The Kindest Kitchen

I’d like to try this again with 1.5 c flour and chilling the dough. I think the texture would be better. And 9 min bake time. It was just a smidge too thin for my liking but I love the idea of the cookie.

Ingredients:

1 medium ripe banana (120 g), mashed

1 cup + 2 tbsp (280 mL) 1% skim milk (or I used soy)

1 cup + 2 tbsp (120 g) organic sprouted rolled oats

1/2 cup (135 g) egg whites**If you do not wish to consume raw egg, you may substitute 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (100 mL) milk of choice.

1/2 cup (115 g) 0% Greek yogurt

1/4 cup (40 g) organic chia seeds

1 1/2 tsp (8 mL) vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp (20 g) chopped pecans, divided (optional; to top)

extra yogurt and cinnamon and banana to top

mash banana in a medium bowl until smooth. Once smooth, add milk, oats, egg whites, yogurt, sugar substitute, chia seeds, vanilla extract, and cinnamon, stirring until well-combined.

Whole wheat protein muffins -I made mine w dark chocolate and fresh raspberry

anthea's notes:

I baked these berry protein muffins right before I had Navah and stored them in my freezer for an easy, one-handed breastfeeding snack. I just made them again & dropped them off for my sister, who welcomed a perfect baby girl (!!!!) into the world last week.

I love this recipe because it’s flexy af. I’ve made them with AP flour, whole wheat flour, almond flour, or a mix of all three, depending on what I had in my pantry, and they’ve always turned out great.

I use avocado oil in place of coconut oil to lower the saturated fat content (because I’m in that high CVD risk population mentioned above) and double the amount of berries it calls for because no one’s mad about a bite bursting with summer fruit every time.

I made this using store bought pulled chicken and that worked well to make it easier. the peanut dressing was not flavorful enoguh even after i made two batches and added chili sauce, and it wasn't satiating because it was missing the fat from the PB. I think it's better to use real peanut butter and do the peanut sauce from the spring rolls + water to thin it. but otherwise this is an amazing staple recipe! easy, veg forward, delicious!!

Ingredients for Chicken:

14 oz chicken breast fillets

1 tbsp (15 mL) extra virgin olive oil (optional)

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tsp: paprika, garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cumin

Ingredients for Peanut Dressing:

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (70 g) powdered peanut butter + 3 1/2 tbsp (55 mL) water (prepared according to package instructions)

3 tbsp (45 mL) low-sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp (30 mL) rice vinegar

1 tbsp (15 mL) sesame oil

Ingredients for Noodle Salad:

200 g dried rice noodles, boiled & strained

Chicken, shredded

1 medium carrot (260 g), shredded

1/2 cucumber (300 g), julienned

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (to top)

2 green onions (6 g), green stems finely chopped (to top)

1/4 cup (20 g) roasted peanuts (optional; to top)

sesame seeds (optional; to top)

What to do…

Place chicken on prepared air fryer rack previously used for bacon. Drizzle chicken with (optional) olive oil and coat with seasonings, carefully rubbing into all sides. Air fry for ~12-14 minutes at 375°F.

While chicken is cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil and add rice noodles. Boil noodles for ~4-6 minutes, or until chewy and tender. Drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Set aside.

Once chicken is cooked, set aside to rest for ~5 minutes. Chop cilantro, green onions, and peanuts. Shred carrots and julienne cucumber.

Add all vegetables and cooled noodles to a large bowl. Then, shred chicken and add to salad. Drizzle with peanut sauce and top with cilantro, green onion, peanuts, and sesame seeds. Toss until everything is evenly coated.

Taco Skillet - a new staple! I added black beans and next time might add bell pepper slices into this too for extra veg. Remo said it would be great on top of potatoes too instead of the rice

Loaded Taco Rice Skillet

Serves 4 — Macros: 527 calories | 54.3 g P | 43 g C | 12.9 g F

Ingredients:

Rice:

1 cup (180 g) raw jasmine rice, rinsed & drained

2 cups (475 mL) water

Taco Rice Skillet:

600 g extra lean ground beef

1/4 cup (60 mL) low-sodium soy sauce

3 tbsp Taco Seasoning (*I use my own homemade blend from my cookbook!)

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups (150 g) cherry tomatoes, finely diced

1/2 medium yellow onion (60 g), finely diced

2 cloves garlic (10 g), finely minced

2 cups (400–450 g) cooked jasmine rice (from Step 1)*Cooked leftover rice or microwaved packaged rice also works if you’re in a pinch for time and cannot make fresh rice.

2 cups (200 g) low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded

I added a can of black beans too!

To Assemble:

1/2 cup (120 g) Greek yogurt

1/2 jalapeño (20 g), sliced (optional; to top)

Fresh cilantro, chopped (optional; to top)

Extra taco seasoning (optional; to top)

Loaded Taco Rice Skillet

The easiest way to turn taco night into leftovers you’ll actually want to eat every day.

Serves 4 — Macros: 527 calories | 54.3 g P | 43 g C | 12.9 g F

Ingredients:

Rice:

1 cup (180 g) raw jasmine rice, rinsed & drained

2 cups (475 mL) water

Taco Rice Skillet:

600 g extra lean ground beef

1/4 cup (60 mL) low-sodium soy sauce

3 tbsp Taco Seasoning (*I use my own homemade blend from my cookbook!)

