Category: Dinner

Cauliflower The Power Veggie

September 14, 2020 / Bonnie Dixon

I was shopping and stopped in my tracks when I saw a big beautiful head of cauliflower in the produce department. I hadn’t even thought about buying a cauliflower… it wasn’t on my list but I had to buy it and decide how to enjoy this nutritionally power-packed hunk of veggie for dinner.

My oven is subpar in our Motorhome so baking was out. I didn’t want to deep fry. BBQ could work but the smoke was heavy outside from fires in the area. So simple stir fry called to me.

What is nice about cauliflower is it can be used in so many ways. Riced, Baked, Fried, BBQ, Soup, made into faux Buffalo Wings, Faux Sweet and Sour bites, used as a Pizza crust, and simply stir-fried.

The other nice thing about Cauliflower is it has a nutritional punch and yes low in calories! According to Livestrong.com: Cauliflower is a nutritional powerhouse — providing antioxidants, phytonutrients, fiber, and other important nutrients.

One side effect that some people experience is gas. Veggies from the cole family can upset some people’s systems so you can take an enzyme like Beano to help with flatulence. Cooked versus raw can also alleviate gas as well.

Simple Cauliflower Recipe

2 – 3 heads of small cauliflower (or 1/2 head large)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
a couple pinches of sea salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small bunch of chives, chopped
zest of one lemon
freshly grated Parmesan
a bit of flaky sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

To prep, the cauliflower, remove any leaves at the base and trim the stem. Now cut it into tiny trees – and by tiny, I mean most florets aren’t much larger than a table grape. Make sure the pieces are relatively equal in size, so they cook in the same amount of time. Rinse under running water, and set aside.
Heat the olive oil and fine grain salt in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cauliflower and stir until the florets are coated. Wait until it gets a bit brown on the bottom, then toss the cauliflower with a spatula. Brown a bit more and continue to saute until the pieces are deeply golden – all told about six minutes. In the last 30 seconds stir in the garlic.
Remove from heat and stir in the chives, lemon zest, and dust with a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a pinch of flaky sea salt (if you have it on hand). Serve immediately.

Prep Time 5 minutes Cook Time 7 minutes Total Time 12 minutes Serves 3

To make this recipe vegan, just omit the Parmesan cheese finish – still delicious!

https://www.101cookbooks.com/

Farm Market Chard and Pasta

August 28, 2020 / Bonnie Dixon

Greg and I were driving in West Kelowna BC Canada looking for a place to walk. We drove by the lovely BONFIRE Culinary Farm Market and stopped to see what they had for sale. I was craving something green and saw Swiss Chard still in the field. Lisa was welcoming and offered to pick a bunch for us.

Fresh cucumber, Chard, and field tomatoes from BONFIRE Culinary Farm Market
picture by Bonnie Dixon

Fresh field tomatoes also caught my eye. Nothing better than a fresh tomato sandwich on toasted sourdough bread!

Pasta with Chard and Garlic

1 pound Swiss chard, stems cut from the leaves and the stems and leaves chopped separately

1/8 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 white onion sliced into slivers

3 large garlic cloves sliced thin, Russian Garlic is terrific

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup water or broth, Better Than Bouillon is my favorite

1 1/2 cups red cherry tomatoes

1/2 pound penne or other tubular pasta

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan plus more for topping

Rinse and drain separately the Swiss chard stems and leaves.

In a large heavy skillet cook the red pepper flakes and the garlic and onion in the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until the garlic is pale golden, add the stems and 1/4 cup of the water, and cook the mixture, covered, for 5 minutes, or until the stems are just tender.

Add the leaves with the remaining 1/4 cup water and salt and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in the cherry tomatoes and cook the mixture, covered, for 3 minutes, or until the leaves are tender.

While the chard is cooking, in a kettle of salted boiling water boil the penne until it is al dente and drain it in a colander. In a large bowl toss the penne with the chard mixture and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan,

In heavy skillet toss in cherry tomatoes and sear till they almost pop. Toss on top of the Penne Chard.

Serve it with the additional Parmesan. If desired.

Tip: To chop the Swiss Chard after washing, roll the leaves into a tube and then slice. They come out nice and evenly sliced.

