Eat Your Greens! aka Fava beans and spinach pesto

I recently signed up for organic produce delivery.  I love it!  It forces me to eat more veggies and also try things I might not have before.  Tonight I discovered some some and creative dishes.

Spinach and sunflower seed pesto.  
I figured since traditional pesto was made with a leaf (basil) and a nut/seed (pinenut) why not try something outside the box?  I had a bag full of baby spinach, courtesy of Full Circle Farm and a jar of sunflower seeds.  Why not make pesto?  The recipe that follows was inspired by Jaime Oliver.

2c spinach

1/4-1/2 c sunflower seeds

1/3 plus EVOO

2 cloves garlic chopped

1/2 c parmesano reggiano

salt and pepper.

As with traditional pesto, combine in food processor and slowly add EVOO until smooth.  Feel free to play around with amounts as well until it agrees with your palette.
I left mine a little crunchier and spooned it over a tortellini. It was pretty dang yummy!

I was on a roll with the the greens and was dying to try the bag of fava beans in my organic mix so the recipe that follows is a nice little side dish.

Fava Beans tossed with parmesano reggiano
1 C fresh fava beans shelled.

2 tbs. EVOO

1 clove garlic, chopped

pinch or small shake of crushed red pepper

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c shaved parmesano reggiano

So, Fava Beans are a thick bean that is encased in a pod and looks like a giant snap pea.  Crack it open from an end and pull it apart.  Inside are the beans.  Do not eat these raw.  The first step is to boil a small pot of slightly salted water.  Once boiling, throw the beans in for about 1-2 minutes.  Drain and rinse.  THEN, you must pop the bright green beans out of their little jacket.  It's a thick skin like little bean scuba gear.  Once this is complete just add olive oil, garlic and red pepper to a medium hot pan.  Toss the beans until heated through.  Dish up.  Add your salt and pepper and shave some cheese on and your done!  Another option would be to forgo the heat and just mix the ingredients together (minus the garlic) and toss into a green salad.

Make Your Own Salad Night

    

     So I have some picky eaters in my house.  Namely my husband, who could eat the same food every day for all three meals and be perfectly happy.  The second is my gifted and sensory sensitive child who claimed himself a vegetarian by age 4 (including fish b/c he was NOT going to eat a dead fish) and who probably only east about 5 foods.  He too will eat the same food everyday for every meal and is perfectly happy about it.  It does mean making his lunch for preschool very easy and I can do it before I've had my coffee in the morning.  Luckily, I also have a three year old who will happily ask for a steak and will eat a chicken wrap right out of my hand if I let him.  Sadly, it makes dinner time for this Foodie an agonizing challenge.  When the 4 o'clock hustle begins I dread trying to come up with something everyone will eat or even consider looking at.  Once or twice a week we have breakfast for dinner so everyone is happy with their eggs, or pancakes, or cereal and most times they can even get their own food.  I always leave a bowl or two of fruit out on the table and this has increased fruit intake by everyone, so thumbs up for that!  The veggie situation is the next challenge and tonight I discovered some sort of success.  Tonight was "Make Your Own Salad Night."  Not sure why I hadn't thought of this before.  We've had taco night which is a similar idea where everyone gets a tortilla and puts what they want.  Kids LOVE this stuff!  So I guess the little bits of sunshine we've had lately was just enough for my veggie garden tending to help set off this brilliant little light bulb.  Funny enough, the recipe to "Make Your Own Salad Night" requires one of my famous "lists."  I'm not necessarily a fan of lists but it does seem I'm kind of listy that way.  So.  This is how your family will LOVE "Make your own salad night."  

1 bowl romaine

1 bowl red leaf lettuce

1 bowl mixed greens like arugula and kale and any other "fancy" looking leafy green

in separate bowls:

sliced cucumber

bite sized pieces or think slices of carrots

tomato wedges

raw mushroom slices

any other salad pleasing veggie cut thickly for finger food people

avocado chunked or sliced

little bowls or jam jars of dried fruit like blueberries, cranberries, or cherries (or all of them!)

little jars or bowls of raw seeds like sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, etc.

bowl of freshly chopped chives from the garden

My picky eater also brought to the table a plate of pickles and olives.

we added some hard cheese like parmesan reggiano so each person could grate their own. (I helped the left handed 3 year old)

And of course numerous salad dressings and croutons or bacon bits can be added as well as other proteins like shrimp or chicken or anything else you might put in a salad. The key is to have lots of options.  Sometimes it's just the way it looks or feels in the mouth that gets them to eat it.  My 3 year old likes his cucumbers peeled so I had  little plate of sliced cucks both peeled and unpeeled.

I desperately wished I had a big lazy susan for this affair and I might go out and buy one tomorrow. Although without it, everyone got to practice their nice restaurant manners for passing food. From mom to mom, let me tell you, this was a huge success!  We put the larger salad bowls out and then put little dishes on the side for those who want rice or maybe pasta or even a protein (and the picky eater's seaweed. Yeah, I know, I just go with it.)  I used jam jars for the seeds and dried fruit and  put spoons and forks out for serving.  Let me tell you, everyone had fun and ATE the FOOD.  They all asked for "Make Your Own Salad Night" again!  Luckily for me I just signed up for organic produce delivery so that will keep the variety going.  The bonus of it all, besides the eating was that even the little one could, and wanted to help set the food out.  It was truly the family affair I never though would exist.  Aaah.  A mom's day is done.