, tasty dressing. Serve on the orzo salad above or crisp baby greens.

The worm hunters back in time for dinner.

Green Pea Pasta with Feta

Last spring I introduced the KC kids to the idea of green pasta with Nut-Free Kale Pesto. Here's another healthy, veggie-packed green pasta sauce that comes together quickly for an easy week night supper. This time we're pairing fresh sweet peas, dill, and briny feta because, well, feta with spring vegetables is freaking delicious, that's why. 

Green Pea Pasta with Feta
adapted from Fine Cooking

1 pound green peas (fresh or frozen)
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar snap peas, trimmed, strings removed, and sliced on the diagonal
12 ounces short pasta, any shape
4-6 ounces feta cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the green peas and cook 2-4 minutes until crisp tender. Use a slotted spoon to remove the peas from the water and set aside.

Return the pot to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve the cooking water.

Meanwhile, transfer all but 1 cup of the green peas to a blender. Add the olive oil, almost all of the dill (reserve a little for garnish), salt, pepper, and lemon juice and puree until smooth, adding the reserved cooking water from the pasta until you reach your desired consistency.

Drain the pasta and toss with the green pea sauce. Add the remaining whole green peas, sliced snap peas and feta, toss again. Garnish with lemon wedges and remaining dill. Dinner is served!

Orange, Chicken, and Avocado Bulgur Salad

Citrus, feta, avocado, whole grain...this is my kind of salad!

I've been trying for some time to expand the wee ones' grain horizons beyond pasta, couscous, and rice. Sadly, quinoa is repeatedly met with staunch resistance. This summer, a deconstructed version of this farro salad was a hit with the KC kids so I'm trying my luck again, this time with bulgur.

Since the 6-and-unders here tend to be purists, I often resort to deconstructing whatever Mufasa and I are eating for them, like this.

Not bad, right? That's bulgur, grape tomatoes, feta, clementine wedges, avocado, and chicken. I only need to prep one set of ingredients and we all end up eating the same thing, just in a different guise.

The verdict is in. With a little help from my friend soy sauce, bulgur is a go with 2 out of 3 KC kids! And that Looly, well, she never likes something the first time, and even she managed a few bites. Victory is mine.

Orange, Chicken, and Avocado Bulgur Salad
adapted from Cooking Light, February 2013

1 cup bulgur wheat, uncooked
3 tbsp orange juice
zest of 1 orange
2 tbsp olive oil
1 & 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 ounces shredded, cooked chicken
1 medium avocado, diced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
6 ounces feta cheese, 1/4-inch diced
2 oranges or 4 clementines, peeled and sectioned
fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

1. Combine 1 cup bulgur and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 10-12 minutes (allow more time for larger, coarsely ground bulgur) until the grain is tender. If any water remains, drain it off. Fluff bulgur with a fork and cool to room temperature. You should have about 3 cups of cooked. Don't forget to set some aside if you're planning a deconstructed version!
2. Combine the juice, zest, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
3. In a large bowl, combine cooled bulgur with remaining ingredients. Toss everything with the dressing and sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

Baked Feta with Tomatoes

Withholding feta cheese from Looly is considered cruel and unusual punishment. So, when I made this baked feta for a potluck crafting party (Thanks Girl G!) a few weeks ago, I couldn't get it out the door without her finagling a taste. She's a fan. I hope you are too.

The feta is so stellar here because unlike its softer milder cousin, mozzarella, who's constantly trying to monopolize the yummy-when-melted-with-tomato-sauce glory, feta maintains its chewy firmness when baked. And the salt! The briny feta is spectacular alongside gushy, sweet, herby tomatoes.

Speaking of tomatoes I use a combo of fresh and canned. I like the saucy juices of the canned tomatoes alongside the bright bits of pulp and skin from the fresh. Feel free to use all of one or the other, just double up on your quantity.

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, what could be more crowd-pleasing and gut-thawing than a dollop of simple, soothing, savory warm cheese on crusty bread? File under perfect hearty winter party fare.

Baked Feta with Tomatoes

1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 fresh, ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano leaves
salt and pepper to taste
16 ounces best quality Greek feta cheese you can find

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add red pepper flakes and cook 30 seconds more. Add fresh and canned tomatoes and simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in oregano leaves and season with salt and pepper, but go easy on the salt. The feta will provide lots of salty flavor. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In an ovenproof dish, break the feta into pieces large and small. Scatter over the the bottom of the dish. Pour the tomato sauce over the cheese. Bake for about 25 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and thick and the top is just starting to char. Serve with crusty bread.

