In Erika's Kitchen

Superfoods forever: Kale pesto recipe

2012-02-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

Kale pesto I'm still in the throes of my love affair with kale. Man, I hope this one lasts a while. Every time I eat something with kale I feel all those vital nutrients seeping straight into my cells. I swear my skin looks better because of kale. Kale for breakfast, kale for lunch, kale for dinner. Kale in eggs, kale in smoothies, kale in soup, kale in salad, kale in quiche, kale on pizza.

Celebrating Potato Lovers' Month with Idaho potatoes: Valentine's Day potato beet galette recipe

2012-02-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

Potato and beet galette (photo courtesy of Idaho Potato Commission) There are certain people in my life to whom I try very hard to say yes. Patti Londre of Worth the Whisk is one of those people. Every time Patti has brought me along for whatever ride she's on at that moment, good things have happened. Camp Blogaway. A winter weekend in the Hamptons (she ended up going to Paris instead, but I

Baked tofu sticks

2012-02-04T21:33:00.000-08:00

On the rare occasions when I work at home, I try to have a healthy snack waiting for the kids after school. I cut up fruit and vegetables and put them on the table because I know if the good stuff is sitting right in front of them, they're more likely to eat it. My active, growing boys also need a little protein to get them through the rest of the day. Last week I experimented with some

Superfoods forever: Baked sweet potatoes with garlicky greens and walnut cream by Eat This Poem

2012-02-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Sweet potatoes Vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, manganese, fiber, potassium Erika says: I've decided a month of Superfoods isn't enough. I'm not abandoning cake forever, but I'm going to continue to post new Superfoods recipes until I get tired of them (never, I hope). Here's a beautiful dish from Nicole Gulotta, who recently ended a four-year relationship with Cooking

Superfoods Month: Superfood smoothie from Holistically Haute

2012-01-31T22:04:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfoods: Kale, wakame seaweed, acai, avocado Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, calcium, iron, potassium, antioxidants [Erika says: Fittingly, the last post in this Superfoods Month series comes from Rachael Pontillo of Holistically Haute Wellness. Rachael is my health coach and the one who inspired this series through our work to change my diet for the better. I still

Superfoods Month: Salmon with fruit salsa by Maura Ammenheuser

2012-01-30T21:47:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Salmon Protein, omega-3, vitamin D, vitamin B12, tryptophan, selenium, vitamin B3 Erika says: Look at this gorgeous salmon! It's from Maura Ammenheuser, a stay-at-home mom of two, personal trainer and writer/editor. She currently leads the Momarama parenting blog for The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California. Salmon is fish with benefits. It’s packed with Omega-3

Postcard from Oregon: Truffle cooking class with chef Rocky Maselli

2012-01-27T16:04:00.001-08:00

Chef Rocky Maselli's polpettone (Italian meatloaf) with black Oregon truffles. The chef mixed ground veal, ground pork, diced mortadella and diced black Oregon truffles, then wrapped the mixture around soft-boiled eggs. The whole thing was wrapped in parchment paper, baked, then sliced so each piece had egg in the center. Shaved white Oregon truffles finished off each serving. The cooking

Superfoods Month: Veggie cilantro mint quinoa pilaf from Yumkid

2012-01-25T22:28:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Quinoa Protein, iron, manganese, magnesium, folate, phosphorus Erika says: I can't wait to make this delicious quinoa pilaf from Rashmi Nigam. Rashmi started Yumkid.com to chronicle her experiences feeding her children healthy, flavorful meals. "How are you doing on rice? How often are you eating it now?” are questions my doctor always asks. After hearing my response she

Superfoods Month: Smoky roasted kale chip-tomato quinoa salad from Cooking on the Weekends

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Kale Vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, fiber Erika says: Say hi to a lovely guest post and recipe from certified chef and food writer Valentina Kenney Wein. Valentina spends her weekends in her "kitchen retreat," creating delicious, hearty, comforting food to nourish her family and share with her readers. Her blog is named, appropriately enough, Cooking on the

Superfoods Month: Paula Deen and creamy kale soup

2012-01-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Kale Vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese, fiber There's been a lot of talk about Paula Deen's announcement that she's had type II diabetes for three years. Three years during which she's peddled butter, cream, cheese, sugar, fried foods and other health-conscious no-no's to the American public in shocking amounts and with remarkable consistency. Why did she do it?

Superfoods Month: Spinach fried rice with furikake by Emery

2012-01-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Spinach Vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium Erika says: Today's guest post comes from a wonderful cook whom I adore - my 13-year-old son Emery. Furikake is a dry Asian condiment containing seaweed, sugar, salt and sesame seeds, meant to be sprinkled on rice. So it all started one day when I was reading The

Superfoods Month: Raw cabbage salad with lemon

2012-01-19T21:11:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Cabbage Vitamin K, vitamin C, folate, fiber When I want a salad, more often than not this cabbage salad with lemon is the one I'm craving. You need three ingredients (okay, five including salt and pepper), a sharp knife, and a half-hour. That's it. I use plain green cabbage for this salad, but Napa or Savoy cabbage would work too. I tried it once with red cabbage and was

What do Oregon truffles smell like?

