My Week in Food

Easter week always means planting my garden. Tried a few newbies this year: spinach, padrone peppers, and radiccio. Hope in a dirt bed, I call it. Fingers crossed.

Easter morning always starts with Maria Sinskey’s Overnight Cinnamon Rolls. I didn’t lift a finger for these beauties. Training kids to cook is paying off.

I did lift a finger for our annual Lighter Coconut Carrot Easter Cake, but experimented with a new frosting. Clearly I didn’t do so well; this first batch ended up down the drain.

Managed with the second batch, but resolved to stick to our tried and true recipe next year.

This was my favorite on the Easter buffet: Tender spring carrots and onions tossed with cumin, coriander, fennel seed, turmeric, salt, pepper, and olive oil and roasted at 400 degrees. Served them with a side of Greek yogurt perfumed with lemon zest,  mint,  and olive oil. I would have bathed in that yogurt if we didn’t have company.

This has become a rhubarb-season staple in our house. A quick compote using about 3 stalks of rhubarb cut into 1/2-inch pieces, 1 basket strawberries, stemmed and halved, 2 tablespoons honey, and 2 tablespoons water. Stir in a small pot and let it bubble gently on the stove, stirring regularly, until the rhubarb is just tender. Add more honey if you like it sweeter.

It’s excellent on toast, in yogurt parfaits, or alongside pork chops. Here’s a variation on the pork chop/rhubarb theme.

Lots of quinoa experimenting this week, starting with tabouleh for lunch boxes.

Warmed with milk, fruit, and walnuts for breakfast quinoa.

And made into this pretty salad. Recipe coming your way next week.

Food for thought this week was an article by friend and fellow dietitian Jill Castle on Feeding a Teen: The Days of Control are Gone in the New York Times’ Motherlode. It’s a little reminiscent of my own post a few years back on feeding teens.

Book marking this recipe for the very near future: Smokey Artichoke Hummus Dip from Heather Christo.

How was your Week in Food?