Don’t get me wrong. This is a great thing. They’re doing online learning this year, and I work from home, so when they make their own lunches, I’m the happiest mama in the world.

But…

I found out that they were only eating rice. Maybe with a little leftover meat from the night before.

No vegetables. At all.

So, being the good mama I am, I wanted to make sure that they ate their vegetables. I dove into recipes on the web. What we’ve found works best in our house is having on hand a mixture of fresh veggies, all nicely slices and/or diced, and quickly pickled veggies to perk up the bland brown rice. Asian cultures have long known the value of pickled vegetables in a meal, and there are thousands of recipes to choose from. I usually spend an afternoon preparing a week’s worth of vegetables for us. Because these are all quick pickles, you don’t have to worry about canning them; I just put them in large non-reactive containers with a tightfitting lid in the fridge! These are some of our favorites.

Thai Eggplant Pickles

Normally, my kids wouldn’t eat eggplant if you bribed them, but these little gems go almost faster than I can make them!

Ingredients

4 to 5 small, round green, white, or purple eggplants (also called Thai or Kermit eggplants, available at Central Market or Whole Foods)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 to 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
4 to 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
2 stalks lemongrass, dead ends trimmed and thinly sliced
1 to 2 red Thai bird chiles or 2 to 3 serrano chiles, halved (you can remove the seeds and ribs if you want to tame the heat)
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
Juice of 2 limes
1 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce (available in most grocery stores)

Directions

Trim the stems of the eggplant and quarter them. Toss them with the kosher salt and allow to stand in a colander or strainer set over a bowl for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour. Rinse well with cold water and pat dry with paper towels or a clean tea towel.

In a large saucepan or a sauté pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic, lemongrass and chiles and stir for about a minute. Add in the eggplants, brown sugar, lime juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Stir well to dissolve the brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is fork-tender.

Remove the eggplant to a non-reactive bowl or container with a good, tightfitting lid and toss with the fish sauce while continuing to simmer the liquid for another 10 minutes, or until it is nice and syrupy. Pour the syrup over the eggplant, close the lid, and let cool on the counter before storing for up to a week in the fridge. This is great with all sorts of grilled or roasted meats and seafood!

Smashed Cucumbers

My husband doesn’t like cucumbers, but he loves these! They’re everything a pickle should be – sweet and salty and garlicky and spicy. Yum!

 Ingredients

2 hothouse or English cucumbers
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
2 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
½ teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon fish sauce
1 ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Sriracha or other garlic-chile paste to taste
Toasted sesame seeds to serve

Directions

Wrap each cucumber in a clean tea towel. I know this sounds odd but trust me. Using the flat of a knife, or a heavy saucepan, smack the cucumbers until they crack and are slightly flattened. (This creates all sorts of cracks and crevices for the marinade to hide in.) Unwrap the cucumbers and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Toss the cucumbers in the sugar and the salt and allow to sit in a colander or strainer set over a bowl for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour.

Meanwhile, combine the garlic, unseasoned rice vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, and chile-garlic paste in a non-reactive bowl or container with a tightfitting lid. Whisk in the toasted sesame oil.

Rinse the cucumbers well in cold water and pat dry with paper towels or with a clean tea towel. Toss in the marinade and refrigerate for up to a week. To serve, sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds.

Korean Seasoned Spinach (Sigumchi Namul

If you have spinach haters in your house, try serving them this. My spinach hater cannot get enough of the stuff! I make this twice a week, and we always run out!

 Ingredients

2 bunches of spinach or 2 10-ounce bags of spinach (don’t use baby spinach for this – it’s a little too delicate for this)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 to 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) – if you can find Korean pepper flakes, known as gochugaru, use them!
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

 Directions

Bring a large saucepan or pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Have a large bowl of ice water next to the stove. If using bunched spinach, cut of the stems. Blanche the spinach in the boiling water for about 30 seconds, then using a strainer or tongs, remove the spinach and immediately dunk in the ice water. Drain the spinach well and squeeze out as much water as you can.

While you’re waiting for the water to boil, combing the rest of the ingredients in a non-reactive bowl or container with a tightfitting lid. Once you’ve squeezed all the excess water out of the spinach, add it to the marinade and toss gently to separate and coat the leaves. Refrigerate for up to a week.

