Rebecca Davis 1/26/18 Rebecca Davis 1/26/18

Purple kale pesto

Use those gorgeous purple veggies at the store and sneak some extra veggies into your pasta tonight with this easy purple kale and basil pesto. Me & The Moose | Purple Kale and Basil Pesto #pesto #sauce #purple #basil #kale #dinnerrecipe #saucerecipe

Purple veggies are JUST. SO. PRETTY. Blend them into an equally gorgeous sauce that is fast, easy, and a perfect way to get more veggies into some comfort food.

Take me to the recipe!

I've been with my mom in the hospital for the past few days, hence the long pause in posting. I'll spare you the details, but it was pretty brutal for my mom and will continue to be a rough course of treatment in the coming weeks and months.

Seeing someone I love be so sick brings out competing urges in me. On the one hand, I want to be optimistic and wait to freak out until we see what happens in the next few weeks. On the other hand, I want to mentally prepare for the worst, or, as I usually do, talk about/worry about "the worst" as though somehow saying it out loud or thinking about it constantly will keep it at bay. Like the Scheherazade of cancer.

Anyway, as always, I can only control what I can control. I'll try my best to carry on and eat well and get veggies into my child and not let him watch all the television though I mostly want to curl into a ball and stare at the wall.

This pesto is so vibrant and delicious. And purple feels on brand for Valentine's day, no?

Though I'm always in favor of shortcuts in recipes and against dirtying unnecessary dishes, you really must blanch the kale before making this sauce. But I sometimes go straight from the pot to the food processor (shaking off the excess water in the process) and skip the post-blanch ice bath that is supposed to stop things from overcooking. I find that the blending does the trick and a little excess water doesn't hurt the mixture either.

I initially skipped the dairy in this pesto, but have since added it back in because, cheese. This is also a great way to get vegetables into your child since they're blended into the sauce. I find that the purple color is fascinating to small people and some of it comes out in the blanching water, turning it a gorgeous shade of lavender, which is also compelling to the wee ones. If nuts are a no-go for your kids' lunchboxes, try swapping in tiger nuts (they're not actually nuts) or pumpkin seeds for the cashews.

Purple kale pesto

Time: 10 minutes
Yield: about 3 cups

6 oz purple kale, stalks removed (1 large bunch)
1/2 cup basil, packed
1/3 cup tomato paste
2 large cloves garlic
½ cup roasted, unsalted cashews or other nuts/nut replacement
1/3 cup grated parmesan or other nutty, dry cheese
½ cup olive oil
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
Pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Rinse the kale and rip the leaves from the stalks into large chunks. Put in the boiling water and blanch for 1 minute. Give it a few stirs to ensure that all of the kale is submerged. Add directly to the blender or food processor.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until you've reached your desired consistency. If too thick, add more water or oil by the tsp to thin out.

Rebecca Davis 1/24/17 Rebecca Davis 1/24/17

Green curry fish stew

Soup and stew are famously my favorite things. Well, this one is a Thai-inspired curry soup/stew that is both rich and light, familiar and new.

Get the recipe here!

For me, one of the things I like about having a child is that his needs are so immediate that caring for him forces me to be in the moment much more than I ever was pre-parenthood. That required compartmentalizing has gotten me through the past few days. I feel this way about cooking too. It's an activity that forces me to pay attention and helps me to block out the worry that can sometimes drag me into its vortex.

So, Green Curry Fish Stew! It's a very delicious vehicle for vegetables and while not technically "hiding" them, the vegetables become part of a whole and don't taste like themselves necessarily. When M was a baby, one of his favorite purees from Baby Foode was chicken, carrots, mango, and Thai red curry paste, so he's always liked these flavors.

My version of a Thai-inspired curry is not at all traditional and is also technically more of a soup than a stew because there's a lot of sauce. But to me, that's the best part, so I'm not complaining.

And don't be scared of kohlrabi. If you can't find it, cabbage or broccoli stalks are the closest substitutes and also the closest in taste. You can eat kohlrabi raw, sauteed, boiled, or roasted and it's available in most grocery stores and farmer's markets. Here is a great description of what kohlrabi is and some suggestions about what to do with it.

