Category: In the Kitchen

A Fruity Yogurt Snack with Three Part Lesson

Mix jam (fruit sweetened, no sugar added) into plain yogurt for a healthful, everyday snack.

This homemade version is less expensive and more versatile than buying smaller individual containers of flavored yogurt without the ton of sugar typically added.

Plus, toddlers who love to help can make it themselves! Score, an everyday learning activity!

1) Vocabulary/concept building: First stir your spoon clockwise, then stir it counter-clockwise. “Quick, switch! Time to stir your spoon clockwise!”

2) Color lesson: What color is the yogurt mixture? Mix in some more fruit spread. How does the color change? Is it darker or lighter? What color is it?

3) Taste lesson: Discuss the taste of the plain yogurt. As you’re mixing in the fruit, stop occasionally to see how the yogurt begins to taste sweeter. Mix in a different flavor (i.e. mix blueberry into the strawberry yogurt) and talk about how the taste changes.

Yes, we really do stuff like this at home.

Yes, we’re nerds.

Yes, we can’t help it. For us, it’s fun!

Our Go-To Dressing

We recently stopped buying salad dressing and started making our own from scratch. We found vinaigrette making to be easy, containing fewer additives, costing less to make, and tasting so much better.

Here’s our go-to salad dressing that’s our current favorite.

This maple-mustard vinaigrette uses simple ingredients (pantry staples!), takes 5 minutes to make, and lasts for the week.

Maple-Mustard Vinaigrette

Yield: Makes 3/4 cup

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced (we use 2 small garlic cloves instead)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl or a small bell jar; set aside.

We’ll never go back to store bought dressings after this.

Simple Walnut and Grapefruit Salad

Each winter we enjoy the fruits of a Spritzer tradition: a case of ruby red grapefruit sent to us by my father.

Luckily we are a family of grapefruit lovers, like my father and grandfather before us, so we savor and enjoy the gentle and loving task of eating our way through approximately 45 grapefruits.

Nevertheless, we can only eat so many grapefruits cut in half and scooped out each morning or we’d never get through the case.

Here’s a delightful and easy salad I found online that we’ve made and enjoyed several times this month. Enjoy!

Walnut and Grapefruit Salad
Recipe adapted from the Washington Post version from Aliza Green’s book Starting with Ingredients

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 cup walnut oil (may substitute 1/2 cup walnut oil and 1/2 cup vegetable oil)
1/3 cup sherry vinegar or rice wine vinegar
Hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco (optional – we haven’t tried this yet!)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper (lots of it!)
2 ruby red grapefruit
12 ounces mixed salad greens
4 ounces (1 cup) walnuts, lightly toasted*
3 to 4 scallions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced crosswise

Directions:

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, a dash of hot pepper sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Using a sharp paring knife, segment the grapefruit in whatever manner you feel most comfortable, cutting away the peel, pith and membrane around the grapefruit sections and leaving as much of the fruit as possible. My preferred method involves cutting the grapefruit in half before running the knife along each grapefruit segment, which I then scoop out and set aside. (The original recipe outlines another way.) Reserve and discard (or drink!) grapefruit juice.

In a large bowl, toss the greens with about 1/2 cup of the dressing. Divide among individual plates. Arrange the grapefruit sections, walnuts and scallions on top of the greens. Serve immediately; pass the remaining dressing at the table.

* NOTE: To toast nuts: Spread them on a baking sheet and place in a 350-degree oven, shaking the sheet occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully; nuts burn quickly.

Recipe Binder Updated

In an attempt to reduce clutter, I’ve been adding and organizing our recipe binder. Instead of the house containing piles (piles!) of recipes ripped out of magazines and printed off the internet, they are now in one place, in this tidy, ever-expanding, and daily-referenced binder.

Recipes we love:

Soba Noodle Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing from Vegetarian Times

Recipes to try:

Thai Red Curry Fish Stew from Sunset Magazine

Gluten-free treats to try for special occasions:

Candy Cane Chocolate Fudge from a free subscription to Woman’s Day — the only thing I’ve gotten out of half-a-dozen issues of the magazine! Don’t they look tasty?!