little LADIES WHO LUNCH

A steaming ladle of humanely raised, antibiotic free turkey bolognese sauce over casarecce whole wheat pasta with fresh Parmesan cheese; organic raw spinach; clementine orange slices; organic red seedless grapes; organic Pink Lady apple slices.

Leftovers are are favorite of mine when it comes to packing a bento.  The pasta was boiled fresh this morning, but the sauce was defrosted overnight from a homemade stash we had in the freezer and just heated up on the stove top.  From start to finish, today’s bento took 15 minutes to make. 

Our turkey bolognese recipe is similar to Emeril’s, though we don’t use any milk and add a little lemon juice. 

About the spinach:  all four of our kids will only eat it raw and prefer it without any sort of dressing or other accompaniment, except maybe for the addition of more raw vegetables diced as a garnish.  *shrugs*  Sounds lackluster to me, but they really like it and it’s very good for them, so who am I to squawk?

If your kids traditionally thumb their noses at the thought of sauteed spinach, try it raw and see how it goes. I would highly recommend starting with baby spinach since it’s a lot prettier and texturally more appealing than the regular wrinkled raw spinach pictured above.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• large pinch salt
• 1 - 2 tablespoon(s) fresh chopped chives (you can also add herbs of your choice)

Pep talk:  If I can do this, you can do this.  Trust me.  My husband usually deals with all things dough because I become frustrated.  Ready?  OK, here we go:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare tart pan (I used olive oil spray from Trader Joe’s).

2.  Combine whole wheat pastry flour, salt, and chives in a medium mixing bowl. Slowly add the evoo and mix it with a fork (stirring constantly).

3. Pour in the filtered water and continue to mix with the fork until it is absorbed.

4.  Knead lightly until the dough can be formed into a ball.

5. Lightly flour your work surface. Sprinkle a little flour on the ball of dough and on the rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a circle large enough to fit your tart pan. Turn the dough when you roll the pin and back, adding a little more flour underneath and on the dough so it doesn’t stick.

6. Transfer the dough carefully into the prepared pan. Use the back of a dry measuring cup to shape and press dough.

7. Trim excess dough and prick the bottom of the tart. Cover with foil and pie weights or beans and cook for 15 mins .

You are now ready to fill your crust with whatever filling your heart and tummy desires.  We made a low-fat quiche base and added broccoli, purple and white cauliflower, low-fat cheeses and a few stripes of nitrate-free/low sodium ham.

This recipe was inspired one we saw over at Cooking With My Kid.   It’s a great site to check out!