Family Bites

Harissa Chicken with Potatoes and Asparagus

Earlier this year, when I asked you what you want to read about here, the recurring theme was “easy weeknight dinners made in one pot.” I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw those words because a) that’s totally my jam these days, too and b) I’m writing a book on the very topic, which confirms I’m on the right track with my work.

For obvious reasons, I can’t dish on all the meals I’ve been creating, but last week I put one together specifically with you in mind. It’s adapted from one my favourite new cookbooks, Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark, and hits all the hallmarks of a quality family meal. One pan? Check. Healthy? Check. Quick cooking? If you think 40 minutes of mostly hands-off time is quick (I do), then yes, check.

My favourite thing about this dish is that it brings big flavour to the table without intimidating the cook, and can easily be tweaked to cater to the ever-changing taste buds of a toddler. Two-year-olds are nothing if not fickle, especially when it comes to food, and while I really think I have a great eater on my hands, what he likes one day is totally despised the next, so having some flexibility with what I cook is key for me right now. 

Super Bowl Sandwich Spread

Last weekend, I threw the second of three birthday parties I’m in charge of hosting in January/February. It unintentionally became the easiest, most popular party we’ve hosted in a long time, and the fact that it also happened to be a no-cook meal that cost less than $100 (to feed 23 people) only reaffirmed that this is a party menu everyone should know about.

Jackson is very invested in his birthday parties, often declaring them his favourite day of the year, so he has big thoughts and feelings about the cake and what we should (and shouldn’t!) serve for the meal. When we sat down to plan what this year’s celebration would look like, we immediately knew it needed to be a lunch event. He’s in the middle of first semester exams, and midday meals usually don’t last as long as evening ones. One day last week, during a much-needed study break, we were debating the merits of both mac and cheese and tacos, when he suddenly bolted upright and declared he would have a build-your-own-sandwich bar for his birthday celebration this year.

Saucy Cranberry and Soy-Glazed Meatballs

As I wrote on SavvyMom last week, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season doesn’t leave much time for making warm and nourishing meals at the end of a long day, does it? It doesn’t matter how many hours you log at work or in the kitchen baking holiday treats, you’re still left with children, spouses, partners and maybe even parents who need and expect a decent dinner.

How is that even possible? Don’t they know your to-do list is ten things too long right now? Just kidding, of course. But the cold, hard truth is that despite all that’s going on this month, dinner still needs to land on the table sometime between five and six o’clock each night, and ideally it will be made with more than leftover eggnog and broken cookies.

10 Things You Can Do to Prep for Thanksgiving

This week – the one leading up to Thanksgiving - is one of my favourites of the year. I intentionally clear my calendar so I can spend several days prepping the big meal, organizing activities for the kids, adding a little festive décor to the house, and planning far too much food for our larger-by-the-year crowd. I’ve learned a lot about cooking this meal over the years and have a few ideas to help us all feel completely in control. Here are my suggestions:

1. Find Butter on Sale

If I’m really on the ball I’ll start looking for good-quality butter on sale in the weeks leading up Thanksgiving. When I find it I stock up and put anywhere between six to ten pounds in my freezer because Thanksgiving is not the time to worry about calories and cholesterol. I don’t know what it is, but when I’m low on butter I start to feel twitchy and the surplus keeps me calm while cooking a big meal. If I’m not thinking ahead, and only notice my butter supply is low a few days before the holiday (gasp!), I just type the word into my favourite flyer app, source the best product/price and hop in the car in search of my holiday meal’s best friend and ultimate flavour booster.

2. Make Cranberry Sauce

Homemade cranberry sauce couldn’t be easier or more economical to make so please don’t tell me you buy the kind in the can. Instead, take 10 or 15 minutes tonight (yes, TONIGHT!) and make a batch. It will keep well in the refrigerator until you need it on Sunday or Monday. It’s these small steps taken over the course of a few days leading up to the holiday that make cooking this meal so much easier than you might expect. When I’m out buying my butter tonight I hope to see a few of you in the grocery store with a bag or two of cranberries in hand. (Side Note: Apply the same make-ahead philosophy to your side dishes by examining them for tasks that can be completed in advance - like blanching veggies and toasting nuts.)

