Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hummus Faces

26 February 2010 Filed In: Appetizers, beans, black beans, cooking class, Dairy-free, Fall, Gluten-free, hummus, lunchbox, Main Dish, Snacks, Soy-free, Spring, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian, Winter





One of my students found out that we had made black bean and sweet potato hummus in another class, and he began a campaign with both me and his own mom to ensure that his class got the chance to make the same dish. He happens to be a major hummus fan and wasn’t about to miss out.

The excitement seemed to be catching. We made this easy and incredibly yummy hummus along with homemade corn chips (although, man would these pita chips with flaxseed oil go well with it, too) as quick as we could and completely left out the faces element for this particular class. They were all at the table and ready to eat with smiles on their faces while the bowls of prepared vegetables languished, forgotten.
To tell you the truth, it was sort of amazing how most of the kids could not get enough of this hummus. R, who had been the one initially campaigning for the stuff and who had raced from school to our apartment in anticipation, gulped it down along with a very sturdy amount of the corn chips. My own son was just sitting there, eating the hummus by the spoonful in a hummus delirium. So, take that and run with it, I say.
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hummus Faces

For the Hummus:
*4 cups cooked black beans
*one medium sweet potato, roasted with skin on
*2 cloves garlic, sliced
*1/2 c. olive oil (or 1/4 c. olive oil + 1/4 c. reserved liquid from cooking the beans)
*juice of one lemon or lime (we used a Meyer lemon here)
*several small handfuls of flat leaf parsley and/or cilantro
*1 1/2 t. ground cumin
*1/2 t. salt
*black pepper, to taste

For the Faces:
*a roasted red pepper
*a couple of carrots
*cucumbers
*radishes
*celery
*pita chips
*cheese
*anything else you think of and your mini-chef enjoys with black bean hummus


Measure out each ingredient with your mini-chef. Add the ingredients to a big bowl as you go along, talking about each thing and smelling it.

Big Person, put all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender. Make sure that the top is securely fastened.

Together again: Have your Yummy press the “on” button. Watch as the ingredients start to get smaller and smaller until they all begin to blur together.

Big Person: Once the hummus has completely come together, remove it to a bowl and set aside while you move on to the decorative veggies, etc.

Talk about some shapes with your mini-chefs. Then, cut up your decorations as you think they might compose a face, with artistic expression. (Monkeys, chickens, monsters, and princesses with quirky noses will abound!)

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Corner View: Street Photography

24 February 2010 Filed In: corner view, tribeca



During the break between my classes today, I ran out for a street photography session- ok, and maybe a cappucino, too.

It’s gray skies here. By chance, these are quite literally street photographs since the most colorful pictures were drawn on the street itself. They popped up in the many puddles that we will surely be out in later, wearing our dinosaur boots and jumping around.
My pick for a theme: miniature worlds
Take a stroll down other streets:

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothies

23 February 2010 Filed In: berry, beverages, cooking class, Drinks, Fall, Gluten-free, peanut butter, smoothie, Soy-free, Spring, Summer, Vegetarian, Winter





Because of the many sore throats around here of late, we have been drinking lots of smoothies even in the middle of swirling snow and blustery winds. When we make smoothies, we like to pack a punch in the nutrition department while we are at it with protein, potassium, omega-3’s and antioxidants.

The “jelly” is really frozen berries sweetened with very ripe frozen bananas and honey, to taste. The wheat germ and flax seed meal give it just the hint of earthiness, like the whole grain bread element of a PBJ.
None of the kids in my 3-year-old class had a trace of sore throat, thankfully, but they managed to drink down these Peanut Butter and Jelly smoothies very nicely all the same.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothies

*10 oz. berries, frozen (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or a mixture)
*2 very ripe bananas, frozen
*1/2 c. freshly ground peanut butter (we use honey roasted)
*12 oz. silken tofu or 1 1/2 c. plain yogurt
*1 c. almond milk (or rice, cow’s, oat, etc. milk)
*1/2 c. wheat bran (cut this out for a gluten-free smoothie)
*1/4 c. ground flax seed
*1 t. vanilla
*apple juice, water, or more milk to achieve your favorite smoothie consistency
*honey, to taste

Place all the ingredients into an unplugged blender. Big Person, you can help your mini-chef fit the lid onto the top of the base when everything is ready to go. Then, you plug the blender in and let your mini-chef press the buttons to make the smoothie whir. When it is completely blended, unplug the blender again, pour the smoothies into cups and stick in a colorful straw.

