Beautiful Brussels Sprouts

I wanted to up my Brussels sprouts game last year for Thanksgiving last year and be a little more healthy. So I found this recipe on Pinterest-I think the original recipe came from the Pioneer Woman. And it was soooo good! I believe I'll definitely make this again next year. The recipe calls for pomegranate molasses, which I didn't have so I used an aged balsamic. I've since found pomegranate. But the aged balsamic was just as good.

Beautiful Brussels Sprouts (Pinterest) (8 servings:

1 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed & halved
1 whole small butter squash, peeled & cubed
1 whole large red onion, peeled & cut into wedges
Olive oil, for drizzling
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 tsp chili powder
1/3 c pomegranate sauce/molasses
Pomegranate seeds

Preheat oven to 425. Place veggies on a rimmed sheet pan & drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper & chili powder & toss together. Marinate overnight or roast right away for 20-25 min, until slightly browned. Remove veggies from oven & arrange them onto a serving platter.

Drizzle on the pomegranate sauce, then sprinkle on pomegranate seeds. Serve. Enjoy!




Marinating...

Enjoy!...

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

I discovered this creamy yet sweet squash last fall and I don't know why I never tried it before! I think I've been scared to try the squashes in the past. I tried spaghetti squash once and I didn't like the texture. I finally tried this one in another dish and I loved the sweet taste of it so I decided to roast it in the oven. Butternut squash didn't affect my GERD, much like sweet potatoes, so I ate a lot of both of them during my time with it. I was constantly trying to find new recipes to use them in. Butternut squash roasted can be used in any way and it would be good!

Find the recipe here




Fresh from the oven...

Enjoy!...

Balsamic-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I have a new love of Brussels sprouts that only started within the last couple of years. And they have to be cooked a certain way. Usually roasted so that they are crispy with lots of really good flavor. Most steak places know how to cook them really well. There's a place here in Vegas called Lucky Foo's that cook their Brussels sprouts so well that we almost always get them and devour them every time! I attempted to make my own a couple years ago and burnt the crap the out of them and gave up right away. I was watching Barefoot Contessa about a week ago and she roasted some Brussels sprouts and made it look so easy and I thought to myself that I could give that a try again. So I did today and it worked! And I think I knew what I did wrong the last time! I think I added too much stuff the last time instead of going with just the basics. And I even had the syrupy balsamic vinegar that Ina Garten used in her recipe because I've been to Italy and I rarely use the stuff that we brought back with us. If you don't have good aged syrupy balsamic vinegar, you can boil regular balsamic vinegar until it's reduced to a syrupy consistency. Make sure you're generous with your salt-I had to add more salt after my Brussel sprouts were done roasting. I will definitely be making these again and again! Yum!!!!!!

Find the recipe here




Ready to be roasted...






Fresh from oven...







Syrupy Balsamic Vinegar...






Enjoy!...

Vegetarian Cauliflower Fried Rice

I found this recipe in a magazine called Low Sugar Living. I've seen other recipes similar to this and I've always wanted to try it. I mean who doesn't like fried rice?! And this would be even healthier since it's made with cauliflower 'rice'. I was a little hesitant to try it mainly because my mom said she tried making a large batch of cauliflower 'rice' and it tasted like mush the next day but I figured I might as well try it-live and learn right? I didn't take a whole lot of pictures for some reason and the one I did take...don't judge it too much lol. It tasted a lot better than it looked! I used my ninja blender to rice the cauliflower and man I love that blender! It only took 2-3 pulses for it to fully rice the cauliflower! So awesome!!! I didn't add the peas because I'm not a fan of peas at all. I added more soy sauce than it called for and in the end it did taste really good-I could taste the grated ginger and the soy sauce. And it was good 2 days and 3 days later. So I must not have cooked it for as long as my mom had cooked hers-I only cooked mine for a minute or two. I think I'd make it again, but in a smaller batch. I used the whole head of cauliflower. And I don't think I'd use the asparagus again-it didn't cook down as much as I'd like so it was still a little raw and hard to eat. And I would like to add a scrambled egg. I'll experiment a little more with the next batch I make!