3. Make Pie Crust

Ditto for the pie crust. Even if you haven’t completely decided what kind of pie you want to make for dessert (hand raised!) stashing a few discs of frozen dough in the freezer will make your life easier and make you feel like the domestic goddess you are. Having said that, if you want to go the store-bought frozen pie dough route feel free. No judgement here. For real.

4. Plan Your Menu

I can’t emphasize this enough. If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner this weekend and you don’t know what you’re making stop reading right now and go plan your menu. Just kidding. Don’t stop reading. But do start thinking about what you’re going to serve your family and friends, and try to have a plan in place before the end of the day.

Southwest-Style Shepherd's Pie

My oldest friend from University was here for dinner last week. Over a few glasses of hard cider the conversation turned to the summer, the weather, and how much he loved the heat this year. He’s a bit of a sun worshiper and found the winters when we lived in the limestone city to challenge his mental health just a little, simply because it was so dark and depressing there during the snowy season. I couldn’t feel more opposite, and found this past summer to be an especially trying one. Simply put, I just don’t enjoy the excessively warm temperatures or the scorching sun, and I spend two solid months feeling my insides wilt not unlike the droopy basil plants in our backyard garden.

I’m convinced I might actually suffer from seasonally affected disorder in the reverse, and after chatting with Jeff last week I did a quick Google search on the subject, and lo and behold about one percent of the population feels the same way I do. Summer scrooges unite! I literally count down the seconds until sweater weather arrives, and as soon as it does I instantly notice an improvement in my mood, manner, and general well-being. I also feel inspired, capable of accomplishment and am excited to cook again, because goodness knows I do lose a little love for standing in front of the stove when the mercury is on the rise.

21 Questions for Allison Day (Whole Bowls Review)

I’ve long said that one of the very best things to come from food blogging are the friendships that have been formed along the way, and today’s post is an excellent example of that fellowship in full effect.

My friend Allison Day – Canadian food blogger extraordinaire – recently released her first cookbook, Whole Bowls. I haven’t actually met Allison in person, only briefly spotting her across the room at last September’s Taste Canada food writing awards, where we were both nominees (she won, I didn’t). However, thanks to the positive powers of social media we became quite friendly in the months that followed, and in January discovered we share a literary agent. Since then we’ve exchanged numerous emails, most of which are just me gushing over the beauty of a book she’s been working on, and I was only too thrilled to organize a blog hop with some of our fellow food writer friends in an effort to spread the word about her crave-worthy creation.

Whole Bowls is a collection of more than fifty gluten-free and vegetarian meals to power your day. Organized by breakfast, salad, entrée, and dessert bowls, there are also dozens of mini recipes-within-recipes, plus the homemade extras and basics found at the back of the book. The idea is that you’ll use these ideas and components – plus her brilliant “Whole Bowls Formula” - to build your own quick meals throughout the week. I’m especially fond of the vegetarian pantry guide, a useful resource for anyone interested in constructing more dishes with less meat.

Everything Bagel Butter

In the past three months we've cooked two different Christmas dinners for a combined total of 29 eaters. We've also hosted not one, two, three or four, but six different birthday dinners/parties. There's been a handful of Sunday suppers, and then the regular rotation of ordinary events like sleepovers and Super Bowl, and nieces who pop by for pancake lunches. Winter is clearly the season for feeding our friends and family, wouldn't you say?

After months and months of having so many food-centric events on the calendar it's a little odd to having nothing scheduled until the end of April. We're taking a little break from Sunday suppers right now while our extended family members keep occupied with their own activities, so it looks like, with the exception of the odd day here or there, it'll just be the five of us around the table for the coming weeks. The wheels are already beginning to turn over ideas for an occasion I can create in which to get everyone over to my house again, but there's also a part of me that's willing to embrace the quiet - mostly for the sake of my introverted housing companions - and just accept that spring is not our season for feeding others.

