Fresh and Easy Salsa

 

 

It's Tuesday, yo! I don't know about you, but here in San Diego, that can only mean one thing... Tacos! Taco Tuesday is a legitimate event. A reason to eat, create, and cook delicious tacos. Traditional tacos, crispy tacos, corn tortilla tacos, lettuce wrap tacos.... Ground beef, chicken, pork, lobster... You name it, and San Diego puts it in a taco. There's no stopping the creativity, taste, or options, and for this reason, it's incredibly easy to celebrate taco Tuesday each and every Tuesday without ever getting bored. 

 

Tonight's menu includes a self-serve topping bar, flour tortillas, and traditional ground beef. It's an incredibly easy to prepare meal, that is high in flavor. And at the epicenter of all that flavor? Homemade salsa.

 

There are so many different iterations of salsa. I make several different ones, depending on my mood, and what's on that day's menu. This is by far, not only one of my favorites, but also the most versatile. It's even a great base, from which to build more complex salsa's. And, it pairs perfectly with ground beef.  

 

Ingredients

 

3 vine ripened tomatoes, quartered

1/2 of a large jalepeno

1 small red onion

the juice of 1 lime

1 tsp cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp kosher salt

 

Directions

 

6 hours prior to service (letting your salsa sit for a minimum of 6 hours, intensifies the flavor profiles, and creates an even tastier salsa) grind all above ingredients in a food processor for about 30 seconds. Refrigerate.  

 

 

Seriously, that's it. Simple, easy, fresh. There will be no turning back.

 

Roasted Garlic Salsa

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic, top sliced off to expose cloves

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 red pepper

3 large poblano peppers

2 TBSP fresh cilantro leaves

1 large heirloom tomato (beefsteak tomato size), cut in large pieces

1 shallot

Juice of one lime

Juice of one lemon

2 tsp cracked black pepper 

Sea salt, divided uses

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450. Place garlic head in center of a tin foil square. Pour a generous amount of olive oil over garlic cloves, and gereously salt the top. Wrap garlic in tinfoil, bringing up edges and crimp closed. Place tin foil bundle on top shelf of oven. Place bell pepper next to garlic. Bake for at least 30 minutes, until garlic is soft, turning pepper over periodically to blister all sides. Add poblano peppers during last 10 minutes. 

Remove from oven, cover and let cool. 

Squeeze garlic cloves out of their peel into a blender bowl, along with any olive oil that pooled to the bottom of the tin foil. Remove stem, skin and seeds from red bell pepper, and add to blender. Remove stem and seeds from poblano peppers and add to bowl. Add tomatoes, shallots, cilantro, 1tsp of salt, pepper, and citrus juice. Combine all ingredients using high pulse. Salsa should have texture without being chunky. Taste for additional salt. Salsa will be relatively mild. 

Sweet and Tangy Brussel Sprouts

So Brussels weren't part of our FMB this week- but when your three year-old points them out at the store, and squeals in anticipation- you buy them. As, I did.

Always experimenting with different ways to do Brussels, since they are a commonly requested side 'round these parts, I tried a new marinade before roasting them...Delish! Tangy and sweet, you are sure to love it as much as we did.

Ingredients:

30 Brussels, washed, cleaned, and halved

2 TBSP Extra virgin olive oil

2 TBSP Apple Cider vinegar

1 TBSP honey

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread Brussels evenly on sheet. Drizzle olive oil, vinegar, and honey over the top. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top. Using your hands, toss Brussels, distributing liquids, and reposition evenly.

Place sheet in top quarter of oven, and roast 20-25 minutes, until Brussels are fork tender.

Fresh Corn and Arugula Salad with Rose Vinagrette

We received some beautiful fresh corn on the cob with our box last Thursday, and immediately I knew I wanted to make a corn salad. I make several varieties of corn salad- and almost all of them during the summer. Corn screams summer, and this salad is a great alternative to grilling corn for the forth of July!

The key here, is to make sure all your ingredients are dry before combining. That way, they are enhanced by the Vinagrette, as opposed to soaking it in and becoming soggy. You can make the dressing ahead of time, and simply toss right before serving.

Ingredients:

4 ears of corn, husks removed

2 cups of arugula, washed and patted dry

1 16oz container of fresh mozzarella bites in water, strained, patted dry, and halved 

1 carton of cherry heirloom tomatoes

2 avocados, chopped, run through cold water, and dried

8 basil leaves, chiffonade  

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to boil. Using a sharp knife, remove corn kernels from cob. (If you do this over a kitchen towel, the kernels will stick to the towel, and not all over the floor). Place kernels in boiling water for 3 minutes. Strain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Dry.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, gently tossing to combine. 

For the Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rose vinegar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine in Tupperware, cover, and shake until combined. Add to salad, a little bit at a time, being careful not to overdress, just before serving.