Other vegetables we keep on hand include matchstick carrots, shelled edamame, sliced radish, jicama cut into matchsticks, blanched or roasted green beans/broccolini/asparagus, and broccoli and cauliflower florets. You can use whatever your family likes! Sometimes, if we don’t have any protein leftover from the night before, my kids will fry an egg to go over the top of their bowl. And if they’re feeling really nice, they sometimes even make a bowl for Mama!

The post Quick Pickled Vegetables for Easy Lunchtime Rice Bowls first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Sandwiches can be as humble or as over-the-top as you like. There’s really no such thing as a sandwich recipe – they are infinitely adaptable, depending on tastes. I’m sharing some of my family’s favorite sandwich ideas for you to try and adapt to your tastes!

Homemade Mayonnaise

It’s hard to have a good sandwich without a good mayonnaise. While Hellman’s and Duke’s are the best commercially available mayonnaises, there’s nothing better than homemade. This is mine.

Ingredients

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard

Pinch salt

Pinch cayenne pepper

2 ¼ cups oil (this is where you can get creative, depending on what you are using the mayonnaise for – my current favorites are extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil, but a neutral oil like grapeseed or canola are wonderful)

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the lemon juice, vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, and cayenne until the mixture is light and frothy. Then slowly, oh so slowly, drizzle in the oil while whisking like crazy. I find that putting a damp towel under the bowl keeps the bowl from spinning while you whisk like a madman. In the beginning, only add a couple of drops at a time, but once the emulsion gets going, you can add the oil in a slow stream. Once you have added all the oil, taste the mayonnaise, and adjust seasoning as needed. This will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator, but if your house is anything like my house, it won’t last that long!

Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

This is the perfect use for your homemade mayonnaise!

Ingredients

½ pound sharp cheddar, grated (PLEASE do not use the preshredded stuff for your pimento cheese!)
½ pound white cheddar, grated

½ to 1 cup homemade mayonnaise (the amount used will depend on how loose you like your pimento cheese)

1 4-ounce jar diced pimentos, drained and patted dry

Directions

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. This is the basic pimento cheese recipe. You can add in all sort of things to your taste. I like either a minced clove of garlic or two thinly sliced green onions along with a dash of Dijon mustard. You can add in chopped olives or pecans. Chopped jalepeños are good. Bacon never hurts. Just be sure not to add in too much extraneous stuff. You don’t want your pimento cheese to be overwhelmed.

To make a perfect pimento cheese sandwich, simply spread on good bread. You can toast the bread or grill the sandwich. You can add bread-and-butter or dill pickle slices. Lettuce and sliced tomatoes and onions are fine. Slather the pimento cheese on a burger for the best cheeseburger you’ll ever eat. The possibilities are endless!

Angel House Veggie Sandwich

Ingredients

1 good baguette

Sundried tomatoes (I use the ones preserved in oil and drain them well before patting them dry)

Thinly sliced red onion

Thickly sliced cucumber

Sprouts (I grow my own sprouts, but if you can find a spicy blend, it’s great in this!)

Boyd’s Dill Dip – recipe follows*

Directions

Gently warm the baguette. You don’t want it shatteringly crunchy, just warmed through. Split and spread with the Boyd’s Dill Dip, and then layer the sundried tomatoes, onion, cucumbers, and sprouts. You can certainly add meat to this if you like. Turkey is very good, as is thinly sliced roast beef. If you get wild and crazy, add a few avocado slices!

*Boyd’s Dill Dip: Combine 1 cup mayonnaise (you can use homemade or commercial), 1 cup sour cream or Greek or Lebanese yogurt, 1 tablespoon dried minced onions, 2 tablespoons dried dill, 1 tablespoon dried parsley, and a couple of shakes of hot sauce. Let sit for at least an hour for the flavors to meld.