If I were to invent a reason to invite people over, I'd say that spring is the perfect time to host a breakfast or brunch. In fact, those of us with wee ones will gladly attest to the fact that mid-morning events are right up our alley right now, especially if you happen to have a baby that wakes up before the birds. It's sad to say, but late-night dinner parties lose a little lustre for a year or two, or until you finally start to log more than four hours of sleep a day and feel a little less like the movie character you’re quickly resembling. I have a few ideas of the kind of menu I'd put together if such an event were to occur, and a self-serve bagel bar would very likely make it to the top of list.

Bagels freeze amazingly well so you can pick them up early in the week, and store them until needed. They can be toasted by the half-dozen on a baking sheet set under a broiler, and served with a variety of toppings like thinly sliced meat or smoked salmon; cream cheese, goat cheese, sliced cheddar cheese or ricotta; and fun, flavourful additions like sprouts, sliced avocado, tomato, cucumber, radish and capers. For the kids, I'd add peanut butter and Nutella, and apple and pear slices, because few of them are likely to want the more traditional items the adults enjoy.

Oh, and don't forget to include some flavoured butters! One of our favourites is an "everything" bagel butter. Of course you could just buy everything bagels and serve them with plain butter, but why not switch things up and purchase plain bagels to slather with flavoured butter? If we step away from the faux bagel brunch I've just concocted (once a party planner, always a party planner), and think about the other practical applications, it's a great way to get that beloved bagel flavour in other bready bits. For example, it can be smeared over toasted English muffins and served with soup (how we like to eat it), or spread on dinner rolls later in the day for an unexpected twist on something ordinary. The very best thing about this butter is that it can be used for so much more than bagels. Try melting it over roasted veggies or chicken, or tossing it with hot pasta and freshly grated Parmesan.

Everything Bagel Butter

Makes ½ cup

• ½ cup salted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• ½ teaspoon dried garlic flakes
• ½ teaspoon dried onion flakes

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

2. Spoon the butter onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a log.

3. Chill until firm (about 2 hours) and ready to use.

Note: Be sure to buy the best salted butter you can afford - you won't regret using a top-quality product in this recipe.

Fake-Out, Take-Out: Bourbon Chicken

Over the Christmas holidays, Jackson headed downtown on his own with a group of friends. They took a bus and two subways into the city, his pockets packed full of gifts cards given to him by his grandparents. The plan was to visit a favourite comic book store, do some shopping at the mall, and buy a late lunch before heading home. Naturally, I was nervous letting him go, but Rob’s been pushing for the boys to become a little more subway savvy for quite a while now, so I checked my nervousness at the door and set him off with strict, maybe even slightly psychotic, reminders to let me know the minute he made it off the train safely.

When he returned home a few hours later, shopping bags in hand, I wanted to hear ALL the details of his outing, but he only wanted to talk about what he ate for lunch. Apparently bourbon chicken is not only the best thing he’s ever eaten, but they have this amazing deal that when you order it you get a choice of two sides, rice and a vegetable, and they let you choose French fries as your veggie side! I’m not sure I’m adequately capturing his excitement, but I’m certain you can imagine how thrilled he was to learn that in a food court French fries count as vegetables.

I learned a long time ago that instead of critiquing what the boys consume when they’re out with their friends, I have to accept that they are not going to go for the salad or nutritiously well-balanced meal when so many other crave-worthy choices are staring them straight in the face. In fact, it’s pretty much the exact opposite of what’s going to happen, but I can take what they talk about eating and enjoying and make my own spin on it, showing them that it is possible to have their beloved bourbon chicken at home. I like to serve my version with sensible side dishes like rice and roasted broccoli, made crisp and salty so it kind of mimics those coveted French fries, though I’m sure it doesn’t even come close.

Bourbon Chicken

Serves 4

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup oil (canola, olive, vegetable, coconut)
• 3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
• Optional: 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 teaspoons of water
• 3 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

1. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned on both sides; transfer to a plate.

2. Add another tablespoon of oil and sauté the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add in the remaining ingredients and whisk until blended and the sugar dissolved.

