Tribeca Yummy Mummy

What?  You thought that we city folks weren’t in touch with nature?

Each week, in a class that my friend Sonia cleverly named “Where the Wild Things Are”, we have teacher and wild animal center owner Travis come to Tribeca with his many boxes and crates of creatures.  During class Travis brings out his animals and teaches the kids and the Big People all about each animal.  Some, we get to pet (chincilla, chocolate chip starfish, albino python), and some we just observe (porcupine, tarantula, Mama wallaby).

All during the week before class, Liev asks, “Is today Animal Class?”.  He tells and retells the stories that Travis has told during class, with Travis’s exact inflection.  He will gather boxes and baskets, stuff in his stuffed animal creatures, and call class to order, teaching his sister, his mama, and his dad all about his stuffed pigeon or alligator.  At times he repeats back what was said in class that week, verbatim.

The other kids are doing it, too.  One of our two-year-old friends loudly announces, “I am Travis!” and even showed up to class last week with a stack of shoe boxes covered with various cloths, his own animal collection, that he toted from here to there and all over, toddling all the way with a special swagger and pride.

Even Mira, who is a city kid through and through, has had to admit just how incredible this class is.  She started out not wanting to go, complaining that it would be boring, something just for little brothers.  Quietly, she has come around.  I heard her this week, with a tiny edge of squeal in her voice, telling her Daddy about how the mama and baby Wallaby came back to class and now the baby stuck its head out of the pouch.

“It was soooooooooooooo cute!”

Hey, I don’t blame these kids.  Looking around the room while Travis is showing and telling about these creatures, you will see that it is not only the children who have looks of wonder in their eyes.

I sometimes find myself consulting my calendar and asking myself, “Is today Animal Class?”

Curious about Four-legged experiences around the world?  Check out these other Corner Views:

jane – ian – joyce – francesca – state of bliss – isabelle – janis – kari – jgy – lise– cate – otli – dorte – sophie –mcgillicutty – sunnymama – daan – ibb– kelleyn – ninja – sammi – theresa –cherry b – cole – lucylaine – skywriting– anna – conny – rosamaría – tikjewit –juniper – annabel – valerie – mlle paradis – wander chow – don –flowtops – susanna – tania – dana –tzivia – mezza – ocean girl – kristin

Happy Spring, Yummies!

After a beautiful, warm Friday here in NYC, our weekend got progressively colder, and today it’s a cold, dark world out there.  Now it’s pouring, and it’s in the 30’s/40’s.  After dropping my son off at his play group this morning and splashing my way home, I was soaked to the bone.  With all of that and snow in the forecast for later on in the week, not to mention the very sad and dark things going on in Japan and in the Middle-East, it feels a little odd to have a Spring in our steps.

This time of year is a good time to have a few dishes under your belt that can swing both ways… not quite comfort food, but something that satisfies.  This spinach salad is smoky and filling from the tamari almonds and the tofu but feels just a little light because of the spinach and the edamame.

My children will only eat the salad without the dressing and without the spinach, but when we offered this salad to a few friends’ kids, they had varying opinions and tastes.  Nearly everyone wanted the edamame.  A lot of them would eat the tofu with that, some with dressing and others without it.  A couple (brothers with similar tastes) JUST wanted edamame and fresh spinach, no dressing please.

My advice?  Assemble all the components and let your family choose how they compose their salads.

While I normally do not buy a lot of tofu, because soy is not easy on tummies, especially little tummies, and because  the way it alters estrogen levels generally freaks me out, it does have other health benefits.  It is a very good source of protein.  Despite that high protein level, I find tofu to be the most incredibly bland, weird textured foods, but smoked tofu is a different bird.  It really tastes fantastic and interesting and like something you’d want to eat a lot.

The idea for this salad came from a place I used to hang out a lot when I lived in the East Village.  It’s called Ciao for Now and has super delicious everything.  It introduced smoked tofu to me, and it was only because every single thing that I had ever tasted there had been outstanding that I even would try that tofu.  Pure and simple?  Delish.

So here it is, a recipe for when the world is feeling a little dark, but you feel there might be some hope to be found.

Spinach Salad with Edamame, Smoked Tofu, Tamari Almonds, and Soy-Ginger Dressing

For the Dressing:

• 1 T. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 small cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T. sesame oil
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 T. mild honey
• 1/4 c. soy sauce (low-sodium is good here)
• 2 T. rice vinegar (or substitute with apple cider vinegar)
• 1 t. black pepper

1. Help your mini-chef measure all the ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid.
2. Screw the cap on tight!
3. Shake, shake, shake till everything is well combined.

For the Salad:

• 2 c. edamame, blanched, shocked in ice water, and drained
• 1 block smoked tofu
• 1 c. tamari almonds
• 8 c. spinach, washed and spun dry
• 1 scallion, minced (optional)
• one recipe of Soy-Ginger dressing (see above)

1. Place all of ingredients besides the dressing in a large salad bowl.
2. Pour the dressing over everything.
3. Toss and serve immediately.

Just a few weeks to go before the mini-nugget arrives!  It has been hairy around here with a big leak, insurance people and then construction workers coming in and out, stomach viruses, husbands away in Mexico City, and this baby’s prenatal karate practice.  Trying to find my center in the middle of the chaos.  Each week the belly grows, and my center shifts.  Just when I think that things are quieting down, another surprise pops up.

Chaotic or not, my baby and I are heading into the final stretch.  I find myself starting to daydream about who this child is: Boy? Girl?  Blue Eyes?  Green Eyes?  Brown?  A talker like his/her brother?  An artist like his/her sister?  Always late like my dad?  Always early like my mom?  A dog lover like Sean’s father?  Able to handle any situation with grace and ease like Sean’s mom?  Not to mention all of the qualities that will be all his or her own….

