My Week in Food

Like much of the country, my focus in food this week has been lightening things up in the kitchen after more than a few heavy holiday meals. Stocking up on fresh produce and pulling out the juicer seemed like a good start. On the left: beet, carrot, lime. On the right: kale, apple ginger.

Used the leftover kale for a main dish salad dressed (or rather, massaged) with warm garlic-infused olive oil and Meyer lemon salt that I can’t stop putting on nearly everything. Often those sorts of specialty items grow cobbwebs in my cupboard, but this salt is a winner (amazing on eggs). Mine was a gift, but I found something similar here at The Meadow, in case you’re interested.

See, there’s that salt again, this time sprinkled over an avocado. After an afternoon of New Year’s Day football during which I got reacquainted with my long-forgotten love for Fritos,  I figured it was time to switch up my snack (but darnit those chips are good).

My mom popped in to hang with the kids one night while Mr. Mom’s Kitchen and I dashed out for a date, so I made a pot of Chipotle Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup from Crave Something Healthy. So good (and so easy) I sort of wished I was dining at home.

If my children turn orange this week you’ll know why. Another meal rich in color was this roasted butternut squash (400 degrees until fork-tender) which was a base for spicy turkey marinara in lieu of pasta. Honestly, the combo is killer; nobody missed the spaghetti.

Looking at my photos this week, including today’s school lunch,  the theme appears to be COLOR, which makes sense since I’ve been inspired by the bright and beautiful Eating in Color cookbook from Frances Largeman Roth. If your New Year’s Resolution has anything to do with eating better, this is a terrific place to start.

Another terrific place to start eating better is San Marzanos, the gold standard in good tomatoes (especially when fresh are out of season). Just spied them sold in boxes instead of BPA-lined cans.

So I bought up a couple and got them working in this Moroccan Lamb and Vegetable Stew. The recipe and spices came from Insalatas in San Anselmo. If you live nearby, have a peek at their little market at the side of the restaurant. Good stuff in there.

Good stuff in here, too: the fixings for chicken pot pie, something I grew up on, but always from a box.

Making it homemade was pretty straightforward using the Chicken and Mushroom Pot Pie recipe from Cooking Light. No leftovers.

In addition to detoxing my pantry, I detoxed my kitchen, by cleaning out cupboards and refinishing counters. Had to snap a photo since this moment of minimalism was fleeting. Clutter and chaos returned by day’s end. Sigh.

Oops, how did this get in here? Homemade peppermint ice cream? Wasn’t I supposed to be detoxing? Gotta make room for such pleasures in life, even if it is between a green smoothie and a bowl of sweet potato soup.

It’s a notion seconded in this TED talk I listened to called, Why Dieting Usually Doesn’t Work by a neuroscientist who learned the hard way after 30 years of diets. Worth a listen, especially if you’re thinkng of launching into a New Year’s Diet.

Worth a look is this soon-to-be-published book on all things yogurt by Cheryl Sternman Rule. More to come on that, I’m sure.

How was your Week in Food?