Crispy Baked Chicken Tenders

Since we started introducing solid foods to the munchkin about a year ago, she has pretty much been a vegetarian.  She was quick to like fruits, grains, dairy, and even eggs, but somehow none of the ways I prepared meat seemed to work for her.  Until I found this recipe for Chicken Teriyaki, which she gobbled up, but only if the chicken was cut into pieces barely bigger than the grains of rice it was mixed with!  And then recently, something changed, and she started becoming more open to different kinds of chicken, whether it be bigger pieces of the same Chicken Teriyaki, some chicken from a salad I ordered out, or chicken parmesan at an italian restaurant.  The theme seemed to be chicken was ok as long as it was really moist from a sauce or breading - fair enough!

So recently, I decided to try making some breaded chicken at home to see if she would really eat it, and boy did she - the first night she ate an entire chicken tender, which is quite a bit for a little munchkin!  I didn't do anything too fancy here; just followed a basic process for breading chicken and baking it in the oven.  The only thing I did to make it more kid friendly was to cut my chicken breasts into strips to make them like tenders, even though I wasn't just using the tender from the breast.  This helped with portioning for the munchkin, and had the added benefit of a higher breading to chicken ratio, but you could easily do the same thing with whole breasts - just adjust the cooking time accordingly.  You can also season your breadcrumbs however you want - I really like romano cheese and basil, but you could easily skip the cheese and use whatever seasoning makes you happy. 

I have to apologize in advance that the recipe may not be exactly right - I was improvising quite a bit and didn't pay attention to exact measurements, so please adjust the amounts as needed for your taste.  In the mean time I thought I'd share the basic idea and I will update if necessary the next time I make these!

Crispy Baked Chicken Tenders

1 lb chicken tenders, or boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 egg
3/4 cup plain panko or other dried breadcrumbs (please read ingredients here and find a brand that doesn't include partially hydrogenated oils!  Whole foods and Trader Joes both have good options)
2 tablespoons romano or parmesan cheese
Dried basil (enough so that it is visible throughout breadcrumb mixture)
Pinch of salt
Olive or canola oil spray

Preheat oven to 350 and line a large baking sheet with foil.  Spray baking sheet generously with oil.

Prepare 3 wide, shallow dishes (I used pasta bowls) as follows:  the first with flour, the second with egg beaten with a splash of water, and the third with breadcrumbs mixed with seasonings (in my case, cheese, basil, and salt).  Coat each piece of chicken with the flour, shaking off any excess.  Next, dip into the egg mixture, and finally into the breadcrumbs, ensuring that each piece is completely covered.  Place on prepared baking sheet.

Once all of the chicken is on the baking sheet, spray generously with oil.  Bake for 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through (it should be firm to the touch and easily pierced with a fork).  Try not to overbake!  Juicy with a very slight pink tinge is ok as long as you can see the fibers of the chicken are cooked and no longer has any raw texture when cut open.

Serve with the dipping sauce of your choosing - tomato sauce, ketchup, or bbq sauce would all work!

Serves 4

One Bowl Brownies

There is a debate in my family about brownies.  My mom thinks that Duncan Hines makes the best brownies, and I used to agree.  But once I started reading labels I just couldn't bring myself to make anything that includes ingredients like partially hydrogenated oil and artificial flavors.  Brownies shouldn't need factory processed chemicals to be delicious!  And to be honest, once I started thinking about what's in them, they stopped tasting as good to me...I don't know if my taste changed or my mind got in the way of my enjoyment, but I decided there has to be a better alternative. 

So I set out on the somewhat bizarre quest to make brownies that taste as "good" as the ones that come from the box!  I've tried out a few recipes that were promising, but none really blew me away, and my mother still won't let me make brownies for any family function based on my previous experiments.  So when I saw a recipe on Smitten Kitchen that Deb specifically said would appeal to those who love the boxed variety, I was intrigued!  I wanted to make brownies for my brother's family for the Yom Kippur break fast, which presented the perfect opportunity to test the new recipe out on my 5-year-old nephew who also loves brownies from a box.

I thought these brownies were absolutely delicious - dense, fudgy, and such a rich chocolate taste.  My nephew (and everyone else at the table) seemed to agree!  And the best part of this recipe is that it is made in just one bowl (plus a pot that just gets wet, not dirty), with one mixing utensil, and with ingredients that you may very well have in your kitchen already - I didn't have to buy a thing!

So while the holidays have not been the best opportunity to showcase healthy cooking, I feel good that through my experiments with spinach leek dip and brownies, I've proven to myself that we don't need chemicals in neat little packages to have tasty special occasion indulgences - good old wholesome ingredients still do the trick, and the effort involved does not need to be monumental.  Take that food manufacturers!  :)

Btw, how cool is this picture?  Thanks hubby!

