Eating our Greens (and lots of Ice Cream)

In enjoyment of the produce of summertime, and to offset the junk food that is inherent in summer eating, I have been cooking lots of veggie-driven meals.  Corn on the cob, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini and melons have played a leading role our table.

Kale is one of the “super foods” I have been playing around with in the kitchen as well.  

My friend Melissa mentioned this Kale Salad that she makes and I tried the recipe. It is super simple and just what I want for a summer lunch.  I have been craving it so much that I have made it 4 times in the last few weeks!  I also think it’s great as a side with a piece of grilled chicken or fish for dinner.  One day I stirred in chunks of grilled chicken and feta and had a meal in a bowl.

Here's how simple it is:

Chop about 6 cups of Kale in the food processor until it is fairly finely chopped

add 1 cup cooked quinoa

and 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

and 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Toss all of these together.

In a measuring cup make the dressing: 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and a pinch of coarse salt and ground pepper.  

MIx well and pour over the salad, stirring and adding as much as needed.

ENJOY!

It keeps well in the fridge for a few days.

Feel free to tweak the recipe as you like, putting more or less (or different ingredients) to make it the taste that you like.

The other thing we like to make with kale is Kale Chips.

They are one of my 9 year old's favorite treats. They are simple to make and are a tasty way to “eat your greens”.  I follow Smitten Kitchen’s recipe. So simple and yummy.

Smoothies are another almost daily request in our home and to get some good spinach nutrients into my kids, our featured smoothie has been the SNOT smoothie.  (Aptly named for the beautiful green color. I usually give a big, dramatic "Ahhhhhhhh Choo!" as I am about to plunge the straws in to serve the smoothies to my gang!)

The smoothies contain: fresh spinach, frozen bananas, frozen mango and vanilla yogurt.  If it’s too thick to blend, I add some cold water to thin it.  They are so delicious and beautiful too. (Much more beautiful than snot).

Another healthy thing we are trying
to make sure we add to our "diet" is SMILING!

I saw this message at the Frothy Monkey a couple of weeks ago and had to take a photo to hold onto this reminder!

And in case you think we are super-food, super-healthy all the time, DO NOT BE DECEIVED! We have been eating lots of tacos and guacamole, burgers, egg and cheese wraps, and we have been eating our fair share of ice cream.

Blue Bell Ice Cream has been on sale at the grocery, so of course we have had to get it!

And we have been making floats- rootbeer/vanilla ice cream; and Sprite/rainbow sherbet - a family tradition in my growing-up-home.

And we finally took our kids to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream for the first time.

(We had been holding out because it is the cost of a meal for our family to each get a small ice cream there.)  But as a prize for their summer rewards plan, we did it.  

YUM! Buttermilk Strawberry, Salty Caramel, Chamomile, Toasted Coconut, Milkiest Chocolate in the World, Brambleberry Crisp... this is some splendid ice cream!

Hoping your summer is filled with some farm-fresh produce as well some sweet treats!

Salad for Dinner...a Summertime Winner

Salad for dinner. It just feels right on a hot summer evening.  I like to make a salad bar, where people can put what they want, and how much they want of each item.  We started making this “Cobb Salad” a few years ago with our small group from church.  We were looking for a semi-healthy meal, but one that was simple, hearty, and kid-friendly all at the same time.  This was our solution.  We like that if we serve rolls or some kind of good bread with it, then even people who don’t want to have a salad for dinner, can enjoy it (grilled chicken, some boiled eggs, tomato and cucumber slices and a hunk of bread).  And for those of us who love a great big dinner salad, we can pile it all on and feast on the beautiful bounty!

I have to say that there is something about this salad.  It is so good.  When our friend Blair had her “last supper” with our group before moving to Knoxville, she requested the Cobb Salad menu as her favorite small group meal.  

Our friend Ashley (who I mentioned a couple of posts ago) when she was visiting from South Africa sent this Instagram the night after having Cobb Salad at our house for dinner.

Lay it all out as a buffet and let people build their own salad.

like this...

and this.

Here is what we usually include:

Lettuce (typically Romaine and Spinach mixed together)

Grilled Chicken Tenderloins- one of our favorite marinades is a twist on Ina Garten’s Lemon Marinade, but we lessen the oil and substitute orange juice for the lemon juice to make it less tart.

Marinade:

3/4 cup good orange juice

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. dried thyme or 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme (I omit sometimes
              for kids)

3 pounds boneless chicken tenderloins 

Whisk together the juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme.  Pour over chicken in a nonreactive bowl.  Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, (or overnight).  Heat grill and cook over medium heat until cooked through.

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

          And/or Feta (as an optional cheese)

Hard Boiled Eggs – this is a key ingredient! (I follow Martha Stewart’s instructions on boiling eggs: Place eggs in a single layer in a pan of cold water (water covering the eggs).  Set on the stove top.  Turn on high heat.  Let it come to a boil.  Close lid and REMOVE from burner.  Set your timer for 12 minutes.  Let stand.  Then rinse under cold water and crack eggs with cold water running over.

