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.

Asian Rainbow Chicken Salad

Asian Rainbow Chicken Salad is the name, deconstruction is the game.

From all the way back to the first hints of Roo's textural sensitivities and oral delays, the concept of deconstructed dinner has been my friend. Still is. The concept is simple.

See, there's this for you...

And this for them...

And it's so freaking easy! Start with a slew of fresh colorful vegetables. This is the perfect time to shell out a few extra cents for the rainbow pack of bell peppers or purple carrots if you happen to find them. Hit the grocery store, use what I used or raid your crisper drawer and go from there. As long as you have a nice variety of colors and textures, nobody's going to complain. Cucumbers, grape tomatoes, corn hacked off the cob...it's all good. Just don't forget the cabbage. It's the base for your salad.

So, have you played Crunch a Color with your kids yet? I'm not getting any kickbacks here, promise, but you really need to own this game. Order it right now. Then serve this salad for dinner an prepare to be amazed at what your children will eat at the promise of 15 points.


Asian Rainbow Chicken Salad
adapted from my personal idols, Jenny Rosenstrach and Andy Ward, via bon appetit

For the dressing
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp grated peeled ginger
kosher salt

For the salad
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped (keep some seeds if you like it hot)
1/3 small head green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/3 small head red cabbage, thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
5-6 scallions, thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
3 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
2 cups baby spinach, thinly sliced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup pepitas
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

To make the dressing, combine the first 6 ingredients (oil through ginger) in a small bowl. Whisk well. Season with salt. If you'll be serving the dressing to anyone who can't handle a little heat (like my kids for instance), reserve a portion of it in a second small bowl. Add the jalapeño to the remaining dressing and stir.

Arrange a portion of the colorful sliced vegetables, chicken, and pepitas like a rainbow onto plates - one for each kid. Place a small bowl of (jalapeño-free) dressing in the center and serve to the munchkins in your life. 

Bean's a fan too

Roo likes it.

Now, combine the remaining vegetables and chicken in a large bowl. Drizzle the jalapeño dressing over the top and toss it all together. Sprinkle pepitas and toasted sesame seeds on top and voila...an elegant dinner for the grown-ups too.

If you happen to have a couple of buttermilk fried chicken strips lying around, go ahead and throw those on the plate too. Special thanks to the Pioneer Woman for the leftovers.

And if you're looking for even more variation and deconstruction inspiration, this Thai Steak Salad deconstructs equally well.

St. Patrick's Day Green Smoothie

Just in time for Saint Patrick's Day, here's one of my favorite green smoothies that even Looly will drink. Just don't expect her to say she likes it.

Spinach, ginger, coconut water...I know what you're thinking because I thought exactly the same thing. There's no way my kids are going to drink this without money changing hands. But don't let the abundance of healthy stuff dissuade you. There's pineapple too - lots of sweet, tropical pineapple and don't forget the green factor, especially with St. Paddy's Day just around the bend. Never miss an opportunity.

It's so fast and so easy, you've really nothing to lose even if they turn up their noses at first, which is precisely what Looly did. So I pulled out the big guns - fancy straws. Gets them every time.

Bean was sold at first sip. Roo, as usual, said he loved it, drank an ounce and was full for hours. Looly, on the other hand, claimed it to be the most excruciating beverage experience of her life, then proceeded to drink her entire glass. And mine. This morning she asked when we could make green smoothies again. She is a 6 and a half. 13 is looking dicey from here.

St. Patrick's Day Green Smoothies
serves 2 (or 1 adult and 3 kiddos)

8 ounces coconut water (sub regular H2O if you don't have coconut water)
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
2 big handfuls of baby spinach (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp honey (optional)

Pour the coconut water into a blender. Add the ginger and blend until frothy. Add everything else - pineapple, spinach, and a touch of honey if you like, and blend again until smooth. Serve in tall glasses, garnish with lemon wedges and the fanciest straws you can find.

Bottoms up.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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.