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power food friday: roasted beet and butternut toss
I didn’t forget about Power Food Fridays, I just, well, haven’t posted one in awhile . . . I think it’s been over a year. Maybe two.
Okay, so I’m not the most consistent person you’ll ever meet. But I’m trying to turn that around.
Anyway, onto business . . .
Beets are a serious power food. I mean, look at their color! Usually, the more colorful a fruit or vegetable is, the higher in nutrients it is.
They boast beta-carotene, folate, Vitamin C, iron, and fiber. Don’t you just feel good about yourself when you eat them? I love them in just about anyway that you can serve them: roasted, juiced, canned, pickled, sliced, and in cake. Yeah, I pretty much love beets. They might even be my favorite vegetable. What do you think about beets? Are you a lover or a hater? What about your kids?
how to make balsamic strawberries
I should probably call this post “How to Make Macerated Balsamic Strawberries,” but I’m not a fan of the word macerated.
Yeah, because I’m just that mature.
I’m posting these to go with the Eton Mess I posted yesterday, but I’m a huge fan of balsamic strawberries anyway, whether I’m eating them alone, on top of a Pavlova (which is, let’s be honest, just a tidier version of Eton Mess), in a strawberry shortcake, or my favorite way: on top of vanilla ice cream.
classic eton mess
I’m what people consider an Anglophile (don’t you hate words that end in -phile?). I love Downton Abbey . . . Ben Barnes . . . Charlie Hunnam, all recent super hero casting choices . . . I love the English countryside, and how beautiful it is to see one solitary tree on a hillside meadow dotted with white sheep. I love C.S. Lewis and fairytales. I love Bath; I love Jane Austen novels. I know that if I could start my life over again, I would spend at least a year or two in Oxford after I graduated from college, just in case some ruddy cheeked footballing graduate student wanted to fall in love with me and start a family.
This recipe is for any of you who are like me. It’s very simple, it originated at the school attended by Prince William and Lord Grantham 
, and it’s absolutely delicious. Or perhaps I should say brilliant.
sweet potato tomato soup
Here’s just a quick soup I came up with when I happened to have basil on my counter and I needed to get rid of some sweet potatoes. It has a great balance of sweet and savory, and I love that I didn’t need to add any kind of stock—the flavor was great without it. The sweet potato rounds out the acidity of the tomatoes, and can be the main star of the soup, or just play a supporting role.
the doughnut plant
meringues
When I was in Elementary school, a girl in my class brought in meringues her mother had made. They were white on the outside, but when you bit into them, you found M&Ms hidden inside. My nine-year-old self could not believe how amazing they were.
I made my chocolate meringue kisses ages ago to be like those M&M meringues, but these white ones are a simpler version. They’re just about as simple as you can get, but the possibilities are endless. You can mix in candies, pipe them into different shapes, swirl in colors, or flavors . . . you can do just about anything.
chicken quinoa soup
I need to drum up some serious positive thinking, ‘cuz I just came down with something and right now I feel like a blunt awl is tunneling into the left side of my skull.
Positive thought #1: Good thing I made this chicken soup for the kids last week. They had all taken the week off from school, with their little faces glued to shows like Kickin’ It and Good Luck Charlie, so they could get rid of this fever and sore throat they all had. They never ate (drank, whatever you insist on saying) the soup, so now I still have a big pot of it for me.
Positive thought #2: On Saturday night, when I was watching a movie with some friends, I started aching all over my body and shivering. I knew had caught what my kids had. Oddly enough, I kind of like fevers—they mean I have a provable illness and can take time off and no one will judge me—but the headaches that come with them . . . they’re maddening. (In case you missed the positive thought in there, it was the bit about taking time off.)
Positive thought #3: The people at Muir Glen sent me samples of their amazing tomatoes awhile ago, and I used them for the soup. And I’ll totally be talking about them again soon.
Positive thought #4: I awoke this morning to find my friend Jon shoveling my walkway at 7:15. I have good friends.
banana bread protein shake
It is now two weeks after New Years, and I think we can safely say the holidays are over. I tend to come up with an excuse every day in January that conveniently pushes back the end of the holidays and my resolution to eat healthy and get fit. But it is best to ease into things, right?
cranberry orange cream cheese pound cake
I know this recipe is a little more suited to about two weeks ago, but I just could not get myself to bake this holiday season. What was that all about? I’ve had butter sitting on my counter for weeks so I could make it into something that required it to be at room temperature, and I just haven’t done anything.
Will someone please tell me now why I haven’t dropped ten pounds for demonstrating such restraint?
This is the same poundcake I showed you about four years ago, only this time I added chopped cranberries and orange zest. You can add it to your list of treats to make next December, or you can just make it as one last homage to the passing holiday. And then start your diet . . . tomorrow.
I also learned a little trick!! Every time I make this cake at high altitude, it always sinks. But a couple weeks ago, I thought I’d change the kind of flour I used, just to see if there would be a difference. I tried making it with bread flour, thinking the extra gluten would help give the cake the structure it was lacking, and guess what! It worked!!
easy dinners from whole foods and zoës kitchen
Can someone please tell me where December went?? I swear, it was just the end of November, and I was wondering why the month was taking so long, and then I blinked, and now it’s three days before Christmas. Talk about crazy. I still have peppers and tomatoes I bought at the beginning of the month that I still have not used. I keep wondering, Did I cook this month? Did we do anything?
I know we watched Elf. I know we set up the Christmas tree. I think that’s about it. We must have ordered a lot of pizza or something.
I know we ate several Whole Foods’ new frozen dinners. They had recently asked me to sample some of the new products, so I trekked up to Salt Lake and stocked up on a bunch. Our favorites were definitely the Italian dinners, particularly the Wood-Fired Buffalo Mozzarella Pizza with Cherry Tomatoes and the Gnocchi alla Sorrentina (our favorite). Their new line, with the white packaging and this logo, also includes desserts and ice cream.
To go along with the same idea, there’s a fantastic a restaurant called Zoës Kitchen* which has locations around the country. They wanted me to help get the word out about their company, which is a fast-casual restaurant that offers tasty and simple homemade Mediterranean-inspired dishes hand-prepared daily with wholesome, close-to-the-garden ingredients. They cater events, but the best part is, they sell convenient Fresh Take Tubs To Go, which can be purchased at their many locations around the country. They also provide recipes with the Fresh Take Tubs, so you can turn something simple into a great meal for your family. They asked me to try some of them out. I have to say, my favorite of all the recipes they sent was their Hash Browns.
What made it special was that it was made from their Potato Salad. All you do heat up some oil in a hot skillet, and then add the potato salad. Once it cooks, all the flavor from the potato salad is already cooked in. You serve it with some eggs, and you have the perfect breakfast for dinner, which we love around here.
Now, I mostly cook from scratch. I usually do that because it saves money, and I know what is going into my food. But I am all for buying convenience foods if I can pronounce everything on the ingredients label, and it comes from Zoë’s Kitchen or Whole Foods. On crazy evenings around the holidays, I love knowing that a good meal is only ten minutes away.
*In an earlier version of this post, I made a mistake by saying that Zoës Kitchen Tubs To Go were available at Whole Foods, but I was mistaken. I’m very sorry for the confusion. To learn everything you need to know about Zoë’s Kitchen and their great products, please visit their website at www.zoeskitchen.com.