Vegetarian Cauliflower Fried Rice (Low Sugar Living) (4 servings):

3 c grated raw cauliflower
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp butter, divided
1/2 c sweet onion, chopped
1/2 c carrots, chopped
10 asparagus spears, trimmed and cut in 1-inch spears
1/2 c frozen peas
1 c zucchini, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tbsp soy sauce, or to taste
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
Ground pepper, to taste
Chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds, to serve

Preheat large skillet over med-high heat. Add sesame oil and 1 tbsp butter. Once butter has melted, add the onion, carrots and asparagus, stirring frequently. Add peas and zucchini and season with pepper. Cook for 2 minutes longer.

Add garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar and ginger to pan. Pour in grated cauliflower and add the remaining 2 tbsp of butter. Cook 2-3 minutes or until the cauliflower is cooked to desired doneness (don't cook more than 2 minutes!!!). Season with soy sauce and pepper, to taste.




Enjoy!...

Lemon Roasted Garlic Cauliflower

Another recipe I found on Pinterest. There's a place called Carson Kitchen here in Vegas that I absolutely love. We went there about a month ago for my second time to introduce it to my mom and aunt who where in town. It's kind of like a tapas place-smaller dishes to share. One of the dishes I ordered was the rainbow cauliflower and oh my god I was in heaven!!! It was a lemon roasted garlic cauliflower and I would have licked the bowl if I wasn't in public! We found out that the chef cooked the cauliflower over high heat on the stove, which I'm not entirely comfortable doing in my small apartment with not the best ventilation. So I tried to roast it in the oven. It was good but not as flavorful as Carson Kitchen's...guess I'll just have to go back there soon to eat it there!

Lemon Garlic Roasted Cauliflower (4 servings):

1 med head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
1/2 large lemon, cut into 8 pieces
3-4 large garlic clove, cut into quarters
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Couple grinds of pepper

Heat oven to 400. Pile cauliflower, lemon and garlic into middle of heavy baking shee (I used tinfoil for easier cleanup). Drizzle olive oil over and stir to get everything coated. Spread veggies and lemon in an even layer on pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place pan in oven for 10 minutes, stir veggies and spread back out on pan. Return pan to the oven and roast another 10 minutes. Scrape everything into a serving bowl and stir to blend the flavors and get the lemon flavor on every piece of cauliflower. Enjoy!




Ready to bake...






Enjoy!

Roasted Asparagus with Garlic & Parmesan

I bought a couple pounds of asparagus so I looked around on Pinterest to find some different ways to cook it and I came across this recipe...garlic and cheese? Okay! And of course I added double the amount of garlic and yum! I also sprinkled some of my aged balsamic vinegar from Italy on it after they were done baking. So good!

Asparagus with Garlic & Parmesan (4 servings) (Pinterest)

1 lb asparagus
4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used 8 cloves I think??)
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Break off or cut off the woody ends of the asparagus spears. In large bowl, add the olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and asparagus. Toss to coat. Spread asparagus spears on a large baking sheet and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the spears begin to brown, turning once.




Ready to be cooked...






Enjoy!...

Roasted Cauliflower with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

I found this recipe on Pinterest and since I love blue cheese, I thought I'd try it...this was one of the best things I've ever eaten!!!! The cauliflower had a lot of flavor from being roasted with just the oil and salt and the blue cheese vinaigrette topped everything off. I made another batch of vinaigrette just to finish off the second half. I will definitely make this recipe again and often!

Roasted Cauliflower with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette (4 servings) (Eating Well):

1 large head cauliflower, leaves trimmed
2 tsp plus 1 tbsp EVOO, divided
1/8 tsp plus 1/4 tsp salt, divided
2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp minced scallion greens
1/4 tsp pepper

Position rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 450. Coat a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray (I used foil). Cut cauliflower into quarters. Remove any extra woody core from the eds, but keep the quarters intact. Brush with 2 tsp oil and sprinkle with 1/8 tsp salt. Place cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet.

Roast cauliflower for 15 minutes. Turn so the opposite cut sides are down. Continue roasting until tender, 15-20 minutes more. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1 tbsp oil, the remaining 1/4 tsp salt, blue cheese, vinegar, water, scallion greens and pepper in small bowl. Serve the roasted cauliflower drizzled with the vinaigrette.




Ready to be roasted...






Roasted Cauliflower....






Blue Cheese Vinaigrette...






Enjoy!...

Broccolini with Balsamic Vinaigrette

My original plan was to make Paula Deen's meatloaf (recipe to follow) with the roasted cauliflower on the side but both dishes required about an hour in the oven each and I didn't want to wait that long for dinner lol so I found a recipe on Pinterest for broccolini that was easy to cook while the meatloaf cooked. And it was really good! I used more garlic than it called for, because let's face it, you can never have enough garlic! I also added some lemon zest to the vinaigrette. The only thing I didn't like was that I think there was too much olive oil-when I make this again, I'll use less oil. Otherwise I'd definitely make this again!

Broccolini with Balsamic Vinaigrette (4 servings):

Salt
4 bunches broccolini, trimmed
1/4 c olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 4-6 cloves)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 lemon (I used about 1-2 tsp of the zest from this lemon)

In small bowl, combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, garlic, 1 tsp salt and pepper; set aside.

In large pot of boiling salted water, cook broccolini until stalks are just tender, about 2 minutes. Remove broccolini from water with a slotted spoon or sieve and place in a large bowl.

Add the reserved dressing and gently toss to combine. Splash with a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Serve warm or hot. Enjoy!




Vinaigrette...






Enjoy!...

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Several of my friends and family have been raving about using cauliflower as a substitute for regular rice so I thought I'd give it a try. I was originally going to try it in a fried rice but Trader Joe's had been out of soy sauce for a couple weeks and I can't use any other soy sauce but theirs. I found this recipe on Pinterest via http://healthyaperture.com. I love Chipotle's rice so I thought I'd give this recipe a try. The cauliflower was easy to grind down and the recipe was easy to make but it tasted a little blah. I only made a single serving batch because I was told that the "rice" isn't as good reheated. I'd be willing to try this recipe again and I'll definitely try the fried rice recipe, especially since I was finally able to pick up some soy sauce!

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice:

1 head cauliflower
1 lime
2 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
1 handful chopped cilantro

Remove leaves from cauliflower and cut the head in half. Remove cauliflower from core so you only have the florets. Place half of cauliflower into food processor and process until only small pieces remain (you can also use a box grater with the larger holes and grate the cauliflower into small pieces). Remove from processor and place into a pan. Process remaining cauliflower repeating the steps.

Add garlic to the cauliflower in the pan. Cook over med for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. When cauliflower is slightly toasted and garlic is cooked, remove from heat.

Toss with cilantro and juice from the whole lime. Enjoy!




Cauliflower processed into small pieces...






Cilantro mixed in...






Cilantro and lime juice added...

Caramel Potatoes

I found this recipe in a Fine Cooking magazine and was instantly intrigued! Caramel potatoes...kinda weird sounding but kinda good sounding at the same time. Apparently it's a Danish side dish that's often served with ham. I convinced my parents to try this dish for our Christmas dinner. It was just going to be the 3 of us so that's usually when I try new dishes. While I was making this, I wasn't sure it was going to turn out since the caramel didn't seem to be breaking down but in the end, it melted down. And it tasted really good! The only thing I didn't like was my potatoes. I used pre-cooked ones from Schwan's and I think they were cooked too well. They were kind of mushy so I think if I make this again, I'll use raw potatoes and not cook them as much. My parents want to try this dish with ham so I was thinking I could try to convince whatever relative hosts Easter this year that I would bring the potatoes lol.

Caramel Potatoes (8 servings) (Fine Cooking):

4 1/2 lb baby potatoes
Salt
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c salted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Put potatoes in a 6-8 quart pot, add cool water to cover and 1/4 c salt. Cover and bring to boil. Turn heat down to maintain a simmer and cook until potatoes are just tender when pierced with a fork, 12-15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a baking sheet to cool slightly, about 20 minutes. Peel. (I left the skin on my potatoes, only because they were too soft to peel.)

Put sugar in a Dutch oven over med-low heat and let it melt, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes; it will be a medium amber color. Stir in the butter and 1/2 tsp salt until foam from the butter begins to subside, 1-2 minutes. The butter and caramel will be separate at this point.

Add potatoes and stir once to coat. the caramel will seize and become stringy, but that's OK. Use the spatula to push any hard bits of caramel to the bottom of the skillet so they can melt again; as the potatoes cook, the caramel will smooth out into a homogenous sauce. Adjust the heat to keep the caramel at a simmer and cook, occasionally turning the potatoes, until the caramel thickens and begins to coat them, about 20 minutes. Gently and constantly turn the potatoes until they are coated layer by layer with the caramel, 5-10 minutes more; there will still be a thin layer of caramel in the bottom of the pot. Remove any potatoes that fall apart as you stir. Serve the potatoes with the caramel.




Sugar cooking...






Sugar slowly turning amber...