Lamb Meatball Pitas

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

1 pound ground lamb

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

Zest of 1 lemon (you’ll use the juice in the tahini sauce)

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon dried oregano, dried mint, or dried dill

For the Tahini Sauce:

2 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

Juice of 2 lemons

½ cup tahini (ground sesame paste, available in most grocery stores)

Pinch each of ground cumin and cayenne

Ice water for thinning

For the Sandwich:

Whole wheat pitas

Thinly sliced/shaved onion

Thinly sliced tomatoes, drained on paper towels

Sliced cucumbers

Mixed green herbs (I use flat-leaf parsley, mint, cilantro, and dill)

Directions

For the Meatballs:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mash together. Cover and refrigerate for an hour to allow the flavors to meld. (You can make the tahini sauce while the lamb is resting.) When you’re ready to cook, make small meatballs. I usually make them about the size of a large marble and then slightly flatten them. You can either cook them in a large skillet in batches, or you can put them on a baking sheet and bake them in a preheated 375° oven for about 15 minutes.

For the Tahini Sauce:

While the lamb is resting, make the tahini sauce. Combine the garlic, lemon juice, tahini, cumin, and cayenne in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. With the processor running, add the ice water a little at a time until you have reached the desired consistency. For this recipe, I like the sauce consistency to be in between a salad dressing and a dip. Loose but spreadable. Allow to sit on the counter until you need to use it to allow the flavors to meld. It can be kept for up to a week in the refrigerator.

For the Sandwich:

Because I usually cook the meatballs in the oven, I just wrap the pitas in foil and warm for about 8 minutes. This makes them more pliable. Split the pitas and gently open. Slather the insides of the pitas with tahini sauce, followed by the meatballs, vegetables, and herbs. This is a lovely, bright, summery sandwich that’s good for picnics as there is no mayonnaise to spoil. If you have a vegetarian to cook for, simply substitute grilled veggies – zucchini, onions, eggplant, tomatoes, fennel, asparagus, or whatever looks good in the grocery store – for the meatballs.

Sandwiches are extremely subjective and even more forgiving. You can put almost anything between two slices of bread, and it will be okay. So experiment! Let us know your favorite sandwich in the comments below!

The post Summertime Sandwiches first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

We have been so fortunate that this has been a lovely spring in the western half of North Texas, what with below-average temperatures and very few severe storms. And there is no better way to take advantage of this gorgeous weather than to get outside and GRILL! Central Market is celebrating the Grate Outdoors (get it?), and all departments are chock-full of wonderful things to grill.

To help you in your grilling endeavors, I’ve come up with several recipes for you to try. All are fairly easy, reasonably healthy, and completely yummy! For those who are grilling neophytes (or those who might need a refresher course), I’ve found a couple of good grilling information pages. Central Market, of course, has a great grilling information page. It covers everything from grilling tools to ways to flavor your food. For those who are slightly more experienced but need a quick refresher to shake the dust off the grill, Epicurious.com has a good article on grill preparation.

And now, the recipes!

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

Just about any vegetable can be grilled, so I just look for what looks fresh and tickles my fancy at the time!

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

For the vegetables

1 sweet onion, peeled and thickly sliced

2 to 3 zucchini, halved

2 Japanese eggplant (the skinny ones) or 1 large globe eggplant – I really like Japanese eggplant, but if they are not available, the globe is just fine! – halved

1 yellow bell pepper and 1 red bell pepper, halved and seeds and ribs removed

3 Roma tomatoes, halved and seeds removed

1 bunch of green onions, rootlets removed

Olive oil (doesn’t need to be the fancy extra-virgin stuff)

Salt and pepper to taste

For the dressing – this makes approximately 4 cups, which is more than you need for the salad, but it keeps well in the refrigerator and is delicious on all sorts of things (chicken, seafood, salads, boiled eggs…)

1 green onion

1 bunch Italian (flat leaf) parsley, roughly chopped

1 bunch tarragon, leaves removed from the woody stems and roughly chopped

1 bunch chives, roughly chopped

1 ½ cup mayonnaise (I use Hellman’s because it’s not as sweet as some commercial mayonnaises)

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

4 to 8 anchovy fillets or ½ T. anchovy paste, optional but really, this is what makes Green Goddess Green Goddess (you won’t taste anything fishy, I promise!)

