Food | Travel | Family | Life
This roasted cauliflower is incredible. Served with some cheese sauce, it makes the perfect side for any dinner.
It’s amazing what a hot oven can do with boring vegetables. Roasting them brings out so much flavour and it’s definitely my favourite way to eat them. Roasted cauliflower is no exception.
…One of our favourite vegetables is butternut squash. It is one of those things that need very little to enjoy. A drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper, and roasted in a 350 degree oven, you have yourself something pretty fantastic.
With Thanksgiving just a couple of days away, this is definitely something to add to your menu. It’s easy and the sage brown butter sauce elevates this simple dish into something amazing. The dish is complete with a sprinkling of roasted pecans.
This sauce….it is something else. Butter and sage pulled together with a splash of cream – something so simple but so luscious. It is one of those sauces that you will make you want to lick the plate. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage Brown Butter Sauce
1 medium butternut squash
1/4 cup unsalted butter
10 sage leaves
2 TB whipping cream
1/4 cup pecans, roasted
salt
pepper
Peel the butternut squash. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut into slices and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil over the squash and add salt and pepper. Roast in a 350 degree oven for approximately half an hour.
In a small pan, on medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sage and let the butter brown. Stir in the cream and mix until smooth. Season with salt.
Arrange the roasted squash on a plate. Drizzle with sauce and pecans.
We have been trying to use up the zucchini from the garden before the cold sets in. We have roasted them, grilled them and of course put them in loaves. Here is another way to use up that zucchini – pakora! I’m pretty sure Q ate most of these. He doesn’t like onions but these were so tasty, the fact that they were in there didn’t bother him at all.
These golden balls are easy to fry up and filled with deliciousness. The addition of baking powder makes them a little puffy. The pakora make a great appetizer or snack and are even tastier when dipped in tamarind chutney.
Zucchini Pakora
2 cups gram flour (chickpea flour)
1 small onion, sliced
1 cup zucchini, grated
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp crushed ginger
1 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1 small egg
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp baking powder
Combine the flour with the spices, egg and vegetables. Slowly add the water mixing until it forms a batter. Add the baking powder and mix well. Drop by spoonfuls into hot oil until golden. Enjoy with tamarind chutney.
When I planted my garden this past Spring, I didn’t really think anything would grow. It was a little experiment that I didn’t have a lot of confidence in. It was exciting when things started to grow, and we have enjoyed watching the garden blossom.
When I checked the garden yesterday, I was thrilled that there were zucchini! I was so excited, I picked one out and decided to do some baking after everyone had gone to sleep. My favourite use of zucchini is a chocolate loaf. I wanted this to be filled with all the things so loaded up this loaf with chocolate chips, pecans and coconut.
This zucchini loaf is made with yogurt and is chocolately and super moist. Definitely one to try!
Chocolate Pecan Coconut Zucchini Loaf
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup yogurt
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add in the nuts, chips and coconut and set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients along with the egg and sugar. Stir into the zucchini. Pour this mixture into the dry mixture, and stir until combined.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
Happy Cinco de Mayo! What better way to celebrate than with some guacamole and chips. Guacamole is one of the easiest things to make and is a staple around here. It’s perfect for Taco Tuesday but also a great appetizer when people come over.
There are so many ways to make guacamole but this is how we like it. I avoid the mayo and sour cream and I prefer a chunkier guacamole. I use a fork to mash up the avocados; no processor required!
Guacamole
3 avocados
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
cilantro
1 lime
salt
hot sauce, optional
Mash the avocados with a fork. Add in the onions, tomato and cilantro until mixed. Depending on how juicy your lime is, you may just need 1/2. Add salt and hot sauce to taste.
Sometimes I’m overly optimistic and I buy way too many vegetables. I plan meals that don’t come into fruition and sometimes these healthy morsels seem to get forgotten in the fridge. Stir-fries are the perfect dish to clean out your fridge and make use of all those veggies before they end up in the compost bin.
Yesterday, I went to the grocery store yesterday just to buy the beef. I was determined to use up everything that was in my fridge. Sadly, the red peppers didn’t make it, but I did manage to save the broccoli and the carrots. I even used up the half bag of salad that was in the fridge – the cabbage and the carrots, even the pumpkin seeds, were perfect for a stir-fry.
I dredged the beef in a flour mixture because I wanted the pieces to be a little crisp but you can totally skip that step. For the sauce, I sometimes just make a mixture of the sauces that are in the fridge, using up the last drops. This time, I made a slight variation to the sauce from the Mongolian Beef recipe, which was so delicious.
Mamma used up the veggies, the kids at the veggies, it was a good day!
Beef Stir-Fry
1 pound beef, cut into strips
1/2 cup flour
2 TB cornstarch
salt
pepper
vegetables
2 tsp oil
2 tsp ginger
2 TB minced garlic
1/2 cup soya sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 TB corn starch
2 TB water
In a small saucepan, combine the first six sauce ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil. Combine the corn starch with the water and add to the sauce ingredients. Let simmer until thick.
