Happy New Year! Let's get healthy. Have you tried romanesco yet? It's my lastest vegetable to play with. I'd already made up my mind to like it simply because I think it looks so cool. It looks like something whimsical you'd see growing from the ground in the Lord of the Rings series. With a hobbit sitting underneath it. But it's a little known vegetable originating in the 1600's in Italy. I call it "broccoli light", because that's what it tastes like, but it's ...
Cauliflower and Crispy Chickpeas with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Olives and Miso Dressing
Warm salad of roasted cauliflower and crispy chickpeas sautéed with sun-dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives, all tossed with a miso dressing. Do you have certain ingredients you always go to? The Italians, IMHO, have this nailed. Tomatoes, pasta, garlic, basil, and Parmesan. Those five ingredients can make several days of meals for me. Nothing against this winning combination, but I have my own favorites I often go to year-round. Cauliflower. Sun-dried tomatoes. Kalamata olives. ...
Curried (Paleo) Cauliflower “Risotto” with Pickled Apples
First of all, this isn't really a risotto, and purists out there (and anyone of Italian descent) may be a little offended that I even use the word when there's no arborio rice involved. (And yes, I know it looks like scrambled eggs, but I promise you it's cauliflower.) Second of all, since I'm being all honest here with you all, it doesn't have the consistency of a risotto. It sits squarely somewhere between a pilaf and risotto, since cauliflower isn't a grain. Clearly this is a work in ...
Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice (with Coconut)
Quick vegan side dish of cauliflower rice cooked with grated carrots, and tossed with cilantro and lime. Cauliflower is the most flexible vegetable I know. It can be roasted, fried, made into tater-tots, substituted for potatoes in mashed potatoes, used as pizza crust, and grated for a lower carb alternative to rice. What other food can do that and be such a powerhouse nutritionally? It really is the white food we should be eating. I've had my eye on cilantro-lime cauliflower rice for ...
Cauliflower Tetrazzini with Poblano Peppers | #SundaySupper
Vegetarian tetrazzini loaded with cauliflower and poblano peppers, and switches out the more traditional sour cream or heavy cream for yogurt. I hope all of you had memorable holidays, as we wrap it all up with a huge football weekend (go Steelers!!). My stepson and his 3 of his 5 kids came to visit us in Tahoe for several days of fun times. Skiing, sledding, bowling, go-kart racing, Star Wars VII, and playing games were all on the menu, along with celebrating two of my grandson's ...
Cauliflower Apple Cheddar Melts
I saw some Cauliflower Melts on Epicurious the other day that looked so melty that I had to make them. This is the time of year when anything with melted cheese (or hello, chocolate) catches our eye. We tramp in from the cold, stomping our feet to get the snow off, our bodies shivering as we peel off layers of wet clothes. And then we see melty cheese, hot from the oven, blanketing a little morsel underneath. We hardly want to take the time to slip into dry clothes before sitting down to ...
Crispy Mexican Black Bean Burgers
Food isn’t only about flavor for me. It’s also texture. And that’s why I’ve never been a huge fan of black bean burgers. A burger shouldn’t have the texture of mashed potatoes. Know what I’m saying? And the surface shouldn’t be smooth and soft. Burgers should crumble. The edges should have a little crispy pieces that fall from the patty, fully of intense, savory, burger flavor. And burgers should be juicy – or at least not dry. This bean burger, maybe the 50th I’ve tried now, delivers on ...
Cauliflower Skillet Steaks – Sicilian Style: #SundaySupper #McSkilletSauce
If you love McCormick spices and rubs (their Grill Mates Montreal Steak, Molasses Bacon, and Smokehouse Maple Seasonings are staples in our kitchen, along with their more traditional spices), you’re going to want to try their newest product line: McCormick® Skillet Sauces. These are ready to go, pourable sauces you can add to sautéed vegetables, whole grains or legumes right in the skillet for flavorful, super easy, and quick dinners. And my husband, Courageous Carnivore (formerly known ...
Roasted Cauliflower Head with Quinoa Breadcrumbs
Crispy roasted cauliflower head over a pile of quinoa breadcrumbs, capers & kalamata olives, with a soft-boiled egg on the side. Cauliflower isn’t badass like Serrano peppers, who pack searing heat into long slender bodies. It’s not a vixen like salt, completely dominating dishes if mishandled, not letting other ingredients get a word in edgewise. Nope. Nor a superhero like quinoa, able to leap over tall lists of diseases in a single bound. Cauliflower is laid back mellow. Or so I ...
Cauliflower & Tomato Gratin: #SundaySupper
Comforting gratin of cauliflower, tomatoes and kale in a yogurt-harissa sauce, topped with cheese and breadcrumbs. The moment the weather shifts to cool and drizzly, with murky skies another type of 50 shades of gray, I yearn for soft, liquidy, melty, oozy, food that sticks to my bones. Comfort food. No matter where you live, how much money you have or don’t have, your religion, or ethnic background, at least three or four foods immediately comes to mind when you read ‘comfort ...
Kale – Cauliflower Tart in a Cheddar Crust
Delicious tart of kale, caramelized onions, cauliflower and roasted tomatoes in a cheddar cheese crust. I think we're fitting the rain of one season into one month here in the Bay Area. To be fair, it's not that we're getting a lot of hard, driving, flooding rain. It's more drizzle, light rain, heavy raindrops falling from overladen leaves kind of weather. And we had such a dry winter until now, it doesn't feel PC to complain. The kale in my garden is just thrilled. This ...
The Perfect Cauliflower Steak Dinner
Cauliflower steaks, dry rubbed with chipotle spice, topped with a kale pesto and browned butter breadcrumbs, and laid over a citrus salad. There are challenges to shifting your eating patterns if you’re the only one in your family making that shift. This time last year, I was trying to be 100% vegetarian, while Myles patiently stayed on the sidelines waiting for me to come to my senses. Initially, he was open to all the kale and whole grains that started showing up on the table; but over ...
