Posted by Jennifer Tyler Lee on February 06, 2013 0 Comments
A little taste of Paris, this easy crepe recipe is a
warm and wholesome treat. Healthy and delicious!
Hand in hand we’ll saunter
past the Eiffel Tower, savor a leisurely lunch at a bustling bistro, then head
to the market to uncover what’s fresh and get inspired to enjoy cooking
together. I’ve got two tickets to Paris. Will you come with me? 52 New Foods is
heading to France!
One of my fondest memories
of living in Paris is of strolling the beautiful promenades. On those wonderful
walks, I remember feeling transported like I was in a dream – surrounded by portrait-worthy
gardens, inspiring architecture, and filled with the sights and sounds of a
foreign but somehow familiar place.
No walk was complete without
a stop at one of the many fresh crepe stands. By a long stretch, the food in
France left the greatest impression on my memory. Longing for a taste of Paris,
I decided to remake one of my favorite French treats for my kids to enjoy.
Come on! Let’s run away to
Paris…
A Healthy, Easy Crepe Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 servings, about 16 crepes
Crunch a Color points: 10 healthy grains, 5 red
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 ¾ cup milk
3 eggs
3 Tbsp butter, melted plus 1 Tbsp extra for the pan
¼ tsp coarse salt
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk
together the milk, eggs, and melted butter.
2. Add the flour and salt to
the egg mixture, stirring gently.
3. Warm an 8-inch pan over
medium heat. Lightly coat with butter, or spray with oil. Add ¼ cup of batter
to the pan, swirling quickly to evenly coat the pan with a thin layer of
batter.
Quick Tip: This is the trickiest
and most important part of the recipe. If you let the batter set before
spreading, the crepes will be thick.
4. Cook until the underside of the crepe is
golden brown. About 2 to 3 minutes. Then flip with a spatula and cook the
remaining side 2 minutes more.
5. Serve warm with fresh
fruit and a dollop of Greek yogurt.
We found a delicious
basket of fresh, local strawberries at the market to enjoy with our crepes. We blended
½ a pint of the strawberries with a little bit of water to create a simple
strawberry sauce. We dressed our crepes with the sauce, fresh strawberries and
a spoonful of non-fat Greek yogurt.
This recipe would be equally
delicious with cinnamon apples. Experiment with what’s in season and let us
know what works for you!
* Do
you love crepes too? What is your favorite easy crepe recipe?
About the author: Jennifer
Tyler Lee is a mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color® --
award-winning nutrition
games that make healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she struggled
to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to make it into
a healthy
eating game and she’s giving back to support non-profit kids’
nutrition programs. Winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved
awards, Crunch a Color® has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food
Revolution, Rachael Ray's Yum-O!, Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum
Food & Fun For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to
get kids to eat healthy and try new foods. Jennifer’s passion is making
mealtime fun and healthy for busy families. Her easy recipes, quick tips,
and new food adventures are regularly featured at Pottery
Barn Kids, Jamie
Oliver’s Food Revolution, The
Huffington Post, and on her weekly recipe blog at crunchacolor.com.
Posted by Jennifer Tyler Lee on January 26, 2013 2 Comments
Our simple, sizzling bok choy recipe with a hint of garlic and ginger
makes a super side for a healthy supper.
Bok choy is one of my
favorite Asian greens, but it took some time for my kids to warm up to this
simple vegetable. Was it because they felt that it was their responsibility to be
wary of anything leafy-green? Regardless, I was determined to turn the tables.
Last year I started to
feature bok choy in clay pot rice – sweet and salty flavors mingling together
with a few crispy bites of green was a taste my kids loved. But my goal this
week was to get them to enjoy this friendly Asian cabbage in the same way that
they love a side of broccoli – simple and green. The trick was lightly stir-frying
the bok choy in freshly minced ginger and garlic, and adding a little touch of
salty flavor with Braggs Liquid Amino Acids – it’s made with unfermented non-GMO
soy beans and has a flavor similar to soy sauce. You can find it in most
organic markets and health food stores.
As I started to write this
post, I searched for more information about soy, and Braggs in particular, to uncover any new health
concerns. I first turned to Marion Nestle for the scoop on soy in general, then reviewed an interview with Michael Pollan on NPR (way back in 2008) where the topic of using Braggs came up. In the end,
I’d recommend making this simple bok choy recipe with non-GMO Tamari (like
San-J Tamari) if you want a little salty flavor, but you can also just simmer
up the bok choy with garlic and ginger and leave it at that. It’s up to you to
decide.
A Simple Bok Choy Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 7 to 9 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 servings Crunch a Color points: 10 green
Ingredients:
4 bunches of bok choy
3 slices of fresh ginger, minced
3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp non-GMO Tamari sauce
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
Sesame seeds for garnish
Directions:
1. Mince the ginger, then
the garlic. My kids love using their big muscles to put the ginger and garlic
through the press! Set aside.
2. Chop off the ends of the
bok choy and discard. Then chop the remaining leaves into 1-inch sections.
My budding artist was fascinated with the pattern made
by the chopped ends of the bok choy. Beautiful!
3. Give the bok choy a bath
in a bowl of cool water. Swish the greens around gently, letting the dirt sink
to the bottom of the bowl.
4. Scoop out the bok choy from the bowl and into
a sieve. The dirt will be left at the bottom of the bowl. Give the bok choy
another quick rinse with water.
5. Heat a wok over medium
heat. Once the wok is hot, add the grapeseed oil, ginger and garlic. Simmer gently
for about 2 minutes. Then add the bok choy and stir-fry for another 5 to 7
minutes, or until the leaves are bright green with slightly brown edges. At the
very end, add the Tamari and toss gently in the pan to coat evenly.
6. Garnish with a few sesame
seeds. Serve immediately.
* What
is your favorite way to enjoy bok choy? Post your pictures and recipe ideas on
our Facebook page.
Craving more easy recipes to try? Catch up on
last week’s recipe: Easy Orange Granita.
About the author: Jennifer
Tyler Lee is a mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color® -- the
award-winning nutrition
games that make healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she struggled
to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to make it into
a healthy
eating game and she’s giving back to support non-profit kids’
nutrition programs. Winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved
awards, Crunch a Color® has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food
Revolution, Rachael Ray's Yum-O, Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum
Food & Fun For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to
get kids to eat healthy and try new foods. Jennifer’s passion is making
mealtime fun, easy and healthy for busy families. Her easy recipes, quick tips,
and new food adventures are regularly featured at Pottery
Barn Kids, Jamie
Oliver’s Food Revolution, The
Huffington Post, and on her weekly recipe blog at crunchacolor.com.
Posted by Jennifer Tyler Lee on January 18, 2013 2 Comments
This easy orange granita recipe was a deliciously fun
project for my kids and me! A simple twist on a favorite fruit: Satsuma
Mandarin Oranges.
Like sparklers against a
dark night sky, mandarin oranges at the local market add bright and cheerful pops
of color to dreary winter days and herald the coming of Chinese New Year!
Nature’s perfect “fast food”, mandarin oranges are regularly featured as lunch
box treats, after school snacks and even dessert at this time of year for my
family.
As we venture forward into
another year of trying new foods, we wanted to prepare this favorite food in a
new way. With a little inspiration from our blended family, a combination of
Chinese and Italian roots, we decided to make a classic Italian dish with our
simple Asian ingredient: Mandarin Orange Granita.
Easy Orange Granita Recipe
Prep time:
5 minutes
Cook time: 90 to 120 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 servings Crunch a Color points: 5 orange
Ingredients:
8 Satsuma mandarin oranges
Note: you’ll also need an ice cube tray and a simple citrus press.
If you’re like us, you don’t
have time to scrape, then freeze, scrape, then freeze, to create a granita.
Instead, we made our orange granita the easy way, with our food processor. We
tried the recipe two ways: one with Clementine and the other with Satsuma
mandarin oranges. The Satsuma’s were far superior, both in color and taste, so
we’d highly recommend hunting them down at your market for this granita recipe.
It will be well worth your effort!
Directions:
1. Slice the Satsuma
mandarin oranges in half (cutting through the middle of the orange as opposed
to top to bottom). Using a simple citrus press, squeeze the juice out of the
oranges.
2. Pour the juice into an ice
cube tray and place in the freezer. It can take up to two hours for the juice
to freeze completely.
3. Once frozen, remove the
juice cubes from the tray and load into a food processor.
4. Pulse until the frozen juice looks like
slush.
5. Enjoy!
* What
is your favorite granita recipe? Post your pictures and ideas on our Facebook
page.
About the author: Jennifer
Tyler Lee is a mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color® -- the
award-winning nutrition
games that make healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she struggled
to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to make it into
a healthy
eating game and she’s giving back to support non-profit kids’
nutrition programs. Winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved
awards, Crunch a Color® has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food
Revolution, Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum
Food & Fun For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to
get kids to eat healthy and try new foods. Jennifer’s passion is making
mealtime fun, easy and healthy for busy families. Her easy recipes, quick tips,
and new food adventures are regularly featured at Pottery
Barn Kids, Jamie
Oliver’s Food Revolution, The
Huffington Post, and on her weekly recipe blog at crunchacolor.com.
Posted by Jennifer Tyler Lee on January 09, 2013 0 Comments
A simple sesame green bean salad adds a new twist to
an old favorite and makes supper super fun!
Sesame seeds make your
family-favorite dishes more fun and nutritious. My kids like to sprinkle them
on vegetables, chicken and brown rice. Their subtle, nutty flavor is easy to
enjoy and added an Asian twist to one of our weeknight regulars: green bean
salad.
Sesame Green Been Salad
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 servings Crunch a Color points: 10 green
Ingredients:
1 pound green beans, trimmed
and washed
2 tsp rice vinegar
½ tsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
Directions:
1. Steam the green beans in
a basket over boiling water for about 10 minutes, until crisp-tender. Steam a
little less if you prefer your green beans on the crunchy side. Steaming your
vegetables is one of the best ways to help retain their nutrients.
2. Give the beans a bath in
ice water, to bring back their color.
3. Toss gently with the rice
vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds.
4. Enjoy!
* Have
you tried sesame green bean salad? What new food is on your list this week?
Craving more easy recipes to try? Catch up on
last week’s recipe: Pear sauce.
About the author: Jennifer
Tyler Lee is a mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color® -- the
award-winning nutrition
games that make healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she struggled
to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to make it into
a healthy
eating game and she’s giving back to support non-profit kids’
nutrition programs. Winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved
awards, Crunch a Color® has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food
Revolution, Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum
Food & Fun For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to
get kids to eat healthy and try new foods. Jennifer’s passion is making
mealtime fun, easy and healthy for busy families. Her easy recipes, quick tips,
and new food adventures are regularly featured at Pottery
Barn Kids, Jamie
Oliver’s Food Revolution, The
Huffington Post, and on her weekly recipe blog at crunchacolor.com.
Posted by Jennifer Tyler Lee on January 07, 2013 2 Comments
Pear sauce made with crisp Asian pears and a hint of
ginger is an easy and fun twist on homemade applesauce.
It’s 2013 and Crunch a Color’s 52 New Foods adventure is setting off on a
tour around the world! Like the sun, we begin our journey in the East, sampling
and savoring foods from Asia. What better way to get ready for the Lunar New
Year than a stop at the fresh market in Chinatown!
A visit to San
Francisco’s Chinatown would not be complete without heading home with a bushel
full of sweet, crunchy Asian pears. Their flavor and texture is like a cross
between an apple and a pear, and they are delicious sliced into wedges as a
snack. But on this brisk January afternoon, my kids were craving a warm treat,
so we whipped up a batch of Asian pear sauce with a hint of ginger, and not a
drop of refined sugar: an easy and fun twist on homemade applesauce.
Asian Pear Sauce
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 to 30 minutes
Yield: Makes 6 cups Crunch a Color points: 5 yellow
Ingredients:
2 pounds Asian pears
2 pounds Fuji apples
Juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1½ cups water
Directions:
1. Wash, peel, and core the
Asian pears and apples. Chop the fruit into ¼” size pieces. This is a fun job
for the kids to do!
2. Load all of the
ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer
for 25 to 30 minutes until the fruit is soft. The Asian pears will remain
slightly crunchy compared to the apples.
3. Let the kids mash the fruit
mixture with a potato masher until you achieve the texture you prefer. We made
our sauce with small chunks of pear remaining.
4. Let cool, then enjoy with friends!
This delicious Asian pear sauce is a wholesome
treat and an easy way to try something new alongside yogurt, roast chicken, or simply
on its own as a healthy snack.
* What
is your favorite way to enjoy Asian pears?
Craving more easy recipes to try? Catch up on
last week’s recipe: Kumquat Jam
About the author: Jennifer
Tyler Lee is a mom of two children and the creator of Crunch a Color® -- the
award-winning nutrition
games that make healthy eating fun. Like most parents, she struggled
to get her kids to eat healthy, balanced meals, so she decided to make it into
a healthy
eating game and she’s giving back to support non-profit kids’
nutrition programs. Winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved
awards, Crunch a Color® has been featured by Jamie Oliver’s Food
Revolution, Laurie David’s Family Dinner, Kiwi Magazine, Dr. Greene, and Yum
Food & Fun For Kids, among many others, as a simple, fun and playful way to
get kids to eat healthy and try new foods. Jennifer’s passion is making
mealtime fun, easy and healthy for busy families. Her easy recipes, quick tips,
and new food adventures are regularly featured at Pottery
Barn Kids, Jamie
Oliver’s Food Revolution, The
Huffington Post, and on her weekly recipe blog at crunchacolor.com.
