You can never have too much caulifower

Frequently, if I am at a loss for what to serve as a side dish with dinner, I opt for cauliflower. There's always a head in the house. I can clean it quickly while the oven preheats. It's one of the milder cabbages, so everyone in the family likes it. And it is so incredibly flexible that, after a rubdown with olive oil I can squirt it with lemon juice or some other liquid, like maybe wine. I can season it with just about any spice or herb. I can give it a final flourish of cheese if I wish. 

I can break the cauliflower head into small chunks or cut it into thick slices, like "steak" (a recipe from The Modern Kosher Kitchen). Or roast it whole.

Saute it instead of roasting it in the oven.

Make it into salad.

And so on.

This is the latest version. Quick. Easy. Goes with everything.

 

Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 small cauliflower
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or marjoram
• salt to taste
• ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper (substitute ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Wash the cauliflower, trim the ends and break the head up into smaller pieces. Wipe dry with paper towels. Mix the olive oil and white wine vinegar in a large bowl. Add the cauliflower pieces and toss the pieces to coat them on all sides. Place the pieces on the prepared sheet, drizzling them with oil left n the bowl. Sprinkle with the oregano, salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, turning the pieces occasionally, or until the pieces are crispy and lightly browned.

Makes 4 servings

Roasted Arctic Char with Meyer Lemon and Rosemary

Arctic char is one of my favorite kinds of fish to eat. It's delicate but has lots of flavor and besides, Ed likes it too, though fish is never his first choice for dinner. 

It's also easy to dress Arctic char up and it takes very little time to cook. This entire recipe required about 15 minutes from start to finish. That's a good thing for busy midweek isn't it?

I used Meyer lemon because they're available now, but regular lemon would be just good for this recipe.

 

ROASTED ARCTIC CHAR WITH MEYER LEMON AND ROSEMARY

• 20-24 ounces Arctic char
• 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon grated Meyer lemon peel

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the fish on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Set aside. Combine the Meyer lemon juice, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, rosemary, Dijon mustard and Meyer lemon peel in a bowl and mix to combine the ingredients. Spread this mixture evenly over the fish. Roast for about 10 minutes or until the top is lightly crispy.

Makes 4 servings

Sweet Potatoes with Orange and Allspice

Last week I posted a recipe for sweet potatoes with date honey. But I realize that date honey is not one of those stock items most people have in their pantry. I have a couple of jars of it because I use it for all sorts of recipes, but for those who don’t, and don’t want to buy any, here’s an alternative sweet potato dish that’s easy and make-ahead, also not overly sweet. Nice side dish for Thanksgiving or as part of a vegetarian meal.

Sweet Potatoes with Orange and Allspice

• 4 large sweet potatoes
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, Earth Balance Buttery Spread or butter
• 1-1/2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel
• 3-4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice (or substitute cinnamon or ground cloves)
• 1/2 cup orange juice (approximately)
• Salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the potatoes, prick the skin with the tines of a fork and roast them for 50-60 minutes or until tender. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add the Earth Balance (or other), orange peel, sugar and allspice. Mix thoroughly to blend ingredients. Add some of the orange juice, using as much of it as necessary to mix the ingredients to the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt. Place in a casserole dish to reheat. Can be made completely ahead.

For marshmallow topping: reheat the casserole until completely heated through, cover with marshmallows and reheat for a few minutes to brown the top.

Makes 8 servings

Sweet Potatoes with Date Honey

One of my favorite food memories is my mother’s Thanksgiving sweet potatoes. She’d mix a stick of butter with plenty of brown sugar, get it hot and gooey and add a large can, juice and all, of cut up “yams.” It all got glossy and richly amber and was one of the ultra sweet treats we waited all year for.

Those days are gone forever. No one in my family wants the sugar overload.

Or the stick of butter.

We want the dish dairy-free.

No problem.

Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet. You don’t need much sweetener to make them taste good. I’ve experimented with lots of different options and this year I’m adding date honey. It isn’t actually honey — just has honey’s consistency. Sometimes it’s sold as date molasses or silan. 

Date honey has an intense flavor. Use just a small amount when you want to sweeten food. I pour a bit over plain yogurt for breakfast. I’ve added it to cake. Swirled some into the basting fluids for roasted chicken.  

It’s perfect for sweet potatoes.

Coconut oil adds a bit more of a sweet taste and you don’t need much to enrich this dish — 2 to 3 tablespoons instead of much more butter.

Besides the fact that it isn’t overly sweet, the other virtue of this sweet potato casserole recipe is that it contains only four ingredients (plus salt). And you can make it 2-3 days ahead (keep it in the fridge).

Yes, you can add marshmallows on top for the last several minutes of baking.