Simple Summer Strawberry Salad

Are we loving the alliteration? No? Just me then... So, in last week's FMB loot, I received some amazing fresh Stawberries (or Strawbs as my Aussie friend Alex is want to call them), Red Romaine, and leftover spring onions. Perfect for a BBQ side salad!

Ingredients:

1 head Red Romaine Lettuce, washed and torn

1 head Butter Lettuce, washed and torn

1 carton Fresh Strawberries, sliced

1 bunch (about 6) spring onions, primarily the light green part 

1/2 cup pistachios, shelled 

For the Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Pomegranate Vinegar

1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

1-2 tsp sugar, adjusted to taste depending on sweetness of vinegar 

Pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Combine dressing ingredients in a lidded container. Shake to blend.

Place lettuce in a large bowl. Toss with just enough dressing to coat leaves. Sprinkle strawberries, onions and pistachios on top.

Grilled and Chilled Veggie Pasta Salad with Basil dressing

This was a fun one! It's super simple to replicate, and easy to change up depending on what you have in your fridge and your pantry. You can use the basil dressing as a marinade, to coat lettuce for a green salad, drizzled over fish, or eaten straight out of the bowl with a spoon (yes, I have been known to do this...shhhhhh). I used orzo, but any small bite sized pasta would work just as well. 

To start, bring a large pot of salted water to boil, and add in one package of orzo. After cooking for about 7 minutes, remove pasta, rinse with cold water (I only rinse my pasta if I am going to chill it, the cold water helps the pasta not stick together in one large pasta blob, otherwise it's a no-no). When pasta reaches room temperature, remove from cold water, drain and place in bowl. Drizzle a small amount of grapeseed oil over pasta, toss, and refrigerate.

For the dressing:

Ingredients:

10 large basil leaves

2 cloves of garlic

1 Tablespoon honey

1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard

A dash of salt and pepper

1/2 cup white balsamic dressing

1/3 cup grapeseed oil

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except for oil in a blender. Blend until combined. While blender runs on low, slowly drizzle in oil, only until mixture is combined.

Reserve at least 1/2 cup of dressing, and refrigerate. Toss pasta with just enough dressing to coat, and return to fridge. Let pasta sit in fridge for a bit to absorb flavor. 

For Veggies:

Ingredients

4 assorted varieties of summer squash, thinly sliced

6 green onions

1 bunch of pencil asparagus

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

Directions:

In a large ziplock baggy add vegetables, oil, and vinegar. Sprinkle in a dash of salt and pepper. Close bag and shake to coat. Let vegetables rest for at least 30 minutes at room temp.

Heat indoor grill pan to medium. Grill veggies until barely tender, about 4-6 minutes a side. Veggies should have slight-brown grill marks, but not be falling apart. Cool. 

Cut asparagus into bite sized pieces, squash into strips, and slice the green onions.

To composes salad. Chiffonade 10 fresh basil leaves, and add to pasta. Add veggies to pasta. Add leftover salad dressing to pasta dish, 1/4 cup at a time, tasting I between additions, to make sure that salad is not overdressed. Refrigerate until serving time.

Pesto Tortellini with bacon, spring onions, and grape tomatoes

Here's a little insight into what I'll be doing over the summer: last week's box included some amazing spring onions and grape tomatoes which I incorporated into an amazing pasta dish. 

It's super simple to make, and easily interchangeable. You can use a homemade pesto, or save a step and dump in a jar of your favorite store-bought version. While I used tortellini, if you are avoiding dairy you could substitute a different type of pasta that you have on hand (I would suggest a thicker pasta like a rotelle or parpadelle). And, if you avoid meat, you could skip the bacon and start the recipe by substituting grapeseed oil in place of bacon fat. 

Ingredients:

Bacon, 8-10 pieces roughly chopped

1 carton of grape tomatoes, quartered

1 bunch of spring onions, whites only, thinly sliced

1 cup of corn, kernels off the cob, can use frozen as well

1lb fresh pasta, I prefer tortellini 

8oz of your favorite pesto sauce

Directions

In a large skillet on medium heat, brown bacon.

Remove from pan and drain, leaving a thin layer of bacon fat covering the bottom of the pan. (Here's where you would heat grapeseed oil until shimmering, if you were wanting to leave out the meat).

Add sliced spring onions to fat. Make sure you stir, as onions are thin, and you want them to slightly crisp, without burning. Add in tomatoes. Turn heat to low, and let simmer until tomatoes are soft.

While tomatoes are softening, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add in fresh tortellini and cook according to directions. Drain and set aside.

Add corn to tomato mixture. Cook for 2-4 minutes until just tender. Return bacon to pan. Add tortellini to vegetable/bacon mixture and add pesto. Stir to coat with sauce. Remove from heat and serve.