Bacon crumbles – a little goes a long way

Croutons- I make mine oftentimes out of stale crusty bread…super easy and yummy! Tear or cut bread into pieces. Toss bread in olive oil – I drizzle a little over the bread or use olive oil cooking spray, as it coats more evenly.
Place in a 400˚ oven for 10 minutes or until golden.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with kosher salt (and garlic salt, etc. if you prefer)

Avocado Slices

Diced tomatoes

Sliced Cucumbers

Dressing of your choice- one night at group, one of the guys said, “I think I went wrong with my dressing choice last time.  What do you all recommend for Cobb Salad?” (He had used an Asian Sesame dressing last time). The dressing choice is crucial.  You want something that brings the flavors of the ingredients together.  I love poppy seed dressing on it.  Some people prefer honey mustard, or even a buttermilk ranch, but Italian is often our standard.  As far as bought varieties, Dave and I love the Olive Garden Italian you can get at Sam's.  Or we like THIS homemade vinaigrette. And you can’t go wrong with THIS Greek dressing!

This is a great dinner menu if:

*you are hot and want a “cold” but filling dinner, OR

*you need a prep-ahead meal (because most of it can be made ahead of time), OR

*you are having a gathering and people are bringing items (as it’s an easy-to-delegate yet quick-to- throw-together meal), OR
*you have a grilling partner and then one of you can grill while the other preps the other ingredients, OR

*you have people with varying food needs  (healthy, or low carb, or dairy free or vegetarian) since everyone stacks their own salad, they can make it as they want/need.

Raspberry Almond Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

I love how children shed light on things by questioning what we adults sometimes don't think to question.  

Like why is a hamburger called a "hamburger" instead of a "beefburger"?

Or why is  a "step parent" called a "step" parent?

Or is he a 2nd cousin, or a cousin-in-law, or a cousin twice-removed,  and why?

Or why is coffee cake called "coffee cake" if it's not coffee-flavored?

I made this yummy coffee cake recently, that my friend, Haley introduced me to at church. 

When I made it I asked the kids if they wanted to try it, and Lainey said, “No, thanks, I don’t like coffee.”  

I said, “Oh no, there’s no coffee in it, it’s almond raspberry cream cheese! You love all of those things!”

To which she replied, “Then why is it called coffee cake?” 

I said, “Well, you eat it with coffee.”

"But I don't drink coffee."

"True, but you don't have to drink coffee with it, you just could."

“Why?”, she asked. 

“Because it’s like breakfast cake, kinda, I guess, or afternoon cake with coffee…you know, I am not sure.  It’s kinda confusing, huh?”

So I did what any good mom would do.  I googled:  “Origin of Coffee Cake”.

And here’s what I discovered:

According to Wikipedia: (bold my addition)

Coffee cake is a common cake or sweetbread available in many countries.  The term “coffee cake” can refer to any of the following: 

A class of cakes intended to be eaten alongside coffee (for example, as part of a breakfast meal) or that may be eaten during a “coffee break” or offered to guests as a gesture of hospitality on or around a coffee table.  Under this definition, a coffee cake does not necessarily contain coffee.  They are typically single layer cakes that may be square or rectangular like a Stollen or loaf shaped rectangular cakes, or they may be ring shaped.   Coffee cakes may be flavored with cinnamon or other spices, seeds, nuts and fruits.  These cakes sometimes have a crumbly or crumb topping called streusel and/or light glaze drizzle.

Since I love coffee, and would choose to drink it morning, mid day and evening.  I could, by this definition, eat this cake 3 times a day! Fabulous! 

And since this definition doesn’t narrow down things very much, my suggestion is that we come up with a definition of what’s NOT a coffee cake. 

A coffee cake is a cake that is NOT covered with thick frosting, served at a wedding or with candles on top for a birthday. Pretty much, that’s what’s I surmise is not a coffee cake.  Most everything else could potentialy qualify.  

This coffee cake is one of the yummiest I have ever had.  The day Haley brought it to church,  I tasted a sliver, and proceeded to walk around the crowd, asking people if they knew who made this cake!? I found out it was Haley and in the next few minutes, people started asking me about the cake – if I knew who made it!  By the end of the morning, 3 or 4 of us had requested the recipe.  She said she got it from a Cookbook from her daughter's school.  My mom has a theory that church cookbooks/school/neighborhood cookbooks, etc. where people submit their favorite and best recipes, you find winning dishes.  Individuals have taken their best, tried and true recipes, and put their name beside it and put them in the cookbook.  This qualifies.

 It’s like an almond crumble cake– meets a raspberry cream cheese danish.

Raspberry Almond CreamCheese Coffee Cake

 

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter, cold and diced into pieces

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp almond extract

1 egg

8 oz softened cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

 

1/2 cup raspberry preserves (I prefer a little more than this)

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat 350. Grease and flour 10" spring form pan.

Combine flour and ¾ cup sugar; cut in butter to make coarse crumb. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture. To remaining crumbs add baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, almond extract and egg. Blend well. Spread over bottom and 2 inches up sides of pan.

Combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg. Blend well. Pour into batter prepared pan. Carefully spoon preserves over batter. Combine reserved crumbs and almonds and sprinkle over preserves. Bake 45-55 minutes; or until cream cheese is set and crust is golden.

So if you have a need for a sweet treat for breakfast with coffee, or for "coffee break" (if your workplace has those), or to serve at your coffee table, I highly recommend this one.  

(Oh, and this almond shortbread,  and almond poundcake, or this gorilla bread, or plum cake,  or apple cake,  or lemon berry poundcake , and my go-to-sour cream poundcake.  I think these all might qualify for coffee cake! )