One Bowl Brownies
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened natural or Dutch-process cocoa powder (this seems like an awfully fussy measurement to me...it simply means 2 tablespoons short of a cup, which I'd call a scant cup - I just didn't fill my cup all the way and it worked fine!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl on top of a pot of barely simmering water. Stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the pot and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added.

Stir in the vanilla, and then add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes. Stir in the nuts, if using (I didn't). Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, approximately 30 minutes.

Let cool completely on a rack. Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares.

Makes 16 smallish brownies

Easiest Noodle Kugel

For those of you who may not know what noodle kugel is, it's a dish traditionally served at Jewish holidays (at least in my family!).  It's basically a casserole made with a custard base and egg noodles, and is really yummy - it's almost like sweet mac & cheese with sour cream instead of cheese, and corn flakes on top instead of breadcrumbs :).  Not the most healthy dish - refined pasta loaded with butter, sour cream, and sugar, but hey, we're still talking about the holidays here!  But if it can't be a healthy side dish, can't it at least be easy?  Most noodle kugel recipes require cooking the pasta as a separate step (and creating another pot to clean), but I found one years ago that just requires putting uncooked pasta right in the baking dish.  Perfect. 

The resulting dish is soft, a little sweet, creamy, and delicious.  Everyone out there seems to have an idea of what kugel should be like - some will say there has to be raisins, or pineapple, or it should have cottage cheese, cinnamon, etc, but I really like this very simple recipe.  That being said, feel free to experiment - I think there's lots of room for playing here!

Btw, apologies for no picture on this post...forgot to take them while it was still fresh and didn't want to discourage anyone by taking pictures after it was already cold!  I promise to update when I make this again next year :)

Easiest Noodle Kugel
adapted from Epicurious

8 ounces wide egg noodles (feel free to try with whole wheat egg noodles if you can find them - I looked but didn't see any!)
1 cup raisins (optional)
5 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1/3 cup sugar (if you like a really sweet kugel you might want to increase this amount, but I like the lightly sweet version)
4 cups whole milk (or lowfat...I used half whole and half 1% with good results)
1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups cornflakes, coarsely crushed (I used Nature's Path organic)
1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish.

Spread uncooked noodles over bottom of prepared dish and sprinkle with raisins, if using. Whisk together eggs, sour cream, butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Pour mixture over noodles and let kugel stand 5 minutes.

Mix cornflakes and brown sugar in bowl and sprinkle evenly over kugel.

Bake kugel until set in center, about 1 hour. Cut into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 12

Spinach Leek Dip

Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited to my parents' and bother's houses for Rosh Hashanah, which meant I got two great holiday meals that I didn't have to host!  Of course, my mom and sister-in-law each asked for a different contribution.  For night one I made chocolate cheesecake which came out delicious, but I'm thinking it's not really a simple or wholesome enough creation for this blog.  For night two, I was responsible for bringing some snacks to nosch on before dinner.  I decided I'd bring a spinach dip, home-made pita chips, carrot sticks, and some grapes.  Pita chips were easy - you might recall my recipe that went along with the edamame hummus?  Well, I followed the same method but seasoned the chips simply with salt.

As for spinach dip, it turns out almost every recipe on the internet involves either a powdered soup mix (partially hydrogenated soybean oil?  disodium inosinate? I think not!) or has cheese in it and is meant to be served hot, which would have meant bothering my sister-in-law in the kitchen as she prepared a meal for 11 people.  I finally found a recipe on the Cookstr blog for Spinach-Leek Dip that looked tasty.  I was a little nervous since it had no reviews and I've never tried any of their recipes, but in the absense of a better choice I decided to give it a try!

The resulting dip was delicious, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  This is a recipe I'd really like to play with, though, potentially using frozen spinach instead of fresh (to skip the wilting step), onions instead of leeks and/or shallots (if I can't find organic leeks, onions always seem to be available! plus, I think a stronger oniony flavor would be nice), and a little less fat by replacing some of the mayo and sour cream with greek yogurt (I've seen this in other recipes as a way to reduce the fat while keeping the creaminess and tang).  If anyone out there decides to give these ideas a try, please let me know how it goes!  But overall, for a full-fat dip this one is certainly tasty and simple enough to make.

