Sharing Plate – Your Cooking Coach |

My daughter was having one of her play dates again and two of her friends were coming over and staying for dinner. My daughter loves having her friends over for dinner- “it is so much fun”, she always says. I usually remind her that I have to make something healthy and usually from scratch so it is quite a lot of work me me- but honestly, I enjoy it too. Especially because I get to try out different kid-friendly dishes and see their reactions.

For this particular dinner I needed to make something in advance since I was not going to be home. Our sitter would be giving them their meal. I had two chicken breast on the bone which I decided to roast with the skin on. I shredded the meat once it was nice and juicy after taking the skin off. I bought bowtie pasta to make things a little interesting. I bought baby spinach since I needed the meal to be made in one pot and it also had to be well balanced.

I cooked the pasta and mixed the shredded chicken and baby spinach in the sauce pan. I added some homemade tomato sauce to give the pasta additional yummy flavor. I transferred the pasta into an oven proof dish and mixed in and topped with some shredded mozzarella cheese.

It was simple and quick. Once I got home I was curious to know their reactions. I was told they were all skeptical at first since everything was mixed in together but once they tried it- they liked it. My daughter who is more used to eating such meals thought it was delicious.

Next time you have a dinner play date for your kids- try the bowtie pasta with spinach and chicken.

Click here for the recipe… »

I used a Chinese style sausage in this recipe. A friend bought it for me from an Asian store. She makes a delicious Vietnamese style fried rice with this particular sausage.

I first had it back in college- I will not share how long ago that was. She would make it in our small apartment kitchen that we shared with three other girls. It was so hard to keep that kitchen clean- maybe that is where I get my anal cleaning habits… Anyway, the rice was delicious.

I had the sausage in the fridge and it had been there for a while. I decided to use it and make my own version of a fried rice. I usually add a lot of chopped vegetables but for this dish I used protein only. I was using brown rice to make a healthy dish and tamari as the primary flavoring. It is a concentrated soy sauce and packs a punch in any dish.

To make a balanced meal, I stir fried vegetables on the side. Recipe to follow tomorrow…

In the meantime, try this Chinese sausage fried rice- it is delicious.
Click here for the recipe… »

This is the quickest meal I have made recently. It was a rare unscheduled weekend day and we were planning to do absolutely nothing. My daughter usually is very good at keeping herself busy or playing with her Daddy on the weekends. I like to get a bit of a break where I hide in my room to read a book or watch a movie.

My daughter somehow secured herself a play date for the whole day. Her friend came over at 10 and stayed till around 3. She was thrilled. Actually we all were. My husband needed to work from home and I decided to go out with a friend for coffee.

Before leaving, I wanted to make a quick lunch for them. I did have a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese but I wanted make something else. I had a pack of chicken sausages in the fridge- which my daughter loves. I sauteed them quickly and added frozen broccoli florets. I boiled some penne on the side and added the cooked pasta with some of the starchy liquid to make a simple sauce. I topped the pasta with some light shredded mozzarella and that was it.

It was a fast and delicious meal- perfect for a quick lunch for the kiddies. Try the chicken sausage and broccoli pasta- it is yum!
Click here for the recipe… »

This side dish was served with the ma po tofu I whipped up for my husband the other day. I am always looking to serve broccoli in different ways- especially because it is the most popular vegetable with kids. It is also quite versatile. I can chop it up small and use it for fried rice or I can just broil it simply with extra virgin olive oil and salt.

I find most parents boil the broccoli for their kids. I find roasting vegetables brings out the natural sweetness in them and makes them yummier. We invested in a small toaster/convection counter top oven a few years ago. It is super handy. I use it for breakfast to make toast; for lunch to bake a quick fish fillet and for dinner to roast vegetables. Since it has a convection button as well- things cook much faster. It is very convenient and I don’t have to heat my big oven for a small job. The broccoli tastes delicious roasted in the oven.

For this dinner, since I was making a tofu and turkey stir fry, I needed a side of vegetables. Blood oranges are in season and are in abundance at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. I had a whole bunch sitting on my kitchen counter and I decided to use that as a base for this quick side dish. I mixed fresh blood orange juice (which is the most delicious thing I have ever had-  a sip takes me back to last summer in Umbria), tamari and a bit of honey and of course some garlic. I reduced the sauce a bit to transform it into a glaze. I roasted the broccoli half way and then poured the glaze on top. You can substitute regular oranges in this dish. I would top the broccoli with some orange zest and it will be delicious.

The broccoli was delicious and a bit different. What I liked about it was that it was easy and quick yet flavorful and most importantly got a thumbs up from my daughter.

Next time you want to cook broccoli for dinner roast it the oven and pour a blood orange and tamari glaze.
Blood Orange Glaze

• Juice 3 to 4 blood oranges- should yield 1/3 to ½ cup juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon tamari
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced

Bring the blood orange juice, honey, tamari and garlic cloves to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 6 to 7 minutes till the juice thickens and reduces to a ¼ cup. Taste for seasonings and keep aside.

• 3 cups broccoli florets, frozen or fresh
• 1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt

Roast the broccoli mixed with the olive oil and salt in a 350 degrees oven for 10 minutes or till it becomes soft. Take out of oven and pour the glaze over the broccoli, mix well and place back in the oven. Roast for another 10 minutes. Serve as a side dish with any entrée.

This is my easy, quick ‘go to’ meal. I use the pink lentils which cook up in a matter of minutes and it is ready to eat. I made this for a friend who requested Indian food. She said she was satisfying her craving by going to Trader Joes and buying the boxed Indian meals- what??? I couldn’t let that one go- I think she knew I would be very disturbed by that comment and she was right. Even though I had no plans on making Indian food for our dinner together- I couldn’t help myself. I decided to make a chicken dish and these lentils.

I needed to serve a vegetable and to make it easy I decided to use baby spinach- that I had in my fridge- yet another great thing to keep in there all the time. It is handy for a quick salad or even a stir fry.

The lentils were done in about 15 minutes, I added the spinach and then heated some mustard and cumin seeds in oil and was done! The result was a delicious, healthy side dish that can be served with rice or bread.

I gave it to my daughter the next day and she didn’t even notice the spinach in it- I am not sure how that happened. The bright colored greens were quite apparent to me but I think because the dal was so delicious, she didn’t even care about the spinach.

Make the spinach dal next time you are short on time…

Click here for the recipe… »