Pasta Salad with Bacon, Melon, and Feta

Phew! I thought this back to school thing was supposed to give me more time for myself but for one reason or another I am still running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Fortunately it's all good stuff, visits from friends, school planning, parties, and I recently embarked on my next fitness adventure, Insanity: The Asylum. After doing regular Insanity workouts for over a year, I thought I was ready for the next challenge. At this point my heart, lungs, lats and quadriceps are much less certain. But as long as they keep making mint chocolate chip ice cream, Shaun T remains a requisite part of my day. Here's a self portrait after my first ever Insanity workout. I don't blame you if "stunning" isn't the first word that comes to mind.

Speaking of good hearts and yummy food, have you checked out Eat Your Heart Out lately? My pal, Stephie, is always cooking up something delicious and I'm especially excited about her new Back to Basics series, which is a great starting point for kids or anyone else who's just getting their bearings in the kitchen. As if that wasn't enough to get you over there, she recently nominated me for a Very Inspiring Blogger award. Thanks, Stephie! As part of the award, I am supposed to tell you 7 tidbits about myself, then pass the award to 15 more bloggers. So here we go...

7 Tidbits from Kid Cultivation

1. You might have figured this out already, but I love Insanity. I don't love The Asylum yet, but I'm tripping and stumbling my way through it and hope to be fit and coordinated enough to be there one day.
2. I am the baby in a family of 5 girls. Some say my parents must have kept trying for a boy. I say they stopped when they finally achieved perfection.
3. I ran the Chicago marathon in 2002. It was awesome.
4. I eat almost everything but there are a few random foods I simply cannot tolerate. These include: yellow mustard (stoneground, whole grain, and Dijon are fine!), orange soda, Goldfish or other cheddar flavored crackers, and bratwurst.
5. September is my favorite month.
6. My bladder is the size of a pea.
7. Every time I throw a penny in a fountain I wish that Roo's food allergies and Eosinophilic Esophagitis would go away.

And 15 amazing food-focused blogs you should definitely come to know:

1. spabettie
2. Katie's Cucina
3. What Megan's Making
4. Damn Delicious
5. Great Secret of Life
6. Family Fresh Cooking
7. A Taste of Madness
8. Home is Where the Cookies Are
9. The Spanish Wok
10. Culinary Travels
11. Cooking With My Kid
12. Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons
13. Food Allergy Mama
14. The Allergic Kid
15. Funky Food - Feeding Kids Allergic to Food

For those of you nominated, here's the deal. Feel free to do the following, but I have to be honest. I won't be mad at you if you don't :-)

1. Link back to the person who nominated you.
2. Post the award image to your page.
3. Share 7 facts about yourself.
4. Nominate 15 other bloggers.
5. Post the rules in your blog post.

And last but certainly not least, who wants bacon?! Mufasa made his signature ribs last weekend and has promised to do a guest post soon with the details. While he was manning the grill, I made this kid-friendly, easy, pasta salad on the side.

Pasta Salad with Melon, Bacon, and Feta
adapted from Bon Appetit, August 2012

4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, and crumbled
1 pound penne, rotini, or other short pasta
1 medium cantaloupe, cubed
1 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped, divided
1/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
Kosher salt
Black pepper
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and run under cold water to cool. Set aside.
2. Combine 2 slices of the bacon, pasta, melon, half the mint, and scallions in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together olive oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over pasta mixture and toss to coat. Garnish with remaining bacon, mint, and feta cheese.

Since my kids tend to be purists, I served the feta cheese on the side for them, but really the whole salad could be easily deconstructed for Littles. Separate and serve pasta, bacon, cantaloupe, cheese and you've got a sweet toddler meal!

Mediterranean Farro Salad

Thanks to a traipsing bunch of monkeys swinging from my cart, my grocery store focus was somewhat disjointed the other day and I did the unthinkable. I bought fat-free feta cheese.

It wasn't until halfway though chopping spinach, artichoke hearts and Kalamata olives that I realized my error. In a bit of a tizzy I tossed the hunk of glubber (I really don't know how else to describe it) onto the counter. And it bounced. There is no excuse for fat-free cheese. Moderation is fine. I can get behind reduced fat dairy products of all kinds but fat-less cheese? Why not chew on a Kong instead. At least it will clean your teeth.