Sweet Potatoes with Date Honey

• 6 medium sweet potatoes
• 2-3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/4 cup date honey
• 1/2 cup orange or tangerine juice
• salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the potatoes and prick each with the tines of a fork. Roast the potatoes for about one hour or until tender. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add the coconut oil, date honey, juice and salt to taste. Mix to blend the ingredients thoroughly. 

Makes 8 servings

Sauteed Cauliflower with Scallions, Aleppo Pepper and Mint

Need a quick side dish for a holiday dinner? Or any old time?

Try this cauliflower recipe. Just a few ingredients, lots of flavor. You can eat it hot or at room temperature (if you want to make it ahead).

Aleppo pepper is a hint smoky. Substitute crushed red pepper or smoked paprika instead.                                                                                                                              

Sauteed Cauliflower with Scallions, Aleppo Pepper and Mint

• One head cauliflower

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 4 medium scallions, chopped

• 1 large clove garlic, chopped

• 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

• salt to taste

• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Wash and trim the cauliflower and cut it into bite size pieces. Place the pieces into a saucepan, add 1 cup water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover the pan and cook the pieces for 3-5 minutes or until barely tender. Drain and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the cauliflower pieces, scallion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes or until well browned. Sprinkle with Aleppo pepper and salt, toss the ingredients for 30 seconds or so, then  place the contents of the pan into a serving dish. Sprinkle with mint and serve.

Makes 4 servings

Asparagus Salad with Toasted Almonds and Goat Cheese

Mother’s Day plans got me thinking about some of the so-called “liberating” trends for women.

Like canned foods, which were, and did, make it easier for housewives to get dinner on the table. They no longer had to clean and cook veggies, for example. All they had to do was open the can and heat the stuff in a pot. (I knew someone who cooked canned food in the can to save on pot cleaning.)

Unfortunately, although canned vegetables did save work and time, they weren’t very tasty. They were also mushy and salty and lacked the nutritional value of fresh produce.

It doesn’t take much time to clean and cook fresh asparagus. Just a matter of rinsing them and cutting off the woody bottom, then either steaming, poaching, grilling or roasting them for a few minutes.

In fact asparagus is one of the quickest and easiest vegetables to cook. We eat them regularly, sprinkled with a little lemon juice.

When I have more time I use asparagus for salad. Like this one:

Asparagus Salad with Toasted Almonds and Goat Cheese 

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1 pound slim or medium asparagus spears

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped shallot

1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint

1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

2 ounces crumbled goat cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the almonds on a cookie sheet and bake them for 10-12 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove from the oven and let cool. While the nuts are baking, wash the asparagus and cut off the tough, woody ends. Place the asparagus in a skillet, add one cup of water, cover the pan, bring the water to a boil and cook over high heat for 4-6 minutes or until tender, but still crispy. Drain under cold water, wipe dry and place on a serving platter. In a bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, shallot, mint and dill. Mix well and pour the dressing over the asparagus. Add the nuts and cheese and toss the ingredients to coat the asparagus completely. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  

Makes 4-6 servings

Three Ingredient Sweet Potato Casserole

Need a last minute Thanksgiving or Thanksgivvukah dish? Try this sweet potato recipe. It has three ingredients (plus salt if you wish). Its other virtue is that it is barely sweetened, because I think sweet potatoes are so naturally sugary they don’t need much more.

You can make this ahead and reheat it. Even put marshmallows on top (a few minutes before serving, and after the casserole is already hot).

I use Sarabeth’s Orange-Apricot Marmalade. But you can use either plain orange marmalade or apricot jam (or mix the two).

Three Ingredient Sweet Potato Casserole

• 4 medium sweet potatoes

• 3 tablespoons orange-apricot marmalade

• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance Buttery Spread, margarine or butter

• salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the sweet potatoes, prick them with the tip of a sharp knife and roast them for about one hour or until tender. When cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a bowl (discard the skin or eat separately). Add the marmalade and Earth Balance and mash until smooth. Season to taste with salt.

Makes 4-6 servings 

Salmon Salad with White Beans, Blue Cheese and Dried Cranberries

I love to cook, but even I don’t love to cook when the weather is hot and sticky and I’ve been out all day and all I want is a shower, a cool room and a quick dinner.

On those days I grill something easy and fast, like a chicken breast or fish filet. Or I make a sandwich or sometimes even plain old scrambled eggs for dinner.

Sometimes I don’t cook at all. Like when I have leftovers and can mix them with the packaged ingredients that I always keep handy in my kitchen: canned beans, frozen peas, dried fruit and items like that. This is the stuff of a good summer salad.

This salmon salad is just one example of the kind of quick-to-fix food that I think is perfect for a hot summer day. And also if you lose power in a hurricane because if you don’t happen to have leftover salmon, you can use a 15-ounce can of salmon (don’t forget to keep a manual can opener in your miscellaneous equipment drawer).