Spinach Leek Dip
adapted from Cookstr

4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 6-ounce bags baby spinach
1 cup thinly sliced leeks (white part only)
1/4 cup chopped shallots
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used less because I'm scared of cayenne, but you couldn't really detect the heat to feel free to use this full amount or potentially more if you want a kick)

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. In batches, stir in the spinach, wilting each batch before adding more. Sprinkle the spinach with 1 tablespoon water, cover, and cook until the spinach is tender, about 5 minutes. Allow to cool and squeeze out excess liquid by placing in a clean kitchen towel, forming a pouch, and twisting the top so all the liquid comes out through the towel (I have a green-stained towel in my kitchen dedicated to this purpose - it is really much easier and more effective than the handful at a time squeezing approach). Chop coarsely, but don't go overboard - it's just going in the food processor later anyway :)

Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the shallots and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 2 minutes. Cool completely.

Combine the spinach, cooled vegetables, sour cream, mayonnaise, dill, and cayenne in a food processor and process until blended. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and cover tightly. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.

Serve chilled with pita chips, tortilla chips, veggies, or anything else you can think of!

Summer in review...I'm back!!

Hi everybody!!  Sorry for the long hiatus...I didn't plan to take the whole summer off, but, well, we've had a lot going on.  First of all, we moved!  After 9 years of city life and a year and a half entertaining a munchkin with a lot of energy in a 2 bedroom apartment, we finally decided leave the city in search of real space.  I am now officially a suburbanite and, despite initial mixed feelings about moving, absolutely loving it.  You might not think that moving justifies a 2 month vacation from blogging, but let me add that for about a month this summer we were homeless - apartment was sold but we didn't have our house yet, so we were crashing with my parents.  And despite the fact that my mom has a fabulous kitchen, somehow not being in my own home did not encourage a lot of cooking.

On top of the multiple moves (as if that wasn't enough!), the munchkin is going to become a big sister next March!  Very exciting, but unfortunately first trimester fatigue and food aversions took my already limited motivation to experiment in the kitchen down to approximately zero. 

I'm hoping you'll forgive my absence now that you know why!  Especially since now that the first trimester is over and I'm all settled into my new home with my own fabulous non-apartment sized kitchen, my motivation is back in full force!  I already have a backlog of recipes to post.  In the mean time, while it has taken me a while to start trying new recipes again, I have been referring back to this blog for cooking ideas while I got organized.  I thought I'd highlight some old favorites that I've retested and still love :)

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes: I have made these twice in the past few weeks, and they are really delicious...you would never think they are so packed with whole grains, and the spices add enough flavor that I actually enjoy them without any syrup!  Talk about a healthy snack :)  I've updated the recipe since I've now had luck using a combination of milk and yogurt instead of buttermilk, which is not something I generally have on hand.

100% Whole Wheat Bread: Really yummy with way less effort than I would have ever imagined - amazing way impress everyone you know by making bread from scratch.  Although I just got a bread machine now that I have a real kitchen, so stay tuned for some bread machine specific recipes!

Salmon Cakes: Every time I make these I'm actually surprised how much I like them :)  I've updated the instructions with a tip on coating the patties with breadcrumbs without having them fall apart.

Lentil Soup: I have made this for company twice in the past few weeks and got rave reviews from visitors ranging from age 1 to 88!  This included the munchkin, who is generally not a fan of vegetables, as well as my very picky dad :).  I've updated the directions slightly based on my recent experiment with green lentils instead of red (the red give a prettier color and cook faster, but green turns out equally delicious!)  This is something I always like to have in my freezer for the perfect lunch or dinner any time.

Also, as a preview of what's to come, I think I'm finally ready to share the rest of my pizza story!  Plus, I made some really tasty chicken tenders and a wholesome spinach dip that did not require powdered seasoning from a packet :)  Stay tuned for more!

Carrot Coconut Muffins

Ok, I'll admit it right up front, this is the third time I'm posting a variation of this recipe - first as carrot cupcakes, and the second time as carrot zucchini muffins.  But I promise, these muffins keeps getting healthier AND better, so even if you're sick of hearing about them, I want to remember what I did! 

If you recall, one of my complaints about this recipe is that I found the muffins to be very sticky.  I thought maybe it was due to the agave, but substituting mostly granulated sugar didn't seem to help.  Then, when I re-read the recipe this time I had an epiphany - these muffins are practically fat free!  There is fat in the shredded coconut, but very little in the batter (only from the egg yolks) - no wonder they stuck!  I would have liked to replace the apple sauce with canola oil this time to see what would happen, but I am moving next week and trying to clear out my pantry, which meant I was down to about 1 tablespoon of canola oil.  Instead, I finished up my canola oil, filled up to 1/4 cup with olive oil, and then kept apple sauce for the other 1/4 cup.

