Friends! I’ve got exciting news (and the explanation for why I haven’t had time to post as much lately):

I’ve launched a fab, new family food blog: One Hungry Mama!

When ChowMama started, there were two of us: Me and Michelle. But, around August 2009, Michelle decided to move on from our Chow endeavors and I’ve been posting here, on my own, ever since. While that’s been fine and dandy, I’ve longed for a fresh start and a new place to call my own. A place where I could stand proud as one. As One Hungry Mama. Plus, developing a new site gave me a good excuse to redesign and add a bunch of much-needed functionality.

So, go! Visit me there NOW! It’s gorgeous (if I do say so myself) and there are tons of new features. You can search for recipes by age, type or ingredient. You can sign in to create a recipe box and save your favorites. You can shop at my store. You can print formatted recipes. How cool?!

And, don’t worry, all of my recipes from ChowMama have been moved to One Hungry Mama. That’s our new home together. Bookmark it and subscribe to the One Hungry Mama RSS feed because soon OHM will be the ONLY place where you’ll be able to access my content.

Oh, and if you follow me on Twitter, you’re all good. My name will magically shift from @ChowMamaStacie to @OneHungryMama at some point today. If you don’t follow me on Twitter, what are you waiting for?!

I can’t wait to see you at One Hungry Mama. Comment. Email. Tweet. Help spread the word (please), and tell me what you think! I’ll be waiting to hear from you.

With lots of love (and my last time as a ChowMama),
Stacie
xo

Chocolate Almond Coconut Granola Bars, loosely adapted from Alton Brown
(can be served to kids 12+ mos*)

2 c organic old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 c organic slivered almonds
1 1/2 c organic shredded coconut (I used sweetened)
1/2 c organic wheat germ
1/2 c organic honey
1/4 c organic dark brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted organic butter
2 tsp vanilla
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c organic chocolate chips
fleur de sel (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 9″ baking pan or line with parchment.

2. Spread oats, almonds, coconut and wheat germ on a baking pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. In the meantime, cook honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until brown sugar has completely dissolved. (If you plan to sprinkle fleur de sel on top of the bars, use 1/4 tsp salt, otherwise use 1/2 tsp.)

4. Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture and stir to combine. Allow it to cool before stirring in the chocolate chips. (If you don’t have time—or don’t want—to wait, you can stir the chocolate in right away, but it will get melty. Not a terrible thing.) Spoon mixture into the prepared baking dish and press down, making sure that it’s evenly distributed. Sprinkle with fleur de sel. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares. They will get crunchy overnight. You can store these in an airtight container for up to a week.

*Note: There is a lot of disagreement about when it’s safest to introduce tree nuts. Some pediatricians believe that it is safe to introduce nuts to children without a personal or family history of food allergies at 12 months. Others encourage parents to wait until 24 or 36 months. A new (2008) study by the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that nuts can be introduced to children without a personal or family history of allergies as early as 6 months! Speak to your pediatrician about what’s best for your child.

Also make sure that your child can manage hard, crunchy foods before sharing a piece.

Photo: hermitsmoores’

Upon my recent return from New Orleans, I gave you a killer family meal idea: a hummus platter dinner. A great tip for sure  (has it become a go-to weeknight meal at your house, too?), but not exactly the Big Easy flavors you may have expected. I owe you. And it’s pay up time. Sort of.

New Orleans has a ton of great seafood and draws a lot of inspiration from traditional French cooking. This equates to (among other things) a lot of creamy seafood preparations like a favorite of mine, crawfish etouffee. Since I didn’t indulge in any such dishes this past visit, I decided to make one at home. Except I didn’t use cajun seasoning. The big kid is going through a “no spicy” phase, so I substituted Old Bay for my favorite Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning. Hm. I guess that means that  this isn’t much of an homage to New Orleans after all. Oh well. It’s good. And it reminds me of my shrimp salad, a favorite lobster roll substitute inspired by the Old Bay brown butter I had at Momofuku Ko.

So have I settled the score? If not, substitute your preferred creole seasoning for Old Bay (modulate the amount for how much heat you want). And keep tuning in. I’ve got another trip to New Orleans coming up in June. I’ll get ya back then.

Old Bay Shrimp Pasta

(can be adapted for kids 10+ mos)*

1 lb organic pasta (I like linguine or fettuccine)
3 tbsp organic butter
2 cloves organic garlic, minced
1/3 c chopped organic celery
1 1/2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 1/2 dozen medium shrimp, shelled & deveined*
1/4 c white wine (optional)
1 tbsp organic tomato paste
1/2 c organic chicken broth
1 1/2 c organic heavy cream
organic parmesan
ground black pepper
chives or celery leaves (optional, for garnish)

1. Put a large pot of salted water on medium-high heat (about 6 qts water to 2 tbs salt). Bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, and set pasta aside.