For now, we’re all hugging the belly, patting it, talking to it and singing to it.  Liev told it a secret last week (It was just between the two of them).  Mira promised it a few things (I will teach you how to ice skate when you’re three).  Sean rubbed it for an hour straight.  I just try and stay conscious, in these final weeks, of the movements and shifts coming from within, knowing that this sweet time when the baby and I are completely one will pass soon enough.  I do not want to miss a thing.

Corner View will take you around the world.  Check out these other ways of Communicating:

You’ve heard that saying, “Like white on rice”?  Well, any time rice is incorporated in what we’re making in class, the mini-chefs are… like white on rice.  NOM, NOM, NOM!  They all love it.

This past week, we made one of our favorite ingredients the star of the show in a main course dish.  These rice balls, with spinach mixed in and little cubes of extra firm tofu in the middle, are sort of the Asian-fusion version of arancini, something most children will eat happily.  For this recipe we used sushi rice since you can make it very sticky by adding a bit more water while cooking it, but you could use other types of rice sushi rice is not easy found in your area.

Also, there was big news in the Tribeca Yummy Mummy kitchen!  For the first time ever in class, the older kids got to practice their knife skills.  Nope, I didn’t hand them my chef’s knife and let them go to town.  Instead, they got to use a plastic lettuce knife and learn to medium dice on a block of tofu.  I highly recommend.  It was a special task that only the older siblings got the privilege of performing, and you could see that the younger siblings thought it was verrrrrry glamorous… something to look forward to getting to do themselves one day.

Today, we’re celebrating the very exciting launch of Kids Cook Monday!, part of the Monday Campaigns (Meatless Monday is the most famous, with celeb chefs like Mario Batali on board).  Go take a peek over at their new site, which features Tribeca Yummy Mummy’s very own Soba Noodles with Sesame Sauce and Steamed Veggies this week.  Blush!  We are so honored to be part of the movement to teach families and children to take care of their bodies, cook and eat together, and eat really yummy AND nutritious foods.

These rice balls would make a perfect family meal for going meatless while staying in the yummy zone!

Spinach Tofu Rice Balls Served in Cumin Tomato Sauce

For the Rice:

• 2 c. sushi rice
• 2 1/2 c. water
• 3/4 c. rice vinegar
• 3 T. sugar

1. In a large bowl (one with a pour spout if you have it), measure out the rice with your mini-chef.
2. Fill the bowl 3/4 full with cold water, and using your hands, swish the rice around in the water.  It will look very milky and cloudy.  Pour the rice into a fine mesh sieve to drain the water.  Pour back into your bowl, and repeat the entire process till the water is clear.  This will take several changes of water.
3. Big Person: Once the rice has been properly washed, pour the rice, and 2 1/2 cups of water into a large heavy bottomed pan with a tight fitting lid.  Bring the water to a bowl, uncovered, then turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, take the pot off of the heat and let stand, still covered, for another 10-15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, whisk together the rice vinegar and the sugar over medium heat.  Once the sugar has been dissolved into the vinegar completely, remove from the heat and let cool while the rice cooks.
5. With your mini-chef, stir the sugar-rice vinegar mixture into the cooked rice.  Don’t worry about over mixing.  It should be a bit sticky!

For the Rice Balls:

• One recipe of Sushi Rice (see above)
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 c. finely chopped spinach
• 1/2-1 t. salt
• 1 t. black pepper
• 1 block of extra firm tofu, water drained and patted dry
• 1 c. bread crumbs
• oil for frying (instructions for both frying and baking are below)
• one recipe of Cumin Tomato Sauce

1. In a large bowl, mix together the rice, eggs, spinach, salt and pepper.
2. Using a lettuce knife or a dinner knife, have your mini-chef cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes.
3. Fill a couple of shallow bowls halfway with water.  Fill another shallow bowl with the bread crumbs.
4. Have a baking sheet lined with parchment ready on which you can place your rice balls.
5. Dip your hands into the water.  Holding a handful of the rice mixture, make a ball.  Using your pointer finger, poke a hole in the ball.  Stick a cube or two of tofu into the hole.  Reshape the rice ball around the tofu, closing up the hole.  Roll the ball in the bread crumbs to coat, and set on your prepared baking sheet.  Repeat till all the rice mixture is used up.
6. Big Person: To cook, you can either preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and bake the rice balls for 20 minutes, or until golden brown, OR you can heat an inch of  oil (vegetable oil works well) to 350 degrees F in a wide, heavy bottomed pan, and fry the rice balls, turning them when they are golden brown on one side and browning them on the other side.  If using the frying method, cover a wire cooling rack with paper towels, and when a batch of the rice balls has been cooked, drain the oil on the rack before serving.
7. To serve, place a large spoonful of the tomato-cumin sauce in a bowl, place 2-3 rice balls in the sauce pool, and spoon a little more of the tomato-cumin sauce over the top.
8. Enjoy!

On my kitchen counter, there is always a whir of activity.  It’s definitely the center point in our home, and it’s the place where you will usually find us all in the middle of one project or another.

As you can see, our counter is essentially a giant wooden butcher block.  I love the way it tells the story of all the meals made and art projects and dinner parties that we’ve held and that of the family who lived here before us.  It’s a warm place where mamas gather around and talk during cooking class, and kids pull up a stool in front of to stir, or glue, or sit and watch.

Do you spy the blue harmonica?  Sometimes it’s a place to sit and play a song.

While it isn’t perfect or at all fancy, like marble or even granite, and you can see its dings and scratches, it is well loved and has a life of its own.

Wood you, could you?  Check out these Corner View with the theme “Wood”: