Whenever Trader Joes starts selling a new product, I get excited. Finally, Israeli couscous! Don’t worry if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s, though, you can buy it at most groceries. For some reason I usually cook with fine couscous, but unlike its smaller cousin, Israeli couscous looks like tiny pearls and have a wonderful, light texture.
When I made it for dinner recently, my husband said “why haven’t you ever made this before? I love Israeli couscous!” (after 8 1/2 years together, who knew?). He wasn’t the only one that loved it. Kenya dug right in to this dish and enjoyed every bite.
I took a few of my favorite Moroccan flavors like mint, olive oil, lemon and tossed in several other nutritious items to make this recipe that can be served warm or cold. I even came up with a way to cook everything in one pot so there’s no big mess to deal with and it’s ready in minutes. This recipe really is everything that weelicious stands for: easy, fast and fresh!

Israeli Couscous Salad (Makes 6 Servings)

1 Cup Israeli Couscous
1 1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Small Yam, peeled and cubed
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
1 Tbsp Fresh Mint, chopped
1/4 Cup Pine nuts
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1. Bring the water to a boil, add the couscous and yam, reduce to a
simmer.
2. Cook for 12 minutes.
3. Combine all the ingredients and serve.

I have to say that celery root (also known as celeriac) really is the ugly ducking of vegetables. For years I would pass it at the market, not thinking it looked at all appetizing and not really knowing what to do with it. Sometimes when ingredients look like a ton of work, I shy away. What was I thinking? Inside that ugly duckling is a culinary swan! Celery root is amazing! When cooked it has the consistency of potato, but it has a rich celery taste. I’ve been cooking celery root for years in salads, soups, just plain roasted and in purees. It’s one of my favorite foods and this soup is really healthy, but also naturally creamy and hearty. I recently made this recipe for my friend Staci’s baby shower and served it in little shot glasses, but as I was preparing it, Kenya was pleading with me for a taste. He ended up drinking 3 glasses which he obviously loved. He consumed more soup in one sitting then any of the ladies at the party! Smart man. When your kids try and love this, they’ll have him to thank.

Celery Root Soup (6-8 Servings)

2 Leeks, white & light green part only
2 Celery Root Bulb (about a pound each), peeled
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
32 Oz Chicken Stock (you can use vegetable stock too)

1. Saute the leeks for 3-4 minutes in a stock pot over medium heat..
2. Add the celery root and stock, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 18 minutes or until celery root is tender.
3. Puree soup ingredients in a blender (make sure not to fill your blender more then 3/4 full at one time).
4. Serve.

After a TON of deliberation over all the INCREDIBLE healthy holiday recipes sent to weelicious, Anna Polack (Logan’s Mom) and her recipe for Beautiful Holiday Soup is the winner! Her recipe, which she notes can also be prepared vegan, is posted here and Anna & Logan will be the proud recipients of the LapTop Lunch Box. Anna’s recipe is super easy to make, tasty, healthy and perfect for the holidays or any winter occasion. The real bonus is anyone in the family 10 months or older can eat it and enjoy.

I’m printing Anna’s recipe, just as she sent it to weelicious.

Merry Christmas to everyone and thank you for all of your great recipes!!!!!

one bunch beets with tops
one 2-3 lb butternut squash
4 leeks, trimmed
olive oil
chicken or vegetable stock
goat chevre and/or yogurt

Cut the tops off the beets and save them, no need to peel yet, halve them if they’re bigger than a tennis ball
halve and seed the squash
split the leeks lengthwise and rinse out any sand
save a small piece to fry for garnish

coat everything with a little olive oil and a tiny bit of salt and bake on a cooking sheet at 350. We’re going for tender all the way through, but not browned.

after about 25 minutes take the leeks out, then the beets when they’re done, and finally the squash.
Plunge the beets into cold water to loosen the skins, then slip them off.

throw everything into the food processor, adding broth slowly until desired consistency

Trim the beet greens off the stalks, then make kind of a big chiffonade, fine slices.

Add olive oil or butter to a saute pan
Add bits of leek and cook until soft, then add greens and cook until very bright.

When I’m being fancy, I put the soup in the bowl, it’s a stunning garnet color.
Then I arrange the greens on top in a Xmas tree or wreath shape.
Then I thin down some goat cheese with a little goat yogurt until it’s the consistency of cake frosting, put it in a ziplock bag, make a tiny snip in the corner of the bag, and pipe the cheese onto the surface of the soup in a snow design, or as ornaments on the tree or wreath. I try to do a different design on each bowl.