Combine the flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Dredge the beef in the flour mixture and pan fry. This can be done in batches. Keep aside. Drain the oil from the pan and add in any vegetables. Once they are almost cooked, add back the meat and add the sauce. Perfect with rice!
We had leftover kebabs for dinner the other night and I needed a vegetable side to go along with it. I had this idea of combining sumac with the cauliflower and thought it would be a great accompaniment to our dinner.
Sumac is a middle eastern spice which I really should use more often. It has a bit of a tart lemony flavour, perfect for livening up vegetables or even meat. I combined the sumac with some complementary flavours of coriander and garlic and tossed it with the cauliflower florets. These were then roasted until the cauliflower was carmelized – yum!
My only regret when I made this was I only did half the cauliflower. I didn’t realize how big of a hit this was going to be. Hubby loved it, but even more surprising, Q loved it. He couldn’t get enough and requested I make the other half right away!
Sumac Roasted Cauliflower
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
3 TB olive oil
2 TB sumac
1 TB garlic powder
1 TB coriander powder
salt
pepper
Combine the oil and the spices and toss with the cauliflower florets. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until cauliflower is soft.
We have been enjoying our daily smoothies and I have been having fun coming up with some tasty combinations. Today was a good one and I could not wait to share.
The spinach smoothies haven’t been a favourite for the boys…until today. Today, they wanted more! That is a huge win. The greens combined with the tropical flavours of pineapple, banana and coconut worked really well together. The pineapple added the sweetness and the banana and coconut milk the creaminess. The coconut milk also made it dairy free so even hubby could enjoy it.
This tropical concoction will allow you to escape to somewhere warm, even if just for a minute.
Green Tropical Smoothie
1/2 cup pineapple, cubed
1 banana
1/2 cup spinach
1/3 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
ice
Place all the ingredients and blend until smooth.
January is here and we are back to school and back to routine. I try and stay away from resolutions, they always seem short-lived. There is something that needed implementing around here though, and the new year seems like the best place to start. Although we eat fruits and vegetables, I really needed us to have more. Keeping plates of cut fruits and veggies out has helped. No one can resist snacking if it’s right there, ready and waiting. Salads are an easy way to add veggies but they can become boring. Smoothies seem like the best way to add a whole whack of nutrients, changing it up everyday so that there is variety.
To help with this goal, the folks at Ninja sent me their Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ Compact System. If I could choose one word to describe this machine, it would be power. I loved watching it break down spinach and grind ice into a smooth refreshing drink. With this Ninja, you have a nutrient and vitamin extractor as well as a high performance blender – it pulverizes any vegetable or seed. On top of all that, it comes with a Blend and Prep bowl, making this powerful blender into a full food processor. Hubby’s quite happy about this fact, hoping to get rid of a few of my appliances.
I loved this recipe for a refreshing green smoothie. With apples, lemon and ginger, along with a big helping of spinach, this drink was pretty delicious. I never thought I’d say that about a spinach smoothie! Watch for more smoothie recipes over the next couple of weeks and check out this board on Pinterest for inspiration.
Disclaimer – I was sent a Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ Compact System to try out and keep. All opinions are my own.
Sweet Spinach Detox
From Ninja
1 green apple, cut in 2-inch chunks
1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
1/4 lemon, peeled, seeds removed
1/2 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup ice
Place all ingredients into the 24-ounce Tritan Nutri Ninja in the order listed.
Select Auto-IQ™ BLEND.
It’s my favourite time of year! Christmas is not a religious holiday for us but we love to celebrate it! I love putting up the tree and sitting in the dark watching the lights reflect off the ornaments. I love driving around and seeing how people have decorated their houses. Most of all, I love spending time with family and friends. These gatherings ALWAYS include delicious, comforting food.
I recently partnered with Del Monte (the makers of premium canned vegetables and so much more) to share some fun stats on what people love to eat during the holidays. They just published their Del Monte Comfort Food Index, which ranked the Top 10 Holiday Comfort Foods.
Potatoes (mashed or scalloped): 84% (percent who feel “comfort” by eating the food)
Pie: 82%
Baked goods (cookies & muffins): 81%
Macaroni & cheese: 75%
Cake: 71%
Casserole: 69%
Stews and hearty soups: 68%
Meatballs (with or without pasta: 65%
Sweet potatoes (mashed or cut): 61%
Cornbread: 60%
It is definitely not surprising that potatoes, pies and baked goods are on the top of the list. All of our faves!
Going through the Del Monte America’s Recipe site, I was inspired by the recipes that are available. A few stand out, which I’m hoping to make in the next couple of weeks. I recently tried my hand at scalloped potatoes and loved them. I’m looking forward to trying out the skinny version on the Del Monte site. I also want to try out the Green Bean Casserole. I love the idea of putting fried onions on top!
Check out the site and comment below on which Del Monte holiday comfort recipes you’d like to try!
Although this post has been sponsored by Del Monte, all opinions are my own.