Substitute canned cherry tomatoes for fresh and use the juice from the can for the water or broth.

Optional : Add 2-3 links cooked and sliced Italian Sausage

Crazy MacSlaw Salad

August 24, 2020 / Bonnie Dixon

I was trying to use what I had in the pantry and fridge for dinner and was thinking about macaroni salad or coleslaw. Hmm, what if I combined the two recipes and made a MacSlaw Salad. What makes it crazy is we all have our favorite recipes so the recipe can be changed up to taste.

Crazy MacSlaw Salad

8 oz of favorite pasta, nice with elbows, fusilli, shells

1/2 head Green Cabbage Chop into fine pieces.

Six Green onions chopped fine

2-3 carrots peeled and shredded

2-3 sticks celery chopped fine ( optional)

1 red pepper chopped fine

1 cucumber chopped into small pieces

Dressing:

1 to 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup Braggs Organic apple cider vinegar

2 tsp mustard or dijon mustard

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp Sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, or to taste

So pick your favorite pasta, then cook al dente per the package direction. Drain, set aside to cool. You can toss with a little Olive Oil to keep the pasta from sticking.

In a large bowl add dressing ingredients. Whip with whisk till blended.

While pasta is cooking Chop the cabbage into fine pieces. Place on top of the dressing. Set aside.

TIP You can use your Food Processor just don’t chop too fine.

Chop the other veggies and and add to the cabbage. Toss to coat with dressing.

Add cooled pasta. Toss to incorporate Slaw and Pasta.

Best if you wait an hour or two. Really good the next day.

Good keeper. Lasts in fridge 3-4 days.

Make it fast. Purchase prepared undressed coleslaw from produce section.

Make it a meal: add canned garbanzo beans ( ceci beans). You may want to add extra dressing.

Fun add ins:

Garbanzo Beans

Toasted sunflower seeds

Green or black olives

Chopped pickles: dill or sweet

Easy Pancakes with Apricots

August 2, 2020 / Bonnie Dixon

Today I had a craving for pancakes but realized that I didn’t have any pancake mix. I did have the ingredients for making pancakes. Fresh apricots were on the kitchen shelf that needed to be used ASAP. I gathered my ingredients (5 minutes) and made both the pancakes and sauteed apricots in the next 10 minutes! Faster than going to the store and getting the mix. Less expensive and so tasty! Breakfast was served in less than 20 minutes.

Easy Pancakes

1 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 c. milk or buttermilk, or milk alternative

3 tbsp. butter, or coconut butter,melted cooled

1 large egg

vegetable oil for brushing pan

Whisk flour, sugar,baking powder, and salt together in a 2 quart mixing bowl or saucepan.

Whisk milk or buttermilk, melted butter and egg together in 2 cup measuring cup .

Heat your skillet to medium high.

Stir liquid ingredients into the flour mixture quickly, just till moist. Do not over stir. Small lumps are OK.

Brush the skillet with oil.

Use about 1/3 cup batter per pancake. Pour onto hot skillet. Cook till bubbles form and edges are dry. Lift up a corner of pancake with a spatula, if golden brown flip and cook till golden brown on the second side. Place on a warmed plate or place toaster oven to keep warm. Makes 10-12 3-inch pancakes.

Topping ideas:Real Maple Syrup, jam, peanut butter, fresh fruit, stewed fruit, sour cream, whipped cream, cottage cheese, cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, peanut butter, almond butter or Nutella. Add a side of bacon, sausage, eggs, or all of the above!

Sauteed Apricots

2 cups cut up fresh apricots

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. butter

1/2 tsp Almond Extract, optional

Place apricots in saute pan. add sugar and butter. Saute for 5 minutes or till soft.

Great over pancakes, waffles, ice cream, topping for coffee cake or stirred into yogurt or over cottage cheese.

CHANGE IT UP

Use Honey, Maple Syrup, or coconut sugar, in place of sugar in batter.

Use Whole wheat, oat flour, or gluten free flour mix in place of white flour.

Use canned fruit if you don’t have any fresh fruit for topping.

Tip: Make your own buttermilk add 1 TBSP of lemon juice to whole milk. Let sit 5 minutes.

You probably will not have any leftovers, but if you do you can freeze the pancakes and reheat in the toaster.