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups (150 g) cherry tomatoes, finely diced

1/2 medium yellow onion (60 g), finely diced

2 cloves garlic (10 g), finely minced

2 cups (400–450 g) cooked jasmine rice (from Step 1)*Cooked leftover rice or microwaved packaged rice also works if you’re in a pinch for time and cannot make fresh rice.

2 cups (200 g) low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded

To Assemble:

1/2 cup (120 g) Greek yogurt

1/2 jalapeño (20 g), sliced (optional; to top)

Fresh cilantro, chopped (optional; to top)

Extra taco seasoning (optional; to top)

Directions:

Prep rice, veggies & cheese: Rinse and drain rice until water comes out clear. Cook rice according to package instructions.* While rice cooks, preheat a large cast iron skillet (or stainless steel pan) over medium-high heat. Shred cheese. Mince garlic, then dice tomatoes and onion. Set all aside.*I use a multi-cooker with a “White Rice” function. It takes ~20 minutes to cook specified weight of raw rice for this recipe.

Cook beef: Add beef to skillet and cook for ~1-2 minutes, breaking it apart with a spatula as it browns. Once beef is fully crumbled, stir in soy sauce and seasonings. Cook for ~2-4 minutes, then push to one side of pan and add garlic, onions, and tomatoes.

Cook veggies: Let veggies cook down, stirring occasionally for ~2-4 minutes, until tomatoes are softened and onions and garlic are browned and fragrant. Added the beans here.

Delish! Couldn’t figure out cooking the salmon exactly tho yet…was a bit raw then I think I overcooked it a bit but the salsa and spices were so freaking good it didn’t even matter. Total make again, could be a hosting staple just need to figure out how searing works. I had skin on salmon so idk if that made a difference? I had it a little above medium on electric stove, uncovered. Doubled the recipe to make 4 portions

Next time maybe try this:

The "Fail-Safe" Restaurant Method

Lemon ricotta cake NYT omg so good. And easy! Make again for easy happy hosting

Chocolate crispy candies

Lemon raspberry tiramisu

Syrup makes WAY more than needed

Dip cookies 3-4 seconds bc 2 seconds on each side wasn’t quite enough

Delicious, pretty, everyone liked it! Lemon zest over the top. Definite make again.

It didn’t work for me to cut ladyfinger cookies in half to make petals so I skipped that.

Red curry chicken thighs w cucumber salad

Fabulous, perfect week night staple. Most chicken thigh packets come w 1 lb so would double recipe to have leftover chicken. Easy and nice you can prep veg and marinade chicken in advance.

Chickpea chocolate chip cookies

Cheesy chickpea crisps

This was SO GOOD! Want to eat it all the time. I did extra veg and sauce and feel like it could have had make. Could do maybe 2x veg next time and 2x meat next time. I used a whole onion but if doubling meat maybe do 2 onions

ingredients

2 (15oz) cans beans (i used cannellini + butter beans), rinsed and drained

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1.5 lbs cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 large cucumber, quartered

16 oz block feta cheese

2 tbsp sliced pepperoncinis

3 tbsp kale salsa verde (optional but makes it green! and so delish!--see bottom of this post)

for the marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

2–3 tbsp red wine vinegar

salt + black pepper, to taste

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

method

marinate the beans in a medium bowl, combine the rinsed beans with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and garlic powder. give it a mix and let it sit while you prep everything else.

take the edge off the onions (optional but recommended) add your sliced red onion to a bowl of warm water with a pinch of salt. let it sit for ~10 minutes, then drain. (i prefer this because i don’t love super sharp onions, but if you’re making this ahead and letting it sit for a few days, you can skip!! they mellow out over time anyway.)

build the base in a large mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, drained red onion, and pepperoncinis. toss gently.

finish the beans stir the kale salsa verde into the marinated beans (if using) until everything is coated and glossy. this is optional, but i think it really elevates the mix!

bring it together add the beans on top of the vegetables and mix until evenly combined.

the final moment crumble the feta over the top. big, uneven chunks are the goal here. don’t overmix once it’s in!

NOTES

tasty! popular

this keeps in the fridge for 5–7 days and improves as it sits

the beans continue to absorb the dressing, so give it a stir before serving

i love this scooped up with crackers, piled onto toast, or just eaten straight from the container! you can also add it to tuna salad.

ingredients

1 bunch dinosaur kale, stems removed

boiling water (for blanching)

ice water (for shocking)

for the sauce:

3 cloves garlic

1/2 shallot

juice of 3 lemons

4 oz plain yogurt

1 tsp anchovy paste or 1–2 anchovies

1 tbsp capers

1.5 tsp dijon mustard

3 tbsp sherry vinegar

large handful fresh parsley

3/4 to 1 cup neutral oil (i like avocado oil; olive oil can be a bit overpowering here)

salt, to taste

method

blanch the kale place the kale leaves in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them. use a spoon to press everything down so it’s fully submerged and let it sit for about 1 minute.transfer immediately to a bowl of cold water. this stops the cooking and keeps that bright green color while softening the leaves. drain well.

build the base in a blender, combine garlic, shallot, lemon juice, yogurt, anchovy paste (or anchovies), capers, dijon, and sherry vinegar. blend until smooth.

add the greens add the blanched kale and fresh parsley to the blender.

emulsify with the blender running on high, slowly stream in the oil until the sauce becomes smooth, glossy, and bright green.