junior kitchen

One of the advantages of writing a food blog like this one is that people occasionally send you food. Or at least sauces. One such person is Country Bob, who wants more people to try his sauce. They should; it’s rather good, and we’re not just saying that because he sent us a free bottle. [...]

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While perusing the pantry looking for Sunday supper inspiration, I found a can of red kidney beans and a can of chickpeas. Not much to work with but it was something. Then I remembered the stewed tomatoes in the freezer from last tomato season… and the idea of chili took form. I looked online for [...]

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This is another recipe from this fabulous book. I can’t seem to stay away from the Burma chapter which is where this shrimp curry comes from. It’s shockingly simple to make, but comes out as good as anything in a restaurant. The kids like popping off the tails of the shrimp while we eat. Anything [...]

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Okay, usually taco night means we take it easy. Just buying a can of refried beans seems like the thing to do, right? But this time I thought I would try making refritos from scratch with dried beans using a recipe from this cook book. Ingredients: 2 cups of pinto beans, soaked in water overnight [...]

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I was in the mood to try and make a pie crust from scratch today. Something I’ve never done before and I’m not sure why I felt like making one, but today was the day. As it happened I didn’t have the filling for a pie in the house, and I didn’t feel like going [...]

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Bok Choy is one of our favorite vegetables from our local CSA. It’s versatile enough to be mixed with other veggies for a stir fry but can also stand alone. For this recipe I used a spicy vinaigrette that I improvised after googling and finding several variations. Ingredients 1 large head of Bok Choy 1/4 [...]

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Happy New Year! At the junior kitchen house we celebrated our new year’s with traditional black-eyed peas and greens (for a prosperous 2009 – peas for money that jingles and greens for the kind that folds), plus we added this wonderful golden cauliflower soup from RecipeZaar to our supper. (We skipped the hog jowls, may [...]

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I checked Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Italy cookbook out of the library and discovered this fantastic recipe. The kids liked cutting the vegetables into big chunks (which is exactly what this recipe needs), and we all liked eating it. We’ll be making more soon – even if you don’t like eggplant, you’ll like this. They did! [...]

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This is one of the kids’ favorite meals. It’s modified (no chilies) from the essential World Vegetarian Cookbook. It’s possible to toss other seasonings in as it simmers, but really, the simple flavors of the vegetables work together in this dish without any extra help. Ingredients 1 cup black-eyed peas (dry or fresh – we [...]

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Our family likes foraging for food. Sometimes, we don’t even hike anywhere to do it. Just out the back door, we have a healthy stand of macho ferns, which scientists call Nephrolepis biserrata and New Guineans call dinner. (When eating plants you don’t find at the market or the farm, it’s a good idea to [...]

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