3. Return the chicken to the skillet and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. The sauce should thicken considerably, but if it happens to be too thin for your tastes, whisk together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and pour it into the skillet. Stir well to combine and cook for an additional minute or two, or until the sauce thickens. When cooked, spoon the chicken over hot rice or noodles and sprinkle with the green onions. Serve with a side of vegetables (not French fries).

Three Meals to Make for the People You Love

It's a long weekend, it's cold, and I can't imagine wanting to do anything other than what I have planned for the next three days: cozying up at home with my peeps and cooking all the things in order to keep us warm and well fed. I have Italian wedding soup on the menu, not to mention an eight-hour slow cooked pork roast, bolognese, banana muffins and some sort of sweet treat for my big and little loves. If, like me, you think it's too cold to venture outdoors this weekend, here are some suggested kid-approved meals you might want to make for the people you love on Sunday.

The Sweet and Simple Menu:

• White Minestrone Soup with Roast Chicken 
• The Easiest Chocolate Cake Ever (top with red, white and pink sprinkles)

The How-to-Please-Your-Teenagers Menu:

• Slow-Cooker Pulled Beef Poutine
• Whole Wheat Brownies

The Entertaining/Date Night Menu:

• Pretzel Chicken with Creamy Mustard Sauce
• Sweet Heart Pavlovas

Real Simple Cassoulet

A quick scroll through the archives tells me that the last dinner recipe I shared was on November 23^rd. Say what? How is that even possible? I can assure you we’ve been eating dinner every day since, and while they weren’t always sharable meals (scrambled eggs and toast, I’m looking at you), there were definitely a few home runs worthy of writing about.

Take, for example, this simple stovetop cassoulet from Real Simple magazine. In the winter of 2007/2008 I made it weekly. The boys were just beginning to eat beans with the same enthusiasm as bacon, and I was building up an arsenal of one-pot recipes making this healthy stovetop supper a meal we could all get behind. It became such a staple that I jotted down the ingredients in my recipes-we’ll-eat-forever notebook, only to forget about it come spring when fresh salads made us forget about how much we loved this sausage and bean stew.

Last fall, while attempting to KonMari my recipe collection (side note: I failed miserably and just bought the book in an attempt to give decluttering a solid effort), I stumbled upon the Real Simple cassoulet I had all but forgotten about, and immediately made it for dinner. It may have been popular with the boys eight or nine years ago, but now they’ve declared it a favourite and we’re back to adding it to our meal plan every other week or so.

Here’s what I love most about this recipe: this isn’t a traditional long cooking cassoulet with multiple varieties of meats (which I happen to love, by the way), but instead is made with lean sausage, carrots and parsnips, and offers variations that make it suitable for those who eat dairy-free, gluten-free, and red meat-free. It’s also crowd-pleasing and can be served at dinner parties and casual gatherings, not to mention an average Wednesday night when it’s just your own family crowded around the table. In essence, the recipe rocks and I hope it becomes part of your dinner rotation, too.

Real Simple Cassoulet

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1lb. chicken or turkey sausage (you can use pork if desired), casings removed
• 1 ½ cups chicken broth
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 3 carrots, cut into ½-inch dice
• 3 parsnips, cut into ½-inch dice
• 1 cup whole (but chopped) or crushed tomatoes (you can also use tomato sauce, if you prefer)
• 3 19-ounce (540 mL) cans cannellini or navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbsp. melted salted butter 

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the sausage until well browned, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon. Remove and drain on paper towels; set aside.

Pour out the excess oil from the Dutch oven. Add the chicken broth, vegetables, beans, thyme, salt, pepper, and half the garlic. Return the sausage to the pot and mix well, scraping up any brown bits that have stuck to the bottom of the Dutch oven. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low; cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour, until thickened and the vegetables are tender.

Preheat oven to 400° F. In a bowl, combine the bread-crumbs, parsley, butter, and remaining garlic. Sprinkle in an even layer over the cassoulet and place in the oven. Bake, uncovered, until the crust is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm. 

Notes: To make the dish gluten-free, use gluten-free breadcrumbs in place of the panko. To make the dish dairy-free, swap in olive oil for the butter in the breadcrumb topping.