IT"S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL!

One important detail I love about the Montessori World is that in essence, it is a world made smaller for little people!

Everything becomes easier when portions, sizes, and even words are made smaller.

Mini plums for snacking.

I have found some great "mini" portions of certain foods that make all meals more of a joy!

Here are some examples.

An assortment of mini bagels to build sandwiches and snacks.

Cream cheese & Apple

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Cream cheese, smoked salmon & capers.

Butter & cheese.

Peanut butter & banana.

Hummus.

Cream cheese, honey & raisins.

Tomato, onion & cheese.

Eggplant spread, roasted red pepper spread, avocado refried beans!

Mini Pasta Mexican Soup- A classic in my kitchen

Take half an onion and 4 large tomatoes. (2 cups pureed tomatoes) puree in a blender

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a sauce pan.

Add 1 cup mini pasta.

Add tomato and onion puree.

Season.

Add 4 cups of vegetable broth or water.

Cook about 15 -20 minutes.

Helping Hands

Maria Montessori stresses the importance of children's hands in the classroom and in real life. Getting children to be a part of the dinner process allows them to connect with the food they eat and allows them to be helpful and creative in the kitchen.

Here, the kids peel corn to help make the salsa for the Tilapia.

Tilapia with Corn & Fruit Salsa

Season fish with salt and pepper.

Cook fresh summer corn and remove kernels when cooked.

In a bowl combine, corn, raspberries, diced peach, diced cucumber, finely sliced basil and feta cheese.

Grill or pan fry fish. Serve with salsa.

Abu's Lentil Soup

My dad is a surgeon. He uses his hands with precision and detail. I don't often find him in the kitchen but when I do I put his skills to work!

He cuts the vegetables exactly the same size which makes for a perfectly cooked soup.

Abu knows how to make three things in the kitchen. One is Mexican red rice, the other is lentilsoup, and the most important of course are quesadillas! (recipes to follow)

This soup is great for entertaining friends for lunch, a light dinner or a cozy mid afternoon snack.

Entertaining friends or...

A cozy mid afternoon snack.

4 baby carrots cut into thin small slices

1 celery stalk finely diced

1 medium potato very finely diced

1 leek very finely diced

1 onion finely diced

3 garlic cloves minced

1/4 teaspooon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1/4 teaspooon ground celery seed

1/4 teaspoon oregano mexican or otherwise

1 bay leaf

2 cups french du puy lentils or 1 can organic lentils in a can

8 cups of vegetable broth

Add all diced vegetables to a medium sized stock pot with about 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Cook 4-6 minutes over medium heat

Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/4 teaspoon ground celery seed.

Cook for another 4-6 minutes.

Add broth and bay leaf.

Cook fresh lentil soup for about 45 minutes-1 hour.

Cook canned lentils 30-35 minutes to absorb all flavors.

Serve with shaved parmesan cheese, a drizzle of spicy olive oil and a sprig of fresh parsley.

Zucchini Soup

Here is a recipe for Zucchini soup. I don't normally make Zucchini anything, because I don't particularly enjoy the taste or the flavor. I had to make an exception this one time. My mom's friend brought over a basket of beautiful fresh vegetables from her garden. In the basket were some incredibly large and very "soupable" Zucchinis.

I tend to find Zucchini soup somwhat gelatinous because of it's very seedy inside. This very large zucchini rendered more flesh than anything else so I experimented in the kitchen until I found the perfect recipe.

I needed white wine for the recipe but I was at my sister's house and she did not have any so I used Smirnoff Mojito Vodka mix!!! I know it sounds strange but mint nad Zucchini work really well together so I decided to give it a try. It worked beautifully exactly that special flavor I was looking for.

If you are not feeling daring or don't have any Mojito Vodka lying around ( why would you, really???) go ahead and use white wine.

I had just made a fresh chicken broth form last nights chicken (see kids chicken soup for the recipe) so I used that as the base for the soup. Vegetable broth would work beautifully in this soup too!

I hope you enjoy.

Olive oil

1 very large Zucchini or 4 small zucchini's -seeds removed with a small spoon.

1 onion diced

3 cloves of garlic chopped

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes or pepperoncino

1/2 cup pf Mojito Vodka

Chicken broth

Fresh Mint

In a pot saute onion, garlic and zucchini until golden yellow.

Add chili flakes.

Add Mojito Vodka

Add broth

Bring to a boil

Reduce heat to med low until zucchini is cooked.

Let cool.

Add fresh mint about six 6-10 leaves

Puree in a blender or with a hand mixer.

Serve with a slice of toasted bread, shaved parmesan or a dollop pf cream.

Garnish with fresh chives or a sprig of mint!

Zucchini Soup

Kids Chicken Soup

CHICKEN SOUP

I usually make my chicken soup for scratch. Any time Patrick and I eat a roast chicken for dinner I take the leftovers to make my stock. It may sound overwhelming, but it really is a very simple recipe.

If I don’t have a leftover chicken handy, and I want a quick healthy chicken soup dinner, I use Organic Chicken Broth as the base for the soup.

