Oh my gosh, this cauliflower bowl is so gorgeous, and filling, and satisfying, and yummy, and healthy, and low carb, and all the things. It has a lot of different components, but they come together to make such a lovely whole. Another successful vegetarian lunch with Melissa from Smells Like Brownies.
Start by making your cauliflower “rice” (actually, start by pickling some chard stems, which was done by Melissa before I arrived). Place raw cauliflower into a food processor and pulse until chopped to the size of rice (a few larger pieces are fine) – 1/2 a large head will make 3-4 cups. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes, just to soften.
Next, heat some coconut oil in a pan and add turmeric, cumin, a pinch of cayenne, and some fresh pressed garlic. Cook for a bit to activate the spices, then add the cauliflower and stir to combine and heat through. But don’t leave it on for too long – you want the cauliflower to have texture! Make sure to season with salt and pepper. (more…)
This film is a sequel, and though we didn’t have to, I watched both films – I had been meaning to see them anyway, because my neighbor’s kids are obsessed and quote them all the time. These are really cute films about acceptance, diversity, fear mongering, and family. Big topics for kids movies, I know. They voice actors are big names, too – Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi.
They also had all kinds of cute and creepy (but not too creepy) foods – like “scream cheese” and “monster-ball soup”. So there was lots of foodie inspiration.
I had seen a Buzzfeed video for Spinach Dip Stuffed Meatballs and thought how cute those would be as Oozing Eyeballs! (more…)
When I was assigned Melissa’s bloglast month for SRC, I was reminded of all the recipes of hers that I had been wanting to make. And I couldn’t get my mind off of this warm potato salad with roasted broccoli and an egg vinaigrette. That vinaigrette is called “sauce gribiche”, which I had never heard of before. Melissa says, “It’s an eggy French vinaigrette, apparently friends with mayonnaise, that is made from hardboiled eggs, oil, vinegar, capers, and fresh herbs.” Sign me up!
First step – roast the potatoes and the broccoli. Why do I only have a photo of the potatoes? I don’t know. Melissa used purple potatoes, which looked gorgeous. I couldn’t find any, though, so I used red.
Meanwhile, boil the eggs. Hello, lovelies! (more…)
It’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal time! This month I was assigned Cookaholic Wife, written by Nichole. We are both married, in our 30’s, on the East Coast, and cat moms. I feel a connection! We also must have similar tastes, because I saved more recipes than I have with any other SRC blog. So bear with me for a bit here, and know that this is the edited down list!
But the overall winner, the one I knew I had to make as soon as I saw it, was this Breakfast Risotto. Creamy risotto with white wine and shallot, finished off with crispy pancetta, Parmesan, and a poached egg. Simple and amazing.
There aren’t a ton of ingredients here, just simple classic flavors. And while risotto is a bit labor intensive (you gotta stir, stir, stir to release all that creamy starch), it isn’t particularly complicated. I love the bacon and eggs take on this that is reminiscent of carbonara; and who doesn’t want breakfast for dinner? Enjoy! (more…)
These started off as peanut butter and jelly, I’m not even kidding. Melissa (Smells Like Brownies) and I had been having a bit of a rough week and hadn’t planned anything for our weekly get together. So that morning we just wanted to keep things simple and focus on getting our cats to be friends (long story). We were thinking – let’s just make PB&J or store-bought ravioli.
But then – she said she was craving salmon, and I said smoked salmon and goat cheese with crackers was easy and good, she said what about nice bread and an egg. Then there were herbs and kale and shallot and good lord we can’t keep it simple! And I wouldn’t have it any other way. Fresh, gorgeous ingredients (including some from Mel’s garden) turned into a lovely lunch for us, even while wrangling a baby, a toddler, and 2 kitties in an un-childproofed house (mine). (more…)
It’s Secret Recipe Club time again! This month I was assigned Sarah’s Kitchen – a name that I love, obviously. Sarahs of the world unite! Sarah is from England, but now lives in Texas – which is kind of funny because I’m from Texas and once lived in Ireland (which I realize is not the same as England, but is geographically/culturally similar). Spooky.
I give full credit to Melissa (Smells Like Brownies) for this idea. I’d heard of cauliflower pizza crust before and thought I should try it, but I never got around to it. So I was really glad when she brought it up and suggested we try it.
It turns out that cauliflower crust is really easy! It doesn’t taste or feel like traditional crust, but it is yummy and chewy – I liked it! I was surprised that I could actually pick up a slice and it held together. So whether you are gluten-free, looking for low-carb, or just like to try new things, I highly recommend this pizza crust!
The first step is to pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until very fine. Then place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave to steam. Carefully remove the plastic wrap and transfer to a cheesecloth lined colander to cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, twist the cloth and squeeze to release as much moisture as possible. Like really squeeze this thing to death, I’m not joking. You may need to take turns with a cooking buddy like we did.
When you’ve removed as much moisture as you can, add mozzarella, Parmesan, oregano, garlic powder, red pepper, salt, and an egg. Use your hands to combine into a dough. (more…)
Now that I am settling into my new place, and Melissa has welcomed her baby daughter to the world, we are getting back into our lunch schedule. We started with this gorgeous Spring inspired egg salad. This is really customizeable, and you can add whatever you find fresh in your area.
We started by finely dicing some celery, scallions, chives, parsley, and dill while we boiled some eggs. You can use whatever combination of herbs you prefer. We also separated the greens from a bunch of radishes.
To that, we added chopped eggs and avocado, caper, garlic, lemon zest, mayonnaise, and dijon mustard.
As per usual, I went to have lunch with Melissa of Smells Like Brownies. We had actually planned on going out to eat that day, but Melissa said she was planning on making these spanikopita at some point that day and I thought that sounded waaaaaaaaaay better than eating out. And then it turned out that she was looking at the exact same recipe I had been eyeing for awhile. Great! So we whipped them up pretty quickly, and while they were in the oven there was a knock at the door. Her Greek neighbor came by to drop off some homemade baklava – serendipity! Sometimes being spontaneous or changing your plans leads to some pretty great stuff.
Anyway, you will not believe how easy it is to make these. First step – filling. Whiz a whole bunch of fresh spinach around in a food processor until chopped but not pureed (we don’t want soup here) – I suggest doing it in 3 batches. Then add some well beaten eggs, feta (you know my favorite brand), and cottage cheese. The cottage cheese threw me for a bit of a loop, I wasn’t expecting that. Some recipes use ricotta, but what I ended up liking was the creaminess of the cottage cheese. I think ricotta dries out quite a bit when it is baked.
The next part can seem daunting, but I promise it’s not really that fussy. When working with pyllo dough, you need to move quickly or it will dry out. The box will usually have tips, like keeping the bulk of it covered with a cloth while you work, but I find that I don’t really need that. In order for it to bake into crispy layers, you need to get fat in between the sheets of phyllo. Most people brush butter over the sheets, which is time consuming and actually doesn’t work as well as other methods because it saturates the dough too much and weighs it down. I recommend drizzling the butter, or if you are really in a rush – spraying with cooking spray. You will need to use the brush on the top of the strudel, though, to make sure it is covered.
Now I didn’t get any pictures of the rolling up process, so please check out Smells Like Brownies for a more detailed tutorial. What I love about these is that they are large and self contained (versus baking in a big sheet like a casserole and cutting into triangles). So one strudel is a serving and you have a good visual reminder of that (not that that will prevent you from eating two, or three…).
These are really very easy to make, and they come out so perfectly. The phyllo is buttery and crispy, while the filling is silky and creamy. I’m pretty sure this will be my go-to recipe for homemade spanikopita.
