Spring dinner
a dinner plan and a podcast episode to go with the hopeful Spring feelings in the air.
I’m feeling so jazzed up and inspired by this podcast episode I listened to this morning, that I’m inclined to start hammering on about it right here in paragraph one. But I’m going to show some restraint and let you read about it below in the Things I’m Loving. You came here for advice on cooking for your family and not a side order of self help, right?
Spring food
Shortly after my son was born, one of my best friends came over many times to make us dinner and help with the baby. She’s an amazing cook ( & mom of 2) and I get a lot of inspiration from her. She cooks the kind of food that makes your stomach and heart happy - high quality comfort food. One afternoon she brought us this unbelievably delicious panzanella salad with white beans & shrimp. It was fresh tasting, satisfying from the big chunks of bread and filling from the beans and shrimp. I loved it. At this point in my recovery, I was still sitting on an inflatable donut but I went on a kick making all different variations of it for a week until my husband kindly asked me to make something else.
My son, Dean, is approaching his first birthday and it’s giving me all the feels. I can even start to recognize the same smell in the air from one year ago. And apparently I’m craving the same food too! I made a riff on that salad last weekend. We hadn't eaten fish in a while so instead of my friend’s addition of shrimp, I treated the salad as a side and made it with some Crispy Panko Crusted Cod. I think a lot of people have the same thoughts about fish. We all know we should eat more of it for balance and because it’s good for you. Some of us actually like it too! But if you’re not an avid cook, it really can be intimidating. The process of buying it and then how to cook it. What if you ruin it? The price tag can be jarring. I wanted to give you a fool-proof recipe that also has that YUM factor. There are some notes on purchasing fish in the beginning of the recipe.
Mini Mouths:
Dean ate this right at the table with us. His was the white beans mashed a little + asparagus cut super small + goat cheese + olive oil + flaked white fish. He’s getting more “expressive” at meal time. I had a Jackson Pollock of panzanella on my floors that night.
Both of these recipes, Spring Panzanella Salad & Crispy Panko Crusted Cod, are going out to subscribers later today. It’s an awesome full meal that I hope will teach you a technique that you can riff off of a million times. If you’re new to me (HI!) , you can subscribe by clicking the button below. Not only will you receive these recipes but each week any “subscriber only” content will hit your inbox shortly after the newsletter. You also get access to any recipe archives from past weeks.
What I’m loving:
Gwyneth Paltrow x Martha Beck: What Does It Mean to Live in Integrity?: HOLY Sheeeeeet. This was inspiring!!! Martha Beck is a sociologist and here she’s talking to GP about “living in Integrity”. My definition of that word is now forever shifted. She talks about how we push down our real truths to be accepted or little lies to “keep the peace” and how damaging this is. And how when we begin our own healing it often triggers those around us. I’ve experienced all of this first hand and listening to her was, in my husband’s words (who listened too), “a free therapy session”. Just so good.
Dave’s Killer Bread - Power Seed: I posted an instagram story a few weeks back asking other moms if they had a soft sandwich bread they liked that didn't have sugar in it and ideally organic ingredients. It’s really a tall order if you read the ingredients in your bread. We eat naturally leavened sourdough that is both of those things, but I find it a little too chewy for the baby. Tons of mom’s wrote me back about this specific variety of Dave’s Killer Bread, which is a brand I was already a fan of. This flavor is sweetened only with some fruit juice and it brings it to 1g of sugar per serving. It’s great! Baby, no baby, whatever. Just a delicious sandwich bread that feels quality.
Meatballs in the Air fryer: If you're a regular reader, you know my love/hate saga with the air fryer. I’m still shocked that I love it so much. My most recent “hmm would this work in the air fryer?” was meatballs. I didn't know how it would turn out. Well, it’s awesome! This afternoon I made the Greek-ish Chicken Meatballs that went out to subscribers two weeks ago. I skipped the step of brushing or spraying them with oil on the sheet pan. Instead I added a little olive oil to the meatball mix. Rolled them up, did them in two batches in the air fryer, and was amazed at how evenly brown and still juicy they were when I took them out. If you have an air fryer I highly recommend!
Our household as a whole is experiencing a lot of change and renewal right now. It’s that special feeling of spring when things seem possible again. I have the itch to hit the reset button: emotionally, my closet, my pantry and my priorities. Maybe you’re feeling the same way. It’s such a Spring feeling. I’m wishing you all of that freshness in your cooking this week and wherever else you need some light. XO Liv