41°
And so we turned to two moms who know food. Stacie Merrill, production specialist at Valley Table -- and a Beacon resident -- and Laura Lee Holmbo, Valley Table's director of marketing, who lives in Cold Spring, offer two of their tried-and-true ideas for packing healthy kids' meals.
The Valley Table is a local, quarterly magazine that celebrates the agricultural heritage and cuisine of the Hudson Valley. The company is also the producer of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, which runs Nov. 1 to 13.
Recipe: Onigiri (contributed by Stacie Merrill)
Ingredients
- Steamed rice
- Salt
- Dried bonito flakes (Katsuobushi) mixed with soy sauce
- Roasted seaweed
Instructions
- Put some rice in a rice bowl.
- Wet hands with water and add salt. Place rice in one hand, press and form into a triangle shape.
- Make a well in the middle of the rice ball and put in Katsuobushi mixture. Close the well.
- Reshape and wrap with a sheet of roasted seaweed.
- Sprinkle with black sesame seeds
Holmbo, a mom of four, often serves up this "Nut Ball" snack:
Mix peanut butter or almond butter with honey (try to always use raw) and ground flaxseeds. With hands rinsed in cold-water, form the mixture into little balls and put them in the fridge. Optional additions: mini chocolate chips, oats, dried fruit or nuts.
For something else, Chef Ramiro Jimenez of La Puerta Azul in Salt Point offers the following Mushroom Quesadilla recipe.
Ingredients:
- Sauteed mushrooms
- 2 pounds cremini mushrooms
- 3 Tbsp chopped garlic
- 4 pasilla chiles* (dried or fresh) cut in strips
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Quesadilla
- 8 corn or flour tortillas
- 1 cup Oaxaca* or Monterey cheese
- 2 cups sauteed mushrooms
- 2 grilled onions
- 4 sprigs epazote* or cilantro
- 2 tablespoons oil
Method:
Mushrooms
- In a large pan on medium heat add oil, garlic and pasilla chiles, stirring constantly until lightly browned.
- Add mushrooms and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and mix in parsley.
Quesadilla
- Preheat cast-iron griddle or in medium heat heavy skilled.
- Brush one side of each tortilla with oil and place on the griddle.
- Spread 1/4 cup cheese on each of 4 tortillas, leaving a small border around the edge.
- Add mushrooms, onion and epazote and wait until the cheese starts melting.
- Top with the remaining empty tortillas and press firmly to close.
- Serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Southwest Dutchess and receive free news updates.