Enjoy!

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Getting Back to It

22 February 2010 Filed In: all the rest


I have been silent for a couple of weeks here and missing blogging, but because of snow days (no school!) and because of the parade of flus that have taken a full month to chase away, I had to focus my energies elsewhere.

For a while there it felt like we were living on some sort of bizarre Old Mac Donald’s farm:
With a fever fever here,
And a pink eye pink eye there…
Now, though, all of us are ready to get our hands back into the flour.

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Sweet Potato and Quinoa Croquettes with Rainbow Chard

09 February 2010 Filed In: Appetizers, cooking class, Dairy-free, Fall, Gluten-free, greens, Main Dish, quinoa, Side Dish, Soy-free, Spring, sweet potato, swiss chard, Vegan, Vegetarian, Winter





When my class of 3 year-olds requested a few more lunch ideas, these croquettes came to mind, and I decided to rework them for a gluten-free diet, using crushed rice crackers instead of bread crumbs. By sheer accident-as often happens when new recipes are born-we forgot to roll the balls in the crumbs at all during class. The croquettes did not lose one bit of flavor or texture.
So, try this dish with or without the crumbs, but be ready for a hit. The finished croquettes were met with absolute excitement from both the mini-chefs and their Big People. The Yummies were in fine form; some of them even asked for seconds after they had had a first helping plus dessert. The Big People even kept trying not to sneak bites of their kid’s croquette since they had to wait for the second batch to be done before they got their own.
These are also really just so much fun to make. My advice is to double the recipe, cook some of them off for right now, a few more to send to school in a lunchbox, and to store half of the uncooked mixture in the freezer to use in a couple of weeks when you just have to have a second round.
Sweet Potato and Quinoa Croquettes with Rainbow Chard

*1 1/4 c. red quinoa + 1 1/4 c. yellow quinoa, uncooked
*4 c. vegetable stock+ 1 c. water
*1 1/2 c. sweet potatoes, cooked and pureed*
*2 eggs or 1/2 c. more sweet potato puree
*3 T. olive oil
*2 c. rainbow chard with the red middle stem removed and then chopped
*3/4 c. shallots, finely chopped
*3 cloves of garlic, minced
*2 t. cumin
*1 t. dried thyme
*1 t. dried oregano
*1 t. coriander
* salt and pepper, to taste
*1- 1 1/2 c. bread crumbs or rice crackers, crushed to a powder
*canola oil for cooking the croquettes

Big Person: Bring the vegetable stock and water to a boil in a large heavy-bottomed pot.

Together: While the veggie stock is coming to a boil, wash the quinoa. Place 1/2 of the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve. Wash the quinoa under a cool tap for several seconds, having your mini-chef swirl the quinoa gently with their hands. Repeat with the second 1/2 of the quinoa.

Big Person: Add the quinoa to the boiling stock and turn the heat down to low. Cook on low for 13-15 minutes, or until the little hair springs up on each quinoa grain.

Warm the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and saute the shallots till they are translucent. Add the spices and cook another minute, stirring. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more, stirring, and take the pan off the heat and pour the chard mixture into a heat-proof bowl to cool while you start assembling the croquettes.

Together: It’s egg cracking time for your mini-chef. Have them crack the two eggs into a very large bowl. Help them if they are very small and make sure to have a wet soapy cloth nearby to wipe up the egg that does not, well, make it into the bowl. Whisk the eggs with a fork.

Now add in the cooked quinoa, the sweet potatoes, and the chard mixture and give it all a big stir till everything is very well combined.

Set out a large baking sheet or a few dinner plates, etc. and begin shaping the croquettes. For mini-chefs, a ball is the easiest shape to make. Have them scoop up a handful of the mixture and sculpt it into a ball. Place the finished balls onto the baking sheet and keep sculpting until you have used up all of the mixture.

At this point, you can get on with the next step (frying) or roll each ball in the bread crumbs or cracker crumbs. When working without the crumbs, just make sure that your croquettes are small enough to turn with a slotted spoon instead of a spatula so that they do not fall apart.

Big Person: Heat an inch of oil in a skillet or frying pan over medium heat (about 350 degrees F). Place a few balls into the pan and fry them until golden brown on each side. Remove to a baking sheet lined with a double stack of paper towels and cook all the croquettes in the same way.

Serve alongside a dipping sauce (any favorite, delicious sauce) or over greens. They are really great served fresh from the pan but also taste nice cold.

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