BBQ Pork Lettuce Wraps with a Cabbage/Radish Slaw

BBQ Pork. Lettuce Wrap. Cabbage/Radish Slaw. It's pretty much the perfect marriage. A little bit sweet, a little bit spicy with both a crunch and a melt-in-your mouth creaminess. It's what's for dinner.

BBQ Pork

Ingredients

3 1/2 - 4 lb pork shoulder roast

1 sweet onion, peeled and sliced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

8 cups, two boxes, of chicken stock

Your favorite sweet BBQ sauce

Sugar, salt, and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 450. Let pork rest outside the fridge for 30 minutes. Pat dry with paper towel. Season all over with sugar, salt and pepper. Pour BBQ sauce in hand (about 4 TBSP) and rub all over meat. Layer sliced onions on the bottom of a heavy, oven safe Dutch oven. Add minced garlic. Coat with 2 TBSP off BBQ sauce. Place pork roast on top of onions.

Roast for 15 minutes at 450, to seal in juices. Turn heat down to 325. Add 8 cups of chicken stock to pan. Liquid should almost cover roast. Roast for 3 1/2 hours. 

Remove from oven. Reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid, and all of the onions. Place roast in large bowl. Remove any ties, and shred meat with forks. Add cooking liquid, onions, and 1 cup BBQ sauce to bowl. Stir.

Cabbage/Radish Slaw

Ingredients

1 large head of green cabbage, core removed and shredded

6 radishes, sliced thinly

1/2 bunch of Italian parsley, leaves diced

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 TBSP sugar

In a small bowl wisk sugar into vinegar until dissolved. Stream in vegetable oil while whisking. Set aside.

In a large bowl toss shredded cabbage, radishes, and parsley. Pour dressing over and toss. Let sit in fridge for several hours.

Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

Butter lettuce, leaves removed and intact

BBQ pork

Cabbage/Radish Slaw

Directions

For each cup take one lettuce leaf, add heaping spoonful of pork, and top with slaw.

Company Carrots

This recipe has been in my family as long as I can remember.  If you've attended a Lister Family soirée or been a guest at one of the 16 Thanksgivings I've hosted, chances are you've not only tasted this dish, but have asked for the recipe by name...repeatedly (Andy, Jenn, Wendy, Marta, I'm looking at you and know I've totally slacked).

I don't know why it's called company carrots, other than it was always a dish my grandmother served for large dinner parties where inevitably, company was present.  Over the years that I've been making it, I've updated and (I'd like to think) improved upon it. I use more fresh ingredients and put it together in a slightly different way, while still maintaining the flavor and integrity of the dish that made it the beloved favorite that it remains today. 

Ingredients:

5 lbs of carrots, julienned

       (I use packaged baby carrots-- yes, I know they are not really baby carrots-- for two reasons. 1)    

       They are already peeled- and it saves extra work. 2) The length is the perfect size (which again

       saves extra cutting work) for julienning, all you have to do is slice them in half, and then in half 

       again one or two more times. And before you ask, yes... julienne is that important to the recipe. 

       It's what allows for the sauce to trickle down and flavor all the carrots, making each bite better 

       than the last.  I did it with whole carrots one time, only one time. The extra work is worth it. Trust 

       me!)

                            

3/4 cup of the liquid the carrots cooked in

1 cup Mayonnaise

3 TBSP prepared horseradish 

2 TBSP Dijon mustard

1/4 cup white onion, minced 

Salt

1-2 cups of panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup of butter, melted

1 bunch of Italian parsley, leaves removed and diced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter the inside of a 9x13 baking dish.

Bring a large stockpot of water to boil. Once boiling, add in carrots and cook until easily pierced by a fork. Approximately 10 minutes. Drain carrots, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. When carrots are dry, pour into baking dish.

In a separate bowl combine cooking liquid, mayo, onion, horseradish, mustard, and a pinch of salt. Mix with a fork until ingredients are combined. Spoon over carrots. 

Toss panko, parsley, and a pinch of salt. Sprinkle mixture gently over the top of the carrots. You aren't trying to create a thick crust, instead just a layer similar to a dessert crumble. Drizzle melted butter butter over the top.

Bake 30-45 minutes, until panko is a golden brown. 

Potatoes formally known as Ginger

We are huge on holiday food traditions around here. I love making the same things, once a year, and know that my kids have come to love and associate certain dishes with specific holidays. I incorporate dishes my grandmother made with dishes I especially love, and we end up with a smattering of holiday fav's.

This particular dish was my grandmother's, or rather her friend Ginger's. At least that's what I am assuming because my grandmother always made them, and they were always known as "Ginger's potatoes." I've 'moderned' them up a bit... making them a little bit fresher, and removing a lot of the processed ingredients...Because of this, they've become similar to an au gratin potato and could certainly be used in the place of, for any occasion that calls for them. Note that I removed some processed ingredients, but NOT the fat... this is not a diet conscious recipe