‘Smitten Kitchen’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: Broccoli Parmesan Fritters

June 22, 2012 · Narrative

Or How to Get Your Kids to Eat Broccoli Without Hiding It.

Last week, when a friend and her son joined us for dinner (and Mystic’s daughter as well), I was on a serious vegetable kick. Truth be told, I’m always on a vegetable kick, but when there is company over, I tend to make more, because I know I’ll have more people to share it with. When it’s just me and the kids, I tend to stick to a handful of vegetables (and fruit and salads) that I know they like. Company coming? All bets are off and I experiment (or pile on the dishes) more.

And it may or may not have had something to do with the fact that the entree wasn’t super, super healthy. It wasn’t terrible, but apparently I had some guilt to reconcile with myself.

Or some such.

So when my friend Cathy e-mailed me a link to Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for Broccoli Parmesan Fritters, I quickly added broccoli to my grocery list. It joined the table alongside a Creamy Cauliflower with Greens Soup from Martha Stewart, and a riff on Spaghetti Carbonara from Jamie Oliver. It was an awesome eating kind of night.

And those Broccoli Parmesan Fritters?

Not one speck leftover.

Not one.

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Recipe: Espinacas con Garbanzos [Spinach and Chick Peas]

March 8, 2012 · Narrative, Vegetables

You know my favorite indication that a recipe is a keeper?

When you can’t wait to have the leftovers the next day.

Which is quickly followed by when someone asks for the recipe.

Or when there ARE no leftovers, so you have to make it again.

Right after just making it.

This is that recipe.

This week, I’ve been on a vegetable kick. I cannot wait for the farmer’s markets to reopen. Roasted. Braised. Sauteed. However they’ve been made, it’s been vegetables after more vegetables lately. Augmented by with salads and fruit for good measure.

It may or may not have something to do with Nick’s declaration that he wanted to give up meat for Lent.

For the record, I said no.

He can eat less, no problem, but until he starts eating fish or opens up his palate to more vegetables, he can’t just give up meat.

His fourth-grade, 63-lb body cannot live on salad and yogurt alone.

So back to my new favorite dish.

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Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing

September 20, 2010 · Narrative

I don’t think I have ever had butternut squash.
Acorn squash, yes. My mom used to roast it with all that brown sugar goodness when we were kids, making us completely forget its healthy qualities, but making it oh-so-amazing good.
But butternut squash? I don’t think I have ever bought it. Eaten it. Cooked it. Negative on all counts.
Until yesterday.

And I happened on the recipe a little fortuitously, the way all good things seem to come about, of course. I was at the farmers’ market with a few friends from high school and I ran into an old friend, Jessica, from my first supper club. I haven’t seen her since her oldest son was still in utero, so, yeah, it’s been awhile since Sawyer is now in school.

Of course, the first questions are always “what are you cooking tonight?” I had plans for a Beef and Black Bean Burger and a nearly mayo-free Macaroni Salad (both new recipes, one of which you’ll hear about soon), and somehow we got on the topic of butternut squash, and Jessica mentioned this “phenomenal” recipe. And suddenly, the person who had never eaten (let alone) cooked butternut squash in forty years (that would be me) was searching the nearest farmers’ market stall for squash.

The mix of ingredients in the recipe furrowed my brow a bit, I have to say, but I trust her, having had many wonderful creations from her kitchen over the years. I actually already had all the other ingredients I’d need on hand already, so it was more than meant to be.

After Madeline went down for her nap, I got to work in the kitchen, trying to get most of dinner done while she slept, and before our guests arrived. Holy heck, is butternut squash the hardest thing to peel and chop or what? Like, I had to get out my I’m-afraid-to-use-them-because I have-10-stitches-in-my-hand sharp knives for this. But I forged ahead.

I slipped the chopped pieces of squash into the oven and let them roast for the 25 minutes the recipe called for. Once out and cooled down a bit, I snuck a piece to see what it tasted like. And another. And another. I swear, if I didn’t need them for a recipe, I probably could have eaten the roasted squash as is.

But then the tahini dressing. And the chick peas. And then blend. And another taste. Oh my god. Seriously. If you trust me (and why wouldn’t you?!), you must make this. Like I don’t even know how we lived with this before. Everything just comes together magically. As if these ingredients, though seemingly worlds apart, were somehow created to be together. I mentioned the recipe on Facebook and a local friend commented on how good it sounded. Usually I would drop some off while doing errands. But not this time. Because there’s only a teensy little bit left from last night’s dinner and today’s lunch. And I’m going to be greedy. And enjoy every last speck myself. But I’ll make it again this week, and then I’ll share. And in the meantime, I’ve shared with you. So now it’s your turn – go make it and be greedy. And then make it again and share. And then come back and thank me for sharing this with you… and breaking the never-had-it-before-butternut-squash cycle. I don’t think you’ll be sorry. Not one bit.

Project 365
September 20, 2010, Photo #166

What is the secret so that your honey doesn’t end up like this? What am I missing? I happened to spy a supersized bottle of honey on my parents kitchen table … besides the fact that I want to know how they go through that much honey when it’s just the two of them, I want to know why theirs doesn’t crystallize and my little containers do. I have thrown caution to the wind before and nuked the bottle for just a few seconds to loosen it up, but there must be another trick I’m missing. Help?
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