I know this wouldn’t tuck all that easily into a bento box, but it’s festive, healthy, and easy.

At this time of year — from Thanksgiving through Christmas — I just can’t get enough of tangy cranberries and sweet oranges. The combination of these fruits is so traditionally festive to me and since I’ve watched Kenya down an entire cup of cranberry sauce in one sitting on more then one occasion, I knew he would love this bread. The other thing I love about this cranberry orange nut bread is that it is full of fruit and protein and has NO refined sugar, so you won’t feel guilty letting the little ones dig in as much as they like. I decided to make mini loaves so I could give them to friends as holiday gifts, but you could just as easily cook it in a single 9 x 5 inch pan and enjoy the entire loaf at home with your family!

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread (1 9×5 inch loaf or 6 mini loaves)

2 1/2 Cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Agave
1/4 Cup Butter
1 Cup Orange Juice
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tsp Grated Orange zest
1 Cup Fresh Cranberries, chopped
3/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and agave and then add the orange juice, egg, vanilla and orange zest.
4. Pour the flour into the butter mixture to combine. Add the cranberries and walnut. Do not over mix.
5. Pour mixture into a 9×5 inch greased loaf pan or 6 greased individual mini loaves.
6. Bake 55-60 minutes for the 9×5 inch pan or 35 minutes for the smaller loaves.
7. Let rest for 5 minutes in the pan, remove and cool or a wire rack.
8. Serve.

OK. It’s Christmas morning. Everyone else in the house is relaxing. However, YOU’RE exhausted, YOU feel like you’ve been cooking, shopping and entertaining non stop since Thanksgiving and you STILL have to make one more dish for brunch. When I tell you this strata couldn’t be easier, I mean it. The bonus is that kids love it too. And really, what’s not to love? Eggs, cheese, bread and sausage….yummy. Best of all, you can make it the night before, refrigerate it and all you have to do is throw it in the oven Christmas morning. I made so much recently that Kenya wound up having Breakfast Strata and then Dinner Strata for 2 nights in a row! He loved every bite.

Christmas Morning Breakfast Casserole (Serves 12)

1 Lb Ground Breakfast Sausage (I used chicken apple sausage)
1 Red Bell Pepper
2 Cups Mushrooms, sliced (I like to use cremini or white)
1 Tsp Salt
Pepper to taste
1 Loaf Italian Bread, Ciabatta or Baguette (crusty bread), cut into 1 inch cubes (about 8 cups of bread) *Also a great way to use up day old bread
1 1/2 Dozen Large Eggs (18)
1 Cup Whole Milk
Salt
1 1/2 Cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
Butter for baking the dish

1. Cook the sausage in a saute pan over medium heat for 3 minutes, breaking it into bite size pieces. Add the mushrooms, bell peppers, salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 5 minutes. Let cool.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees for
3. In a bowl, beat the eggs and milk. Add the cheese and stir to combine.
4. Butter the 13×9 inch baking dish and add the bread cubes and cooled sausage mixture. Toss to combine.
5. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and sausage, pressing the bread mixture down gently to soak up some of the egg mixture.
6. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Uncover the dish and continue to bake an additional 20 minutes.
8. Serve.

If working on weelicious for so long has taught me anything at all, it’s this: Kids want fun food! Whether it’s in fun shapes or bright colors, it’s more exciting to eat when its bite size and conceptually fun. These kabobs are the perfect hit for a holiday party, especially when kids will be part of the festivities. My favorite part about this dish is that you can make them up in just minutes and refrigerate them ahead of time, so all you have to do right before your guests arrive is pop them under the broiler for a few minutes.
No matter what the ages are of your group, big and little kids alike will totally dig these. Kenya loved pulling each chunk off the stick, studying them for a bit and then popping them into his mouth (of course Daddy and I were there to remove the sticks after just in case)!

Ham & Pineapple Kabobs (Serves 4)

1 Ham Steak or 2 Cups Cooked, Boneless Ham, cut into chunks
2 Cups Pineapple, cut into chunks
2 Cups Cherry Tomato
1 Tbsp Orange Juice
1 Tbsp Agave
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
Wooden or metal sticks

1. If you’re using wooden sticks, submerge them in water for 30 minutes before using so they don’t burn under the broiler. Cut the sticks in half and trim sharp points.
2. Alternately place the ham, pineapple and cherry tomatoes on the sticks (I put 6-8 per stick).
3. In a bowl, mix the orange juice, agave and dijon mustard.
4. Brush the kabobs with the orange juice mixture.
5. Place on a baking sheet and broil for 5-10 minutes (make sure to keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
6. Serve.