2. In the meantime, melt butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and celery; saute until soft and fragrant. Add Old Bay and stir quickly to coat veggies, making sure not to burn the seasoning. Add shrimp and white wine, stir.

3. When wine has cooked off and shrimp are just opaque, add tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute, then add broth and cream. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring, to bring all of the flavors together.

4. Add pasta and toss to coat. Take off heat and finish with grated parmesan and pepper to taste. (Old Bay has salt added—I don’t add any additional.) Garnish and serve.

*Note: Food introduction guidelines are constantly changing. There is mounting evidence that even high allergen foods can be carefully introduced as early as 6-8 months so long as the child has no personal or family history of allergies. (Read here, here and here to learn more.) Shellfish is considered a high allergen food and the traditional recommendation is to hold off on introducing shellfish until 12+ mos or even 3+ years if the child has a history of food allergies. Speak to your pediatrician about what’s best for your child. And you can always substitute a firm flaky fish for shrimp in this recipe.

It’s no secret that I love eggs for dinner, whether a “proper” meal like my quickest curried eggs, a poached egg to complete a bowl of soup, or an egg salad sammy to save us from take out. So, the first thing I thought of to make my meal of french lentils over wilted spinach heartier was, you guessed it, an egg.

This rustic salad comes together effortlessly. The greens are dressed in the simplest vinaigrette (I used olive oil, white wine vinegar, dijon, salt and pepper; a bit of finely chopped shallot would be nice, too). The lentils quick cooked and finished with creamy dijon. And the eggs fried in a flash. Layer one over the other—spinach, lentils, eggs—break the yolks, and take a big bite. Serve with crusty bread and wine (for mama and papa), and you’ll be transported to the French countryside. Perfection. In no time flat.

French Lentils
(can be served to children 8+ mos)

3 strips all-natural bacon, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 organic onion, chopped
2 organic carrots, chopped
1 bulb organic fennel, chopped
5 cloves organic garlic, minced
1 tsp herbs de provence or chopped fresh organic thyme
1 c organic French green lentils
1/2 c white wine (optional; substitute 1/2 c of broth)
1 1/2 c organic chicken or vegetable broth
2 c water
1-2 tbsp dijon mustard

1. Fry bacon in a large dutch oven over medium high heat until crispy. Add onion, carrots and fennel; saute until translucent. (The bacon should render enough fat to saute the veggies. If not, add a drizzle of olive oil.) Add garlic and herbs. Saute another 2 minutes, until fragrant.

2. Add lentils; stir to coat. Add white wine. When wine has almost completely cooked off, add broth and water. (If you decided to skip white wine, add all of the broth and water, at once, as soon as lentils are well coated.) Cook until all liquid evaporates and lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Take off heat and stir dijon to taste.

My littlest ChowBaby is already 5 months old. I can hardly believe it! Time is flying and, relatively speaking, it’s been a smooth ride. But, all that said, my big guy is missing me. Lots. And so I’ve decided to carve out even more one-on-one time with him. We’re having tons of fun, but our new Monday afternoon excursions are putting a cramp in my dinner style. By the time we’re back home and settled in, it’s about 30 minutes to eatin’ time. And, when trying to coordinate dinner, 2 baths (ha!) and 2 bedtimes, there isn’t much flexibility.

So the new challenge: come up with even more healthy and SUPER quick recipes. This one was inspired by the Martha Stewart app, my new source for perusing recipes (on the go!). This recipe couldn’t be easier. And in the 30 minutes that it takes from start to finish, you can also make rice (cook in rice cooker or on the stove top according to package directions) or quinoa pilaf (cook on the stove top according to directions then toss with olive oil, white wine vinegar, dried cranberries, slivered almonds and green onion) and roast some asparagus (clean, trim, toss with olive oil and salt on a rimmed baking sheet; as soon as salmon is done, heat oven to 350 degrees and roast asparagus until cooked through, time will depend on how thick your asparagus is).


Salmon with Tarragon Yogurt Sauce, adapted from Martha Stewart
(can be adapted for kids 8+ mos)

1 c greek style yogurt
2 tbsp chopped fresh organic tarragon
1 tbsp freshly squeezed organic lemon juice*
1 tbsp organic olive oil
1/3 c chopped organic seedless cucumber
salt and pepper
wild alaskan salmon fillets (the sauce makes enough for up to 8 portions)

1. Make sauce: Stir together yogurt, chopped tarragon, lemon juice, olive oil and cucumber; season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place salmon on sheet, and season with salt and pepper. Broil until opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve with sauce on the side.

*Note: Skip the citrus juice in portions fed to eaters under 12-months-old.