family meal — Posh Poop

Yum yum.

Friday night is all about decadent dinners for me. I want to eat something sinful without actually committing a lot of it.

Hence the perfect blend of health and heft: Kale&Basil Pesto with whole-wheat or brown-rice spaghetti. Not only is it delicious, but it takes 30 seconds in my glorious Vitamix!

Ingredients:

- 2 cups Kale (if the kale is particularly bitter, reduce this amount, or add more of the basil)

- 2 cups Basil

- 5 cloves of garlic (yes I like it garlicky!)

- ½ cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

- ¼ cup of Parmigiano Reggiano (optional)

- ¼ cup of toasted pine nuts (optional)

- Salt (to taste)

- ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

- Squeeze of lemon (optional)

Directions:

Add the EVOO to the blender, then the Kale, Basil, Garlic, cheese, Salt, and Pepper.

Blend until smooth. You may have to push the leaves down once or twice but it really is super-easy!

Boil the spaghetti until it is al dente. Save a tablespoon of the starchy water.

Throw the spaghetti and starchy water into a bowl, top with a dollop of pesto, mix, serve, and garnish with pine nuts and some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

This is a playdate pleaser as it can be made allergy friendly! You don’t need to add the nuts or the cheese to the blender when making pesto. You can easily top the adult portions with them, and keep the kiddie portions nut and dairy free.

Storage:

The pesto will freeze very well, although it’s usually gone before I get a chance to store it. When I do, I like to spoon the pesto into ice-cube trays, and top with a light smear of olive oil to preserve the fresh green color, and then freeze. Store in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag. It defrosts very easily, in a pan, at room temperature, or a minute in the microwave!

Try it and let me know what you think!

I might be the most reluctant chef in the world, however I do have a husband, toddler, and various playdates to feed, and THIS is my new favourite recipe! Minimal effort + Maximum flavour! The best thing about this is that at its simplest, the flavors are really fresh and yummy, and it's also easy to dress up and embellish for more accomplished chefs (which I most certainly am not)! I spend so much time making sure there's some sort of non-vegetarian food in the house that I routinely forget about myself, and then I end up ordering Seamless. So I suppose the ABSOLUTE best thing about this is that the sauce can also be used for tofu and noodles, and you can have both dishes made in the same amount of time!

The way I like to make it is as follows:

Fish:

2-4 tilapia fillets

1 Tbsp of Toasted Sesame Oil

1 Tbsp of Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp of Fresh Lemon Juice

First, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. I always forget this until I'm totally done.

Mix the sesame oil, soy sauce and lemon juice in a baking dish large enough to accommodate the filets.

Wash the tilapia and pat dry, then place in the baking dish, making sure to coat both sides with the marinade.

Coconut-Cilantro Sauce:

1 cup of low-fat Coconut Milk

1 cup of Cilantro Leaves

2 large cloves Garlic

1" Ginger

1/2 tsp Garam Masala

1/2 tsp Salt

What I love about having a Vitamix is I can just chuck all the ingredients in there and blend on high speed until the sauce is very smooth. So you know, 10 seconds at the most! An entire sauce in 10 seconds...amazing! If you don't have a Vitamix you can of course use a regular blender, making sure you chop up all the ingredients properly first.

Then...

Pour some of the mixture over the fish filets (as much or as little as you prefer...I personally like to serve it with lots of sauce so I use about 3/4 of the mixture), and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Once the fish easily flakes with a fork, you're done! Serve over rice or noodles.

If you're vegetarian, like me, sauté chopped scallions over high heat in a little butter and toasted sesame oil, add tofu and chopped veggies, with a dash of soy sauce and Sriracha. After a few minutes, reduce to a low heat and toss with cooked hakka noodles. Finally, add 1/4 of the sauce mixture and toss to evenly coat. Keep the heat on low until everything is nice and hot. You'll get a deliciously delicate coconut-cilantro flavour on the noodles, while the tofu and veggies stand out on their own. I could literally eat an entire wokful of this dish (hence, no picture)... my mouth is watering right now.

Try it and let me know what you think!