Jump to Comments

Don’t you love it when you make a recipe and it ends up looking just like the photo in the recipe?  That usually doesn’t happen for me, especially with my very un-scientific method of cooking (adding a little of this and a little of that…)  But tonight, I was thrilled when I looked from our serving dish to the recipe in Mariel’s Kitchen and back again.

This book, by Mariel Hemmingway, is beautifully photographed and documents simple steps that the reader can take to eat in a healthy and sustainable way.  I love that the recipes are organized seasonally, so that I can easily focus on what is fresh right now.  She even includes an entire section where she discusses how she has challenged her own family to “create an earth-friendly kitchen.”  The list includes ideas such as:

• buying bulk items (such as beans, nuts and baking ingredients) as often as possible, and pouring them right into containers that she has brought from home
• avoiding throwing away food – instead she freezes items that are getting soft or puts them into soups
• installing a good water filter on her tap, so that she can avoid using bottled water

Aside from her healthy eating tips, the book also includes loads of delicious recipes.   As you can see, from the copious amount of sticky notes protruding from the pages (in the photo above), there are lots of recipes that have caught my attention.  I have to admit – she uses some ingredients that I am not familiar with.  But instead of slamming the book in fear, I have decided to buy a few ingredients that I have not used before:  coconut oil, brown rice flour and millet. 

So far, I have made 4 recipes from the book:  Turkey and Veggie Sausages, Jicama, Carrot & Cucumber Salad with Citrus Dressing, Almond and Garlic Crusted Chicken Breasts, and Summer Squash “Linguini” with Chicken Goat Cheese and Basil.

Tonight’s recipe, Summer Squash “Linguini” was delicious.  As I was julienning the zucchini and yellow squash by hand, I couldn’t help but miss my julienne peeler which was misplaced during our move last year.  Alton Brown was on in the background, and proved to be a fantastic distraction for the otherwise tedious task of slicing and dicing.  Goat cheese isn’t my favorite, so I substituted some authentic feta cheese from Trader Joe’s.  I never knew that they carried it – it was on the top shelf, high above my short-person’s range of sight!

Summer Squash “Linguini” with Chicken, Goat Cheese and Basil

2 Tbs coconut or olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, free range and organic, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 Tbs. minced shallot
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup broth (chicken or vegetable) or water
3 each:  small organic green zucchini and yellow zucchini, julienned
1/4 cup julienned fresh basil
5 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

1. Heat oil in large saute pan over medium heat.  Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and saute until the outside is golden and the chidken is cooked through and no longer pink.  Remove from pan with a slotted spoon into a bowl, cover to kee warm and set aside.  Drain all but 1 Tbs of oil fromt he pan.
2. Add butter to pan.  Add shallot and saute until it becomes soft, about 3-4 minutes.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant.  Add chicken broth / water; then add zucchini and saute for about 3-4 minutes or just until soft.  Remove from heat.  Add chicken and basil, season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine.  Top with crumbled cheese and serve.

And for a little disclaimer, in case you think that my children eat everything that gets put onto the table… My husband and I loved this recipe.  The kids both picked out chunks of chicken and half melted feta cheese from the serving dish on the table, and left behind the squash.  Did I mind?  Not too much.  We are setting good examples for them and are serving lots of foods that we enjoy.  They are getting to make up their own minds about the foods they enjoy.  Eventually, we hope they’ll catch on.