2 T. white wine or cider vinegar

Freshly ground pepper

Directions

For the vegetables

Prepare the grill for direct heat cooking over hot charcoal or medium-high heat with a gas grill. Allow the grill to heat well. This is just like preheating an oven.

Rub the slices of onion with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss the remaining vegetables with olive oil. Place the oil-coated vegetables on a platter and season well with salt and pepper.

Once the grill is heated, place the vegetables on a well-oiled grill grate, making sure not to crowd them. Grill until the vegetables are tender and lightly charred, turning frequently. I wish I could tell you how long this will take, but there are few things more variable than a grill. Once all the vegetables are grilled, heap on the platter and allow to cool to room temperature, approximately 30 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, make the dressing. Once the vegetables are room temperature, roughly chop them and toss with the dressing, serving over lettuce leaves.

For the dressing

This is so very easy. Put all ingredients except the vinegar and pepper in a blender and hit puree. With the blender running, add the vinegar. Pour into a bowl, add the pepper, and taste for seasonings. As I said, this is great on chicken, seafood, eggs… It will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Herb and Garlic Marinated Leg of Lamb

I love grilled leg of lamb. It is wonderful hot, room temperature, or cold. It makes great leftovers. Yum!

Serves 8 or 4 with leftovers

Ingredients

4- to 5-pound boneless leg of lamb, butterflied – ask the butcher at Central Market to butterfly your lamb if you don’t want to mess with it yourself!

½ cup olive oil (doesn’t need to be the fancy extra-virgin stuff)

1 large lemon

2 to 4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bunch rosemary, roughly chopped

1 bunch thyme, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

You will need to marinate the lamb for at least an hour or up to 6 hours. Place the lamb, oil, garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper in a large zippered bag. Cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice into the bag over the lamb, and then toss the squeezed halves into the bag. Close the zippered bag and squish around, making sure to combine all the ingredients and coat all surfaces of the lamb. If you are marinating it for only an hour, leave it on the counter, flipping occasionally. If you are marinating longer, refrigerate, flipping occasionally, and then allowing to come to room temperature for about an hour before grilling.

Prepare the grill for direct heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal or moderate heat for gas. Allow the grill to come up to temperature.

Remove the lamb from the marinade (discard the marinade) and place lean side down on a well-oiled grill grate. Turn occasionally and move if flare-ups occur. Grill the lamb for about 15 to 18 minute for medium-rare, 20 to 22 minutes for medium. (Please don’t overcook lamb! There is almost nothing sadder than well-done meat.) Allow the meat to sit, covered loosely with foil, for at least 20 minutes before slicing. This is just delicious!

Grilled Banana Boats

These are a great way to use slightly over-ripe bananas.

Ingredients

1 banana per person

Mini marshmallows

Chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips…

Chopped nuts of any kind

Directions

This is a good way to use the dying coals if you are using charcoal. If not, reduce the heat to low.

Split the banana lengthwise, leaving the ends intact. This makes the “boat”. Squeeze slightly to open the boat up and stuff with the toppings of your choice. Place the banana boats on a well-cleaned and oiled grill grate, cover, and cook until the bananas are softened, about 10 minutes. The peels will be black, but they are oh, so melty and yummy! Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes, as hot, melty sugary things can leave you with very interesting scars. Then just scoop out the warm, oozy mess with a spoon!

If you don’t always have time to grill but still want to enjoy fabulous grilled food, check out Central Market’s chef-prepared selections. Quick, easy, and delicious! However, there are few things better than gathering family and friends for a cookout. So get out into the Grate Outdoors and grill!

Lee Virden is a jack of all trades, master of none. She has been a bank teller, a chef and caterer (both in restaurants and in private service), a bookkeeper, a trainer, a legal assistant, and a writer. She is a proud graduate of the University of the South with a degree in Early European History. (She planned to be a professor but realized in the nick of time that professors have homework, which she never did when she was a student, so what made her think that she would do it as a professor?) While she has not used her degree in her, er, varied employment history, she is fabulous at cocktail parties. Most importantly, Lee is the proud mother of two absolutely amazing girls, to whom she refers in social media as the Girlchildren.

The post Enjoying the Grate Outdoors first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.