Purple potato and crunchy lentil Salad (Katchumber Salad inspired by Cookbook INDIAN-ish

indian food can be a hard sell for children, but it can also be a really fun way to introduce new an vibrant spices. I love Priya Krishna’s new Cookbook, INDIAN-ISH, because it’s excatly that! With recipes like Roti pizza the breakdown of each Indian spice, even how to cook rice, INDIAN-ish is a must! I choose to riff a bit on her Katchumber salad with mung beans and add a purple sweet potato and cook the beans to almost al-dente. The mini-chefs were a bit hesitant at first, but loved the sweetness of the potato, tangy tomatoes, and the crunchy mung beans! Served with a side of Peanut Chutney.

Purple Potato and Crunchy Lentil Salad (Katchumber salad) Salad:

Serves 4

Prep 20 including Boiling Potato

Ingredients :

• 1 medium-large purple sweet potato, peeled, boiled, and cooled

• 1 cup green lentils, rinsed under cool water, cooked with 2 cups of water for about 15, just until al-dente

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

• 1 persian cucumber, chopped

• 1 cup cherry tomatos, chopped

• 1 ripe avocado, diced

• 1 tablespoon rough chopped pistachio nuts (if no allergy is present)

• juice from 1/2 of a lime

• salt to taste

• optional-chopped mint leaves (we left out for the mini chefs)

Directions

1. Break the potato into large chunks using your hards (this is a fun job for the mini-chefs) once the potato is cooled.

2. Place the cooked lentils, cucumber, tomato, avocado, potato, and cilantro in a large bowl.

3. Add lime juice, salt, and pistachio nuts, toss and serve!

Super Powered Banana Bread

Inspired by Alison Wu's beautiful banana bread that she made with Simple Mills gluten and grain free banana bread mix, we decided we needed to make our own TTK version! Instead of using the store-bought mix, we created our own flour blend with flax seeds. Flax is so good for the body in many ways (hence the "super power" of this bread), but it specifically helps with boosting the immune system and decreasing risk of eye disease. 

This bread is healthy enough to eat for breakfast, but delicious enough to serve as a decadent dessert. It is also an easy preparation process, so as always, your little ones can get involved in most of the steps! Once the banana bread is baked and cooled, we recommend topping it with banana "nice cream" and some in-season fruits for an extra yum factor! We topped ours with nice cream, honey, peach slices, crushed pistachio, and dried rose petals. 

Super Powered Banana Bread

• Prep time: 15 mins
• Cook time 30 mins
• Serves 8-10

Ingredients

• ¾ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon flax seeds
• ¼ cup coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of sea salt

Wet ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons melted  coconut oil

Optional Toppings:

• Honey
• Chopped Pistachios
• Sliced Peaches
• Banana “Nice Cream”
• Almond Butter
• Jam

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease an 8 x 4 baking loaf and set aside.
3. Whisk eggs with coconut oil and vanilla. Mash bananas with a fork into the mixture.
4. Add dry ingredients to same mixing bowl and stir to combine. Mixture should be slightly runny.
5. Add mixture to baking loaf and bake on middle rack.
6. Check after 30 minutes by sticking a toothpick in the the middle. If it comes out dry, the bread is done. If the toothpick comes out with batter, place back in oven for another 5-10 minutes, depending on oven.
7. Enjoy plain or top with your favorite toppings!

Avocado Ice Cream (vegan)

Happy (belated) National Avocado Day!

The mini-chefs I worked with this week were eager to celebrate the holiday by eating a ton of creamy avocado, but they also wanted to beat the NYC summer heat with a yummy frozen dessert. We found the perfect solution with this vegan avocado-based ice cream.

To fully embrace the spirit of the holiday, we whipped up the avocado ice cream and then crafted this treat to look like it's original source. We saved the avocado shell, spooned the ice cream back into it, and created a chocolate coconut ball for the "pit." The end result was adorable and so satisfying. And, of course, these were so much fun to make! 

Avocado Ice Cream Recipe

• Serves 4
• Prep time: 10 mins 
• Freeze Time: 3 hours

Ice Cream Ingredients: 

• 2 avocados (reserve avocado skin for serving)
• 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
• ½ of a can of full fat coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon of salt

"Pit "Ingredients (Optional):

• ¼ cup unsalted sunflower seeds
• ¼ cup sunbutter
• 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
• 2 tablespoon of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• Handful of mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender and transfer to a loaf pan, wrapped in plastic. Freeze for an hour or up to 1 week. Let soften at room temperature 20 minutes before serving.

To make the pit: place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Scoop out with either a spoon or cookie scoop and roll into 2 inch balls.

When ice cream has set but hasn’t quite frozen spoon back into avocado skin and place the pit in the middle!

Orange Cranberry Yogurt Muffins

Just the mention of muffins sends my mini chefs yelping and cheering for joy. I am not a huge muffin fan, but I do enjoy when they come out of the oven super warm, with chunks of fruit and I can slather some jam or nut butter across the top. The cranberries and oranges in this recipe have a nice amount vit. c which keep our skin looking young and healthy, also help us recover faster when we are sick and heals cuts and scrapes (I hear you boo boo' and ouchies).

Prep Time 10 mins
Bake time 15 mins
Servings 10
 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of orange juice
• 1 cup full fat yogurt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees
2. MIx together Dry ingredients until fully incorporated. Set aside. 
3. In another bowl mix together wet ingredients. 
4. Fold wet ingredients into dry, 
5. Grease a muffin tin with butter, coconut oil or no stick stray. Scoop batter in tin about 3/4 the way full. 
6. Bake for 15-20 until muffins are cooked through, test after 15 mins for doneness, let cool on a cooling rack.
7. Serve plain or with your favorite jam, butter or nut butter.