For the holidays we’ve decided to do something a little different today here at weelicious. LapTop Lunch System, my favorite kids’ lunch box, is offering a FREE lunchbox in your choice of color to the person who can send me their best HEALTHY holiday recipe (especially something your little one loves).
All you have to do is send the recipe to me at catherine@weelicious.com and by next Thursday, Christmas Day, the winning recipe and creator will be the daily recipe on weelicious.com.
For those of you without the mojo to enter the contest, LapTop Lunch System is offering a 20% off promotion through December 31st when you order online by putting in the discount code: holiday2008.
I can’t wait to see all the fantastic ideas from weelicious readers.
Happy Holidays!

It was always a tradition when I was growing up to make holiday cookies come this time of year. I used to love rolling out the sugar cookie and gingerbread dough with my mother, cutting the cookies into fun shapes and then decorating them. I wanted to continue that tradition with Kenya, but the thought of making cookies with tons of sugar didn’t seem like such a good idea (Kenya jumping off the walls at bed time never appeals to me), so we stuck with gingerbread. This recipe does have some sugar, but not a lot. It also contains molasses, which is full or iron, a bonus for kids. Kenya and I didn’t use any icing on these because, in my opinion, they don’t need it, but if you want to put a little piping on them, I included a simple icing recipe. This recipe makes dozens of cookies (more or less, depending on the size of the cookie cutters you use), so you’ll have plenty for friends and your family during the holidays.

Gingerbread Cutouts

3 1/2 Cups Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
3/4 Tsp Baking Soda
2 Tsp Ginger
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Nutmeg & Cloves
1/2 Cup Butter, room temperature
1 Large Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, packed (light or dark will work)
2/3 Cup Unsulphered Molasses (to prevent molasses from sticking, first spray the cup with a non stick veggie spray)

Decorating Ideas

Raisins
Chocolate Chips
Red Hots
Sanding Sugar

1. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.
2. With a standing mixer using the paddle attachment OR by hand, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
3. Add the egg and molasses, beating until combined.
4. Gradually add the flour to the butter, beating until combined.
5. Divide the dough in half and form into 2 disks. Refrigerate in plastic wrap or parchment paper for 2 hours or overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
7. On a lightly floured surface OR between 2 pieces of parchment paper, roll out one of the disks until it’s 1/4 thick all around.
8. Cut out cookies with different shapes (gingerbread men, stars, christmas tree, etc) and using a spatula transfer cookie to the baking sheet.
9. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes.
10. Remove to a cooling rack. Decorate the cookies after they have cooled.

Icing

2 Cups Confectioners Sugar
2 Tbsp Butter
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
2-3 Tbsp Milk

1. Place ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
2. Place in a ziplock bag and cut a tiny whole at one end to squeeze and draw with the icing.

I’m a total sucker for the holidays and especially the foods that you get at this time of year. I always loved celebrating Hanukkah with my friends when I was growing up, spinning the dreidel, lighting the menorah for 8 days, eating chocolates coins (Hanukkah gelt), and especially munching on crispy latkes with tons of apple sauce and sour cream.
Potato pancakes, also known as latkes are a Hanukkah tradition and one especially that I wanted Kenya to take part in. Even for a kid under the age of 2, Kenya knows something yummy when he sees it. We made a huge batch the other day and he ate them one after another, dipping away in the apple sauce. Making these treats is a beautiful way to celebrate the festival of lights.

Potato Latkes (Serves 6-8)

1 Onion
4 Potatoes, peeled
1 Egg
2 Tbsp Flour
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable Oil
Apple Sauce, for serving
Sour Cream, for serving

1. Grate the onions and potatoes into a large strainer over a bowl (you could also do this through the grating blade in a food processor).
2. Press on the potato mixture in the strainer and discard any clear liquid in the bowl under the strainer.
3. Place the onion, potatoes, egg, flour, salt and peeper in a bowl and throughly combine.
4. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a saute pan over medium heat.
5. Place one heaping tablespoon of potatoes in the oil forming a circle.
6. Cook for 2-3 and minutes or until golden and flip over.
7. Cook another 2-3 minutes or until cooked through and remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
8. Can be served immediately or kept warm in a 300 degree oven until all latkes are prepared.
9. Serve with sour cream and apple sauce.