Sugar turned amber color...






Potatoes added...






Sauce finally melting down...






Enjoy!...






**Note**

I made this recipe again for Easter this year and they turned out way different and way better! I bought 12 small red potatoes, peeled them and cut them into 4 pieces. I cooked them in boiling water until just fork-tender, about 3-5 minutes. I let them cool overnight and while I was cooking the caramel, I diced them into smaller pieces. I also think I didn't use the right amount of butter the first time around-1/2 c butter is actually one stick and I think I only used a 1/2 stick. The caramel melted down perfectly with the butter and with the potatoes diced small, they adhered to the sauce so much better! There were no big chunks of hardened caramel and they just tasted better all around. Below is a picture of what they should look like!

Red Quinoa

One of the shelves in my cabinet is filled with all kinds of grains, most I've never tried before but have been wanting to. I've had quinoa before several times and love it. I had picked up this bag of red quinoa and decided to make it one night to serve as a side to some steak. It tastes just like regular white quinoa I thought. I added some chopped peppers with garlic and topped if off with some Italian dressing. Definitely good and I'll keep making it.

Red Quinoa:

1 c quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/2 c chopped mini or regular bell peppers
1 minced garlic clove
1 tbsp olive oil
Italian dressing, to taste

Cook quinoa as directed on the package. While quinoa is cooking, lightly cook the peppers and garlic in the oil until tender and fragrant. Add tot he cooked quinoa. Top with Italian dressing and serve. Enjoy!




Enjoy!...

Sticky Rice with Spicy Tomato Relish

Like I said in my previous post, I've been on a major sticky rice kick lately. And I was getting bored with eating it with just soy sauce. I'll be making another stir-fry soon now that I have all the regular ingredients but then I remembered this tomato relish that my best friend made several years ago. Super easy to make and very little ingredients yet very tasty. I thought I had the recipe written down but apparently I didn't so I asked her for it again. I think I used too much cilantro since the relish turned a little green but it tasted okay. It was missing something though-maybe salt. I added a little garlic powder to mine and some soy sauce and it tasted much better.

I've included pictures of the way I make my sticky rice but if you don't have the proper pieces I'm sure you can google how to make sticky rice in a ricer cooker or in a regular pan. I got all my stuff from an Asian store and my best friend went with me to help. The base is a metal pot-you fill it with water and heat it to boiling. The basket is shaped kind of like a funnel so that goes into the pot (without touching the water) so the rice gets steamed. The pan lid on top helps trap most of the steam. I cook my rice for 20 min and it comes out perfect every time. But an important thing to remember..no matter how you cook your rice, make sure you soak the rice in water at least 1 hour before you cook it or it will come out harder than a rock and not good to eat. I always soak my rice overnight just to be safe.

Again, I don't have an actual recipe..I just kinda went by general instructions from my friend and how I like it. According to her, for the cilantro, you should have half the amount of tomatoes and green onions should be half the amount of cilantro. So I'll try to put down what I used.

Sticky Rice with Spicy Tomato Relish:

25 grape tomatoes, halved
4-6 green onions, sliced (I used 6 only because my green onions were tiny)
1/2 c cilantro
1 Thai chili pepper, sliced

Using a mortar and pestle, grind the cilantro and chili pepper until dark green and mushy looking; transfer to a bowl. Boil the tomatoes and green onions until potatoes can be mashed down, about 5 min. In small batches, add the tomatoes and green onions to mortar and mash down. Once mashed, add it to the bowl. Once everything is added, mix it up well. This is when I added some garlic powder and soy sauce to taste.




Rice in the basket...






Steamer basket for the rice...






What I use to make my stick rice...






Sticky rice done...






Ready to be boiled...






Thai chile pepper and some of the cilantro being grinded...






Tomatoes & green onions after they've been boiled...






Everything all mashed together...






Sticky Rice dipped in relish...

Parmesan Garlic Orzo

I was perusing around on Pinterest tonight (yes I know I may be slightly obsessed!) and came across this recipe via www.allrecipes.com I've had some left over orzo for a while now that I didn't really know what to do with and this sounded perfect. And I even had all the other ingredients so I knew I had to make it tonight. I made it as a side dish but I think it would also be good to add some chicken in it to make it a main dish. I also added more garlic than the recipe calls for but I love garlic so it tasted fine to me. I'll definitely be making this dish again!

Find the recipe here




All the ingredients...






Garlic & butter...






Everything mixed together...






