Crispy Chicken Cutlets with Cauliflower Puree
The PERFECT family dinner does exist
We have a bunch of new readers this week - YAY, I’m so glad you’re here! I’m Olivia and on paper I’m a food stylist and recipe developer. Here I’m a mom to two wild boys and a busy parent. What you’ll find here is a very unedited, off-the-cuff, reporting of what I’m cooking for my family every week with some tales of parenthood sprinkled in. My hope is that what you find here gives you inspiration in the kitchen and somehow makes your life a little easier. The weekly newsletter is free and full of good stuff in it’s own right, but the majority of the recipes are behind a paywall. This is because… well have you seen the price of eggs lately??? A paid subscription is $5/month or $40/ year and you can cancel anytime. BIG thanks to everyone who supports this content. I love my newsletter community.
The Perfect Family Dinner
Does it exist? Well depends on your family’s preferences but in my house, this dinner comes pretty close. I’m cooking for a 1 year old, a 3 year old, and a 36 year old. So textures are a big consideration, since not everyone has gotten all their teeth yet. My husband and I are big fans of chicken cutlets, not much to explain there. A soft mash or puree is ideal for the baby and good scooping for the toddler- bonus if you can hide a veggie in it. And broccoli seems to be a safe home run in the vegetable department for all three boys. So enter Crispy Chicken Cutlets, Cauliflower & Potato Puree and Garlic Broccoli. It’s on heavy rotation here. It’s all made with simple ingredients and uses simple techniques. And you’re really getting 3 recipes for the price of 1 this week. They all stand alone as great mainstays that you could whip out any night. You’ll find the full recipe at the bottom of this email.
What I’m Loving This Week:
OatHaus Vanilla Granola Butter: Well, I’ve found my new expensive addiction. Last week I was on set and asked my assistant to run out to Whole Foods to get some items we needed PLUS “get us a tasty snack, your choice”. He came back with this stuff and pretzels to dip in it. As one of my instagram followers DMed me “I don’t get it. I read the ingredients, but the taste is WAY more than the sum of it’s parts” I agree. At $10 a jar, I think I need to try my hand at making it myself. I’ll keep you posted on this one. It’s a great alternative to nut butters if thats in issue for your family. And with really simple, clean ingredients I feel good about going heavy handed on the drizzle over my son’s yogurt.
Naked Whey Protein : I had kind of given up on protein powders because every one I tried tasted so artificial or like stevia (ick). I want something to add to my smoothie I already make that has plenty of flavor in it. That same assistant of mine turned me onto this brand. The ingredients are seriously simple. It’s sweetened with organic coconut sugar and the whey is from 100% grass-fed cows. I ordered their sample pack (so smart!) so I could try the three flavors before committing to a whole tub. It’s the unflavored for me. That way I still just taste my normal smoothie, perfect.
A Funny Story:
This may seem a little random, but I was telling this classic story to someone recently. They were laughing so hard that I thought my newsletter community might get a kick out it. It’s food related… So, my father (a.k.a Poppy to my boys) is a notoriously voracious eater. He’ll eat anything and he doesn’t hold back on quantity. He’s been known to eat my BBQ ribs with a rib in one hand and a bottle of extra virgin olive oil in the other, drizzling as he goes. So, you get the picture. A few years ago he went to a party for a store opening, owned by one of our neighbors. The store sold things like natural soaps, oils, etc. The party was full of women and my dad was there to show support but was admittedly a little out of place. He spotted the food table with refreshments on it and bee lined it there- his comfort zone. He went down the line picking up finger foods and snacks. As he came to the end he saw a large block of a white cheese and cut a slice off. After popping the cheese in his mouth, he said it was the strangest texture and for the life of him he couldn’t place the flavor. In his words, “It wasn’t necessarily horrible but very odd. So I went back for two more slices.” As anyone would do. As he made his way over to a circle of our friends and neighbors, including the store owner, he asked her, “Robin, what is that cheese over there? The big block of white cheese. I can’t place it.” And she replies, “Um, I don’t know which one you’re speaking of. Could you point to it?”. Which he does. She replies, “Dudley did you eat that?! Thats a block of raw shea butter!!”. He told this story, a few hours after this event, to me and group of friends as we were sitting by the water at my lake house. When he got to the end the whole party was rolling around on the ground, laughing hysterically and holding their stomachs. We’re all still laughing about this because that is SO my dad.
Serves 4
The Plan:
Bread your chicken cutlets. You can refrigerate these for up to 3 hours.
Make the cauliflower & potato puree.
Meanwhile, fry your chicken cutlets.
Use the same steamer to steam the broccoli.
Wipe the chicken pan out and heat the oil for the broccoli
Put it all together.
Crispy Chicken Cutlets