2012-01-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

Olive oil, a pinch of salt and grated Oregon black truffles: Your bread will never be happier We interrupt Superfoods Month to bring you some exciting news: It's Oregon truffle season again. As you can imagine, this truffle-obsessed blogger is quite happy when she rides her bike to the Santa Monica farmers market and spots the telltale picnic coolers on the wild mushroom guy's table. Inside

Superfoods Month: Spanakorizo (spinach rice) from Life in Greek

2012-01-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Spinach Vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin C, magnesium, manganese, folate, iron, calcium, potassium [Erika says: This guest post comes from Dimitra Kessenides, who writes Life in Greek (not strictly a food blog, by the way). Dimitra and I worked together 20 years ago in New York on the editorial staff of a legal magazine. That was long before the world got a glimpse of Greek

Superfoods Month: Smoothie with beets

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Beets Betalains (a phytonutrient), folate, manganese, fiber, potassium, vitamin C At the urging of my enthusiastic health coach Rachael Pontillo of Holistically Haute Wellness, I'm continuing to bond with my ultra-powerful Vitamix and explore the world of colorful smoothies. I haven't found a combination I like as much as french fries or mint chocolate chip ice cream, but

Superfoods Month: Napa cabbage slaw by Adventures with Nancy Rose

2012-01-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

This guest post comes from Nancy Eisman. We call Nancy "the produce fairy" because at every meeting of Food Bloggers Los Angeles she shows up with exotic fruits and vegetables from her employer Melissa's Produce. A 25-year vegetarian, Nancy started her blog Adventures with Nancy Rose to spread the message about plant-based diets. Today's Superfood: Napa cabbage Antioxidants, fiber, folates,

Superfoods Month: Simple kale salad

2012-01-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Kale Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium, iron, potassium It took me a while to get used to raw kale. I like greens just fine, but I've always preferred them cooked. I thought raw kale would be bitter and tough. Then I tasted Sippity Sup's kale "Caesar" salad at a Food Bloggers Los Angeles potluck. Tuscan "dinosaur" kale finely shredded, bright and lemony, dressed

Superfoods Month: Simple lentil soup from Shockingly Delicious

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Superfoods Month! This delicious Superfood recipe comes via veteran food writer Dorothy Reinhold. Dorothy writes the recipe blog ShockinglyDelicious, where she specializes in scrumptious, tried-and-true, scary-good recipes that you might need a 12-step program to wean yourself from. Dorothy and I have known each other for years - our kids went to preschool together - but now we've bonded

Superfoods Month: Spiced sweet potato coins

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Superfood: Sweet potatoes Carotenoids, Vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium I served these sweet potato "coins" on New Year's Eve, hoping they would bring us good luck and prosperity for 2012. Sliced into rounds and roasted with chili powder, lime juice, garlic and olive oil, these sweet potatoes taste great hot or cold. Make extra to stock your lunchbox the next day. Click here

January is Superfoods Month in my kitchen

2012-01-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

It's January 1, the first day of 2012, and it's time to make New Year's resolutions. Every year I vow to lose weight, exercise more, yell less, stop using the treadmill as a closet, keep my desk neat. Most years I make progress, then backslide, then drop the whole thing in frustration. I know I'm not alone. This year I'm trying to think about things differently. I want to get healthier. I

Spaetzle with truffle butter

2011-12-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

Spaetzle with truffle butter (photo: Lynne Hemer) I put fresh spaetzle on my Trufflepalooza 2011 menu last summer with some reservations. Truffles pair well with pasta, but I'd already done spaghetti with truffles (2009) and truffled mac and cheese (2010). Spaetzle, a simple pasta-like egg dumpling, seemed like a good next step. My Hungarian mother-in-law makes spaetzle often and my husband

Cheesy rice casserole

2011-12-27T06:30:00.000-08:00

I do not like to see food go to waste. If there's a scrap of cheese, a cup of dried-out rice, a wilting vegetable, I'll find a way to turn it into dinner. Some people call me the Queen of Leftovers. That's how this cheesy rice casserole was born. There's nothing magical about it. It's a simple formula. Look in your refrigerator for stragglers in these categories: Grain (e.g. rice, pasta,

Postcard from Santa Monica: Supplies at The Gourmandise School

2011-12-23T17:33:00.001-08:00

Freezer - mostly butter, puff pastry and nuts Refrigerator - look at all those eggs! I thought you'd enjoy this peek inside the refrigerator and freezer at The Gourmandise School of Sweets and Savories in Santa Monica, California. Co-owner Clemence Gossett says the school goes through four cases of eggs (that's 60 dozen) and 60 to 90 pounds of butter each week. And no wonder - the

Quiche with chanterelles

2011-12-20T06:30:00.000-08:00

In the fall and winter, you'll find huge golden chanterelle mushrooms at farmers' markets throughout southern California. Cantharellus californicus, a variety all our own. It grows happily at the base of California oak trees. The more rain we get, the bigger the chanterelles grow. I've seen golden chanterelles as big as dinner plates, I kid you not. The last time my mother came to visit

Buddha's Hand infused vodka

2011-12-17T15:03:00.000-08:00

Vodka infused with Buddha's Hand citron I love giving hand-made gifts. I knit hats and scarves and lace table runners. I bake bread or cookies or cake. I make chocolate truffles or fruit-studded bark. I put them in boxes, wrap them with colorful tissue paper, tie them with ribbons. Not this year. I do all those things when I'm organized and plan ahead and leave myself enough time.