Enjoy!...

Balsamic Roasted Potatoes

I found this recipe on Pinterest via The Lazy Cook. I was trying to empty out my fridge before I went grocery shopping a couple days ago and I found a bag of baby red potatoes in my fridge that needed to be cooked before they went bad. I had seen a couple recipes I had pinned on Pinterest that I wanted to try and when looking through them, I decided to make this one since I had all the ingredients. The original recipe didn't say how much potatoes to use and I think I used too few so the vinegar was a little strong. When I make these again, I'll use about half of what I used for vinegar. Other than that, the potatoes turned out really good, lots of flavor.

Balsamic Roasted Potatoes:

Baby new potatoes (yellow or red)
Minced garlic (I used 3-4 cloves because I love garlic)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Wash potatoes and cut in half or quarters, depending on the size. I half-peeled mine only because mine had been sitting in the fridge for a while and I wanted to make sure to cut off the bad parts.

Place potato halves in med bowl. Add herbs and olive oil. Mix with your hands so that all the potatoes are covered.

Coat a med-large oven-proof dish with cooking spray. Place potatoes in pan and spread evenly. Roast for about 25 min, until tender.

Take the potatoes out of the oven, add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Put potatoes back in the oven for another 5-10 min. Enjoy!




Ready to be baked...






Ready to eat...

Zucchini with Garlic & Ginger

I was at my parents place a couple weeks ago for the weekend. For dinner one night, my dad was going to grill up some steaks. I love veggies so when we were at the grocery store, I had them buy some zucchini and ginger. I wanted to try something new and lately I've been using a lot of ginger and garlic with things. Once we got back to their place, I experimented and came up with a pretty tasty recipe. Some of the garlic and ginger came out crispy and it added a lot of flavor to the zucchini. My mom doesn't normally like cooked zucchini but after trying this, she said she could definitely eat this. You can either put these on the grill in a tinfoil pan, bake them in the oven or grill them on the stove. I'm estimating measurements here but you can add more or less if you like.

Zucchini with Garlic and Ginger

2 med zucchini, sliced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 4-5 in piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Place all ingredients in shallow bowl and mix well with your hands. Grill or bake until zucchini is crisp-tender, stirring once in a while during cooking. Enjoy!




Ready to grill..






Ready to eat...

Sweet Potato Balls

I was watching the Food Network one night before Thanksgiving and Paula Deen was on. I wasn't really paying too much attention to the show until they started talking about sweet potato balls. Sounds interesting right? I thought so too, so I started really listening. It looked pretty easy to make so I decided to try them for our Christmas dinner at the cabin this year. They turned out pretty well and it makes a perfect single serving. It also lets your guest or family member choose what they want on their serving so everyone is happy!

A couple side notes...the recipe calls for orange juice and orange zest. My mom used canned sweet potatoes, which are a little more moist than regular baking sweet potatoes. If I were to use the canned again, I wouldn't add the orange juice. The sweet potatoes were a little too moist and starting to melt. I also wasn't a big fan of the strong orange juice taste with the sweet potatoes. So next time, I'll omit the juice but keep the zest for a little added flavor.

Since there was only 3 of us, we just made 6 balls, which is the perfect amount for 1 can of sweet potatoes.

Ingredients:

4 lg sweet potatoes (or 1 can sweet potatoes)
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 large marshmallow per ball
Toppings such as coconut, crushed nuts, brown sugar, crushed fruit, etc

If you are using baking potatoes, bake until tender, then peel and mash them. Stir in brown sugar, orange juice, zest and nutmeg. Press mashed potatoes around each marshmallow, creating a 2-3 inch diameter ball.

Roll balls in topping mixture of your choice and place on a pan covered in tin foil. Bake 15-20 minutes, watching carefully for the last few minutes or cooking (the expanding marshmallows can cause the potato balls to burst open). Let cool slightly and serve.


Canned sweet potatoes...




Freshly ground nutmeg...




Fresh orange juice...




Ready to be rolled...




Marshmallows...the recipe called for giant marshmallows and we couldn't find any so we used the regular ones. And the balls turned out to be a decent size, so it worked.





Rolled up around the marshmallow...




The three toppings we used...brown sugar and sugar, coconut and crushed pecans..




All rolled up and ready to be baked. We had to put the two brown sugared balls into muffin cups as they began to melt before we could get them into the oven. They seemed to have worked just fine.




Fresh from the oven...




Enjoy!