Three mandatory bathroom visits, two ponytail adjustments, one argument over who gets to ride which bike to the store, and thirty five minutes later we were back in business with a block of real honest to goodness Greek feta cheese sloshing in cloudy brine. It was worth it.

The beauty of this salad is multifarious. It's nutritious, full of flavor, quick and painless to make, easy to scale to a crowd, can be deconstructed for picky kids, and super versatile. I've made it with orzo, brown rice, quinoa, and farro but I imagine it would be just as tasty with whole wheat rotini, penne, basmati rice, bulgur, kamut or just about any other grain you can think of, but please, no fat-free feta!

Mediterranean Farro Salad
adapted from Cooking Light May 2010

1 cup farro, uncooked
2 cups baby spinach, washed, dried and chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 small red onion, diced
3 tbsp. Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1 (6-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, reserve the marinade
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1. Rinse and cook farro according to package directions. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Combine cooked farro, spinach, tomatoes, onion, and olives. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Drain artichokes by pouring the marinade into the bowl over the top of the farro mixture (this is the dressing). Chop artichokes and add to bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the feta cheese and toss everything together gently. Top with remaining 1/4 cup feta cheese.

Makes about 4 servings of 1-1/4 cup each.

Aside from Bean (who prefers no feta), my kids won't eat this salad all mixed together. Looly loves grape tomatoes, pasta, and feta cheese. She'll tolerate the spinach and artichoke hearts on a good day as long as everything is kept separate. Roo digs pasta, feta, and olives. The other textures are still a challenge for him though so I typically chop avocado for him to eat on the side. Sometimes I feel like I need a spreadsheet to keep it all straight. But in the end, they eat theirs their way, I eat mine my way and we're all happy.

Watermelon Feta Salad

Looly and Roo love feta cheese. All three of the KC kids slurp watermelon like it's going out of style. Frankly I don't have much in my arsenal better than this to get them to eat an actual salad.

But as far as fruit and feta go, Mufasa is a skeptic. The rosé helps. And the fact that I use mint from his herb garden. Mint has a habit of taking over that thing.

The recipe couldn't be simpler. Just focus on the freshest, highest quality ingredients you can find. I know you've heard it a million times but it really counts here. No joke.

Watermelon Feta Salad*
(adapted from Barefoot Contessa)

4 cups baby salad greens, rinsed and dried (arugula would be peppery and tasty, but it's a bit strong for my kids, so I went with mixed greens instead)
1 cup chopped mint
2 cups watermelon, cubed
8 ounces feta cheese, cubed
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 1 orange
1 shallot, minced
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Place salad greens, mint, watermelon, and feta in a large bowl.
2. To make the vinaigrette, combine citrus juices, shallot, honey, salt, and pepper. Whisk well. Slowly drizzle in olive oil, whisking continuously. Pour over salad mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately, outside on the porch.

*This, like many of my favorites, can be served deconstructed for the most persnickety diners, aka my children. Watermelon. Feta. Greens. Orange slices. 'Nuff said.

Crowd-Pleasing Middle Eastern Salad

Ok, y'all. In case you haven't noticed, it's Food Allergy Awareness Week. Also in case you haven't noticed, food allergies, or more accurately, cooking delicious meals for those with food allergies, is kind of my wheelhouse. And that, my friends, is why I love this salad.

Peanut-free, tree nut-free, egg-free, easily dairy-free (just skip the feta), soy-free, fish-free, shellfish-free, and wheat-free (without the pita), this Middle Eastern Salad is a bright, tangy, colorful crowd pleaser of a side.  

Middle Eastern Salad

1 English cucumber
20 grape tomatoes, halved
3 green onions, sliced, white and light green parts only
1 tbsp. flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup pickled beets, chopped
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
1/4 tsp. ground sumac, or smoked paprika, to sprinkle on top

1. Combine cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, parsley and beets. Squeeze lemon juice over veggies and drizzle on olive oil. Toss to coat.
2. Portion onto plates and top (or not, depending on dairy tolerance) with feta cheese. Sprinkle a little sumac or paprika on top. Serve with pita triangles or rice crackers, as appropriate.

And as always, read your labels. I used Rick's Picks Phat Beets which state they are manufactured in a facility that handles wheat, soy, milk, peanuts, and tree nuts. For us, that's a risk I'm willing to take. But if you're not sure about the severity of the allergies of the crowd you're cooking for, the best thing you can do is keep all of your labels handy.