I was also interested in cutting the sugar in this recipe, so since I am out of agave as well, I decided to use all brown sugar (pantry is really bare - I'm out of regular sugar, too!)  The third change was in the shredding of the carrots.  I tend to buy baby carrots, but have found they are basically impossible to grate by hand and a total pain in the tush to grate with the food processor (I end up with huge chunks of carrot in the bowl - anyone else have this problem??).  So instead, this time I just threw the carrots in with the chopping blade and processed until I practically had a puree.  And the final change was to cut back 3 eggs to 2 because, well, I just couldn't figure out how these muffins could possibly need 3 whole eggs!

And the outcome?  As you have probably already guessed, total success - muffins did not stick at all, even without liners, but still got nice and brown on the outside while maintaining a moist interior.  They are different from a carrot cake in that you can't see the shredded carrot, but I actually like that they have a more traditional muffin texture.  They are also definitely less sweet than the original, but again, I am ok with that given that I'm using these as a muffin instead of a cupcake (if I were making cupcakes with the glaze, I might keep the sugar at 3/4 cup while still using some oil in place of applesauce).  I hope you enjoy these - please let me know what you think!

Carrot Coconut Muffins
adapted from me!

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups grated (or very finely processed) carrots (approximately 1 lb)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup sugar (I used packed brown; regular granulated should work, too!)
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with oil.

In a medium bowl, whisk together whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. In a large bowl, mix together carrots, coconut, sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until well blended.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tins. Bake for approximately 20 minutes for mini-muffins (regular muffins will probably take about 25 minutes, although I didn't test this myself) until brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a few minutes and then remove to cool completely on a rack.

Makes 24 mini-muffins (should make 12 standard size)

Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti

**This post has been updated since it's original posting date in December 2009**

My husband and I love pasta.  We could, and do, eat it several times a week, every week.  Usually we just make some pasta to toss with veggies and some chicken, but every once in a while we need to dress pasta up for company.  And that's where this recipe comes in.  It is a combination of recipes from 2 of my favorite Food Network chefs - Ellie Krieger, who makes healthier versions of traditional dishes, and Rachael Ray, who has great ideas for making quick meals.

The dish includes turkey meatballs, quick homemade tomato sauce, and whole wheat spaghetti - incredibly healthy, simple, and impressive and tasty enough for company, especially when served with a salad (e.g., caesar, or simple arugula) and some bread.  The sauce is also versatile - you can use it whenever you need a basic tomato sauce, since it comes together so quickly!

Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti
adapted from Food Network (here and here)

Meatballs
Cooking spray
1 pound ground turkey meat
1 slice fresh whole-wheat bread
1/2 cup carrot
1/2 small onion
2 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Sauce
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 cup chicken stock (or beef stock if using sauce with traditional meatballs or meatsauce)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
10 leaves fresh basil leaves, torn or thinly sliced
Splash of red wine (optional)

Other
1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
Additional parmesan/romano cheese for passing at the table
Crusty bread
 
Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil.  Preheat the broiler on high.  Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray with a non-stick spray (olive or canola oil).
 
Place the ground turkey in a large bowl.  Remove the crust from a slice of wheat bread, pulse to crumbs in a food processor, and add to turkey.  Finely chop onion, garlic, and carrots in the food processor and add to turkey.  Add remaining ingredients (parmesan, egg, thyme, salt, and pepper) and mix well with clean hands.  Divide mixture into 12 lightly rolled balls and place on prepared baking sheet.
 
Place a saucepan over medium heat.  Wipe out the bowl of the food processor and add chop onion and garlic for sauce.  Add oil, onion, garlic and red pepper to pan and sautee.  (Note that this is half the red pepper from the original recipe, which I think is enough to add subtle heat - feel free to add more if you prefer).  Once onions are soft, add crushed tomatoes and stock and simmer.
 
At this point, place the meatballs under the broiler for approximately 8-10 minutes, until tops are brown and meatballs are almost entirely cooked through.  Take the meatballs out of the broiler, and add to the sauce along with the basil and wine (if using)*.  At this point, salt the boiling water and add spaghetti.  The meatballs will keep cooking in the sauce while the pasta cooks.
 
When the pasta is ready, drain and toss with a few ladles of sauce, and pour the rest of the sauce and meatballs on top.  Serve with salad, bread, and additional parmesan or romano cheese. 
 
Serves 4 hungry adults

*This sauce is somewhat chunky, with obvious pieces of tomato and onion.  If you prefer a smoother sauce, feel free to use an immersion (stick) blender to puree the sauce before adding the meatballs, basil, and wine.