Green curry fish stew

½ large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cup fish stock (or chicken/vegetable stock)
1 can full-fat coconut milk
5-7 Tbsp Thai green curry paste (or just go ahead and use the entire little bottle)
1 pint mushrooms, chopped
1 bunch baby broccoli (if using regular broccoli, use 6 oz or about 2 cups)
1 medium kohlrabi bulb, chopped (or just use the broccoli stalks if you can’t find kohlrabi)
2 cups raw baby spinach (1 cup frozen)
1 lb white fish (thawed or frozen)
2 Tbsp fish sauce
Cilantro for garnish

Heat oil over a medium flame and add onion and garlic, cooking until the onions are opaque, about 3 minutes.

Add the chopped mushrooms and cook until they start to wilt a bit, about 5 more minutes.

Add the baby broccoli and cook for one minute.

Add the coconut milk and the fish stock and bring to a boil.

Add the spinach, kohlrabi, and fish and bring back to a boil (this only takes a minute). Push the fish down to make sure it's covered by the cooking liquid.

When the pot is back to a boil, reduce heat all the way to low, cover, and let simmer until the fish is flaky, about 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish and if you start with frozen or thawed filets.

Once the fish is cooked, stir in the fish sauce and sprinkle with cilantro.

Makes 7-8 cups, which was about 4 adult servings and 2 toddler servings

Rebecca Davis 1/17/17 Rebecca Davis 1/17/17

Buffalo chicken and cauliflower burgers

Buffalo chicken burger | Me & The Moose. This burger is perfect for lunch or dinner or game day snacks. Throw an egg on top and it could also be breakfast. #meandthemoose #Glutenfree #burgers #easydinner #quickdinner #dinnerrecipes #lunch #lunchrecipes #gamedaysnacks #buffalochickenburger

These burgers have all the familiar flavors of a buffalo wing, but with a little extra nutrition from the cauliflower, ground almonds, and ground chicken.

Take me to the recipe!

Frank’s Red Hot and butter do a lot of the heavy lifting, flavor-wise. But these patties are so easy to throw together and taste so good. Using pre-riced cauliflower saves a step. For the rest, you just throw the ingredients together in a bowl, mix with your hands, and sear a couple of burgers in a hot skillet while basting with a mixture of the melted butter and hot sauce.

If you’re worrying that the cauliflower ruins an otherwise good burger, fear not. You can’t actually taste the cauliflower at all.

I also use almond meal or flour (either is fine- use whatever you have) as a binder with an egg, but since these are burgers and not a meatloaf or meatball, the binding is less important. Lots of burgers are simply meat and spices mixed together, so you can leave out the almond meal if you have an allergy or don’t have any.

These burgers are also really versatile if you want to make them into sliders or meatballs as a game day snack. You can also make extras and freeze a batch for the future. I like throwing a fried egg on top and calling these breakfast or tossing them into a salad with some crumbled blue cheese for lunch or a light dinner.

Buffalo chicken burgers

Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 burgers

1 lb ground chicken
1 cup riced cauliflower
½ medium red onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
½ cup almond meal
1 egg
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp butter
4-6 Tbsp Frank’s hot sauce

Add chicken, cauliflower, onion, garlic, almond meal, and egg to a large bowl and combine using your hands or a spatula. Form into 6 equal patties using a 1/3 cup measure.

In a separate bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Add the hot sauce and stir to combine. Set aside.

Melt 1 Tbsp butter and heat over a medium low flame. When hot, add chicken patties and turn up the flame to medium.

While the first side is browning, sprinkle some of the butter/hot sauce mixture onto each patty being careful not to touch the raw meat with your brush or spoon. When the first side has a good sear, flip the burgers over and coat the other side with butter/hot sauce.

After 2-3 minutes, check the sear. If brown enough for your liking, turn the flame down to medium-low, cover, and let cook for another 5-6 minutes. When meat thermometer has reached 165, your burgers are done.