The day the girls ate sushi

We love the grocery store - small one has a special Trader Joe's dance. Our grocery trips have a sense of ritual about them. Product of a pseudo-foodie momma.

Big one knows all of our regular items. She bounces from tortillas to bananas to garlic, calling back to me, "Mommy, do we need eggplant? What about fresh ginger? Should we buy broccoli today? Ooo, we need eggs and yogurt and edamame." She rushes around the grocery store grabbing the items she knows and shot putting dropping them in the cart. Managed chaos.

We practice school at the grocery store. Find foods that begin with our letter of the week. Identify colors of fruit. Count items aloud as we put them in the cart. We border on disruptive, so I try to time our visits with a lull.

I risk annoying other patrons so that the girls can own their food and know ingredients.

And the girls ever surprise me with their adventurous palates. They eat spinach with goat cheese, pomegranate, hummus, curry and tofu. They're especially drawn to brightly colored veggies: purple kale and orange cauliflower. Showing me that the only foods kids will never eat are the foods we never put in front of them.

Not to say they eat everything equally. We're hit or miss with fish. DH spoiled them with fresh caught rockfish. Everyone should be so lucky. Small one spits out even tiny pieces of onion. Big one is on an unAmerican I-hate-Mac-n'-cheese kick. But we keep trying old stuff and introducing new stuff.

So I'm introducing a recipe from my sis that my girls devoured, once again surprising me with their willingness to explore different flavors.

Sushi Salad courtesy of Sarah Kerley

Dressing
3 T soy sauce (Tamari soy sauce is often gluten free)
3 T sesame oil
3 T rice vinegar
2 t wasabi (optional)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 t sugar
2 T each white and black sesame seeds (or 4 T white sesame seeds), lightly toasted

Salad
1/2 lb rice noodles (you could substitute 2 packages of ramen noodles sans the flavor package)
1 cucumber, shredded
2 carrots, shredded
1 avocado, diced
1 lb edamame, cooked and shelled
Up to 1 c shredded seaweed such as nori and/or wakame

Directions
Mix all dressing ingredients in a small bowl, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil the rice noodles (like spaghetti, but they cook in 5-7 minutes depending on the width) and drain. Combine all salad ingredients in large bowl. Pour dressing over and toss to coat evenly.

Serve warm.

Makes 6 servings.

This is even better the next day. Heat it up for half a minute in the microwave and enjoy. You can also top it with cooked shrimp or lump crab meat. A seared tuna steak would be a lovely addition to fancy it up a bit.

Sorry I don't have a picture. It didn't last that long.