The recipe is versatile of course. If you don’t have peas, use corn; no cranberries — use raisins; no white beans, use black. And so on.  

Salmon Salad with White Beans, Blue Cheese and Dried Cranberries

2 cups crumbled leftover cooked salmon (or 15-ounce can red salmon, drained)

2 cups cooked white beans (or 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained)

1 cup thawed frozen peas

3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

4 scallions, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 tablespoon grated fresh orange peel

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons orange juice

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the salmon in a large bowl and break it up slightly. Add the beans, peas, cheese, scallions, cranberries, orange peel, dill and mint. Toss gently to distribute the ingredients evenly. In a small bowl mix the vegetable oil, lemon juice and orange juice. Pour over the ingredients and toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let rest for at least 15 minutes before serving. Makes 4 servings

Matzolah Granola

Homemade Matzolah Granola

When my kids were little I wanted to give them what I considered to be healthy snacks. Never mind that cheese crackers with peanut butter were fat laden and salty. Or that the sugary granola bars I bought because they were healthy, weren’t.

My kids laugh about those (and other things like bean burritos) now, although they do acknowledge that at least I was trying and it wasn’t as if I was giving them Snickers Bars in their lunch boxes.

Granola has come a long way since those days. And I am no nutrition expert. But it seems to me that certain parts of granola can be healthy. Like the dried fruit and nuts. And some not as healthy, like the sweetener and fat.

But I also know that it can be absolutely delicious. A grand topper for yogurt or fruit. And if you make it at home you can more or less cut down on the bad things.

Which I’ve done here. Only 1/4 cup honey and 6 tablespoons of butter for what becomes 4 cups of granola.

Only this granola is not made with oats or other whole grains. It begins with Matzolah, which I used (and blogged about) for a scrumptious Pear Crisp.

It’s a matzo based granola-type snack (available at many supermarkets).

So it’s okay for Passover.

But a good thing to eat any time.

Matzolah Granola

2-1/2 cups Matzolah

6 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan and set aside. In a bowl, combine the Matzolah with 3 tablespoons melted butter. Toss to coat the Matzolah. Place the buttered Matzolah on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Stir the Matzolah and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Raise the oven heat to 350 degrees. Return the baked Matzolah to the bowl. Add the honey, dates, apricots, cranberries and remaining 3 tablespoons melted butter. Toss to mix ingredients. Place the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Stir the ingredients and bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool. Makes about 4 cups.

Quickie Hors D'oeuvre

Warmer weather means more company. At least at our house. Whether it’s Passover or Memorial Day or just a nice, sunny afternoon or balmy evening, there’s more entertaining to do.

And that means more food. Including hors d’oeuvre. Quickies. The kind you can make when you weren’t even expecting company. The kind you can whip up with a few household staples.

Like Temp Tee Whipped Cream cheese, which you can mix with all sorts of ingredients to create almost instant spreads and dips for crudites, chips, crackers, matzo. Whatever. 

I confess that Temp Tee hooked up with JoyofKosher.com and several food bloggers, asking us to create recipes using their product. It was amazingly easy for me to do though because I had been a fan for ages. I recently mentioned it in a post about when my mom “discovered” this product, and gave recipes for Inside Out Strawberries Romanoff and Baked Stuffed Potatoes.

For hors d’oeuvre it couldn’t be easier. Here’s how: place some of the cream cheese in a food processor (blender, hand mixer and bowl), add some flavoring ingredients and mix away until the spread is more or less uniform. To make a spread into a dip, mix in dairy sour cream or plain yogurt until it becomes the consistency you need.

Most of the time I use smoked or cooked salmon as the primary flavoring ingredient. (btw, you can buy the MUCH cheaper smoked salmon pieces that some stores sell rather than the expensive, hand sliced slices). But any smoked fish will do: trout, mackerel, bluefish. Because the smokey taste and the cream cheese richness are perfect together.

I always add some sort of onion: scallion, shallot, cooked leeks, red onion, plus citrus juice to give the spread a fresh zip of taste.

The other ingredients? You really don’t need any, but I always have horseradish or mustard in the house and frequently have dill or parsley in the fridge, so I add some for extra flavor. Or use freshly ground black pepper or a chili pepper.

It all works so well. You taste a little, add an ingredient, taste again and you make the spread the way you want it.

You don’t actually need fish. Deli items will do too: olives, marinated artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, capers, pickles, and so on.

Same process: place the cream cheese plus deli item(s) in the food processor, add something oniony plus citrus juice and whirl away.

And there you have it.

Make entertaining easy on yourself with these recipes for Smoked Salmon and Dill Spread and Herbed Cheese Spread. You can use either spread as is or stuff into hollowed out vegetables like cherry or grape tomatoes, cucumber rounds, zucchini and so on.