For the Leftover Chicken Soup Broth

1. Take off the skin and anything you might have stuffed the chicken with.
2. Put it in a large stock pot.
3. I add just enough water to submerge the bird. About 8 cups.
4. 1 fresh bay leaf ( or dry)
5. 1 onion peeled and cut in half.
6. 1 large carrot or 2 small carrots peeled.
7. 1 celery stalk
8. 4 garlic cloves thrown in
9. 1 leek properly washed
10. Parsley- a bunch
11. Thyme-a little less.
12. 1 tablespoon salt.

Bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat for about 4 hours. Or until you try your broth and it’s delicious. If it doesn’t have enough flavour, season and simmer for another hour or so.

Once the soup is cooked let it cool.

Put a large bowl in the sink with a sieve on top. Strain the chicken stock into the large bowl separating liquid from solids.

Scoop out cooked carrots and dice finely. Set apart.

Take any chicken peices that might have been left behind and set apart.

Replace liquid from stock back into stock pot.

Add egg noodles or dry noodles of your choice.

Cook as you would pasta.

Add carrots and chicken.

Serve with bread, parmesan cheese lemon wedges.

It’s the perfect kids meal.

Willie's Cafe Tomato Bisque

Willie's Cafe Tomato Bisque

This soup is adapted from Willy's Cafe in London Ontario. Patrick and I used to walk over from my place on Piccadilly Street and have a warm refreshing soup. It always made our weekend.

We had it so often that the owner gave us the recipe on a card at the end of the year. It's one of my favorite soups. I serve it often.

I added this recipe because sometimes dinner can just be a simple soup made with fresh produce, a chunk of baguette and a movie! Serve it warm or cold.

Here is the recipe.

Tomato Soup:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (olive oil for a vegan)

1/2 cup chopped white onion

3 tbsp flour

1 1/2 teaspoons dill seed

1 1/2 teaspoons dill weed (fresh)

1 tsp dried oregano

5 cups pureed canned tomatoes

4 cups water with vegetable stick bouillon- or veg broth

4 teaspoons of honey

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups of whipping cream ( leave out if vegan)

In a pot melt butter and sautee onions until golden brown.

Add herbs and cook for 1 minute.

Add flour cook for 2 minutes

add tomatoes and vegeatble stock. Simmer about 1/2 -1 hour.

Add honey and salt and pepper

Puree soup in a blender.

Add cream and heat through

Add fresh dill sprig to garnish.

Serve.

If you happen to dislike dill- take out dill seed and dill weed. Replace with a teaspoon of dried basil and fresh basil.

For a fresh summer version use fresh tomatoes, ripe and red!

For a richer taste and texture, roast your tomatoes first. In oven on high heat until lightly charred. DO NOT BURN!

On the bbq with perfectly ripe tomatoes only-grill until lightly charred.

Introducing Fennel

This year's favorite vegetable at the McE house

I like fennel that has a smaller bulb as opposed to a larger one. It makes for less core and more yummy stuff!

For a fresh salad

1. wash the fennel bulb and chop with a sharp knife where the root and fronds begin.

cut the fennel bulb vertically first. Place the flat part of the fennel down on your cutting board. with a sharp pairing knife slice the fennel as thinly

as possible.

place in a salad bowl.

2. Clean a cucumber (preferably a small portuguese cucumber) and peel. Slice vertically and take out the seeds with a small spoon. You don't want to end up with a wet salad!

3. Slice a vidalia or sweet onion the same way you sliced the fennel bulb.

4. Toss together in a bowl add lemon juice, fruity olive oil, fleur de sel, pepper.

On a plate arrange baby arugula, add mixture of fennel, cucumber and vidalia onion.

peel a grapefruit and tear into wedges. Place the wedges on top of salad. Driizle more olive oil and serve.

To add texture add shaved parmesan or pecorino cheese. They are both sharp and delicious!

enjoy.

For a Pasta sauce

Or... a sauce for fish or sauce for grilled chicken...or simply as a vegetarian ragu on cous cous or rice.

1 fennel bulb diced

1 onion diced

4 garlic sliced

home made pasta sauce (see here or your favorite store bought one!)

white whine

dill

capers

olive oil

salt

pepper

fresh tarragon

sauté onion, fennel and garlic with olive oil until golden ( season with salt)

add white wine, about half a cup or a little more!

simmer for about 2 minutes

add pasta sauce, about 1 litre

add capers ( season)

add fresh tarragon chopped

grill your salmon and pour sauce on top. simply delicious!

Roasted Fennel and Cauliflower Soup

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER, FENNEL, AND GARLIC SOUP

1 head cauliflower, remove core, break into florets
1 fennel bulb, white part only, trimmed and cut into chunks
6 unpeeled cloves of garlic
olive oil
unsalted butter
6 cups of water or broth

2 Rosemary sprigs

chilli flakes(for heat)

For Garnish

Real bacon

dried cranberries and or toasted almonds

Garlic Croutons.

2 waxy potatoes scrubbed and chunked (I never peel them for soup)

heavy cream, milk, half n half or unsweetened soy milk (about a cup)
salt and pepper

Place cauliflower, fennel, and garlic in roasting pan. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 375º for about 45 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned.

Peel garlic and then transfer squeezed garlic and veggies to soup pot and saute in olive oil and a little butter for about 10 minutes.

Add water or broth and potatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are soft skimming any foam as needed. Puree then add cream or more broth, or water, to taste until soup is silky. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.4