Blueberry quinoa salad with shaved broccoli

Broccoli and I have never gotten along. Not a digestive thing. I just don't like broccoli Eee gads - The queen of whole grains and veggies doesn't like broccoli??? I know. It's a nutritional weakness.

After reading Alton Browns must-eat food list, I've made a serious effort to include broccoli in my weekly menu. Which means finding recipes where broccoli doesn't taste like broccoli.

My first brilliant find was over at Smitten Kitchen. Broccoli Cream Pesto, or 'green pasta.' The whole family went nuts for this one, even Momma {who doesn't like broccoli, remember}. Because it doesn't taste like broccoli.

Which got me thinking, maybe broccoli doesn't always have to overwhelm a dish with its broccoli-ness. Maybe I can incorporate broccoli into a dish and feature something other than broccoli. Thus, today's recipe. A cold quinoa salad with fresh blueberries and shaved broccoli. Shaving stemmy veggies makes the soft pith the focus instead of the outer skin. I think that's why this recipe works.

This salad is a great transition from winter to spring while broccoli is still in harvest and blueberries are first arriving. I made this my side for Easter dinner, as it makes plenty for sharing. Prepare ahead for best results.

Used the salad as a side to grilled salmon last night. Yumm-o!

Or serve as a light lunch

Blueberry Quinoa Salad with Shaved Broccoli

Ingredients

Salad
2 c quinoa
1 c fresh blueberries, washd
1 bunch broccoli stems {you can include the florets, finely chopped}
1/2 c pistachios
1/2 c crumbled feta

Dressing
1/4 c cherry pit vinegar {can substitute raspberry or red wine vinegar}
1/4 c olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper

Directions
Cook quinoa in 4 c salted water {20-30 minutes}. When cooked, fluff with a fork and cool {takes about an hour}.  Using a peeler, shave broccoli stems into slivers {as seen in the warm asparagus salad}. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients.

Mix dressing in a separate bowl until salt and sugar are incorporated and pour over salad. Stir well. Best if allowed to sit for at least an hour before serving.

Serve cold.

Another broccoli hit. Enjoy!

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.

Not so fussy fish

My sister and her college roommate are on the paleo diet. It's based on the understanding that since our ancestors were hunter/gatherers, our digestive systems evolved to match the diet they ate - lots of meat, fruits, veggies; no legumes, tubers or grains.

The girls came home from classes at the end of last semester, bone weary, only to be further deflated when they opened the fridge. They had no "easy" food. No sandwiches, no cereal, no mac n' cheese. Everything had to be cooked. The roommate lamented that all their food was "fussy." What a cute, appropriate phrase.

I feel for them. Our house is similar. We keep healthy food on hand so we won't be tempted with junk, and everything is scratch ingredients. Want a cookie? We have the ingredients to make 100 types of cookies, but we have to mix, chill and bake them.

So what about Sunday nights? Sunday nights are the night I most want Chickfila (specifically because they're closed, so I'm jonesing for waffle fries). Actually, Sundays are just hard. I identify with single moms on Sundays. We wake up early to get pastor husband out the door with breakfast and coffee in hand, then I feed and dress the girls by myself, pack two diaper bags for separate nurseries, then navigate church with a 15 month old and an infant. Blurgh.

This morning was especially rough. G talked through her early nap, A decided eating was overrated, then as we're walking out the door, G trips and busts her lip, dripping blood down her shirt and skirt. *sigh.

This evening, DH is back at work. I got the girls through arsenic hour, a 45-minute dinner (the joys of self feeding) and a bath. The last thing I want to do is make another mess preparing a fussy dinner.

Enter my new favorite no fuss health food... the sardine.

What??? you say. The sardine? Really? I love them. Tiny packets of protein, vitamins B12 and D, omega-3's and calcium. They are amazing on a sandwich or salad with spinach, chopped onion, olives and hardboiled egg. And, they're precooked. If you don't like them, you don't like them. But if you're even neutral, pick up a can.

That's my tip of the day. Try sardines. They might surprise you.

Tex Mex Chicken Salad

I thought I disliked chicken salad until recently. I made a chicken salad with apples and raisins. It revolutionized my view of chicken salad. The other night, I was struggling to come up with dinner plans and found some leftover chicken from fajita night. So, here was my concoction.

2 c of shredded chicken (best if leftover from fajitas, tacos, etc...)
1/2 c of chopped carrots
1/2 c of chopped baby spinach
1/4 c of chopped onion
1/3 c of light mayonnaise
1 T of red wine vinegar
1 t of cumin
2 T of chopped cilantro
1/2 t salt

I know it sounds odd, but it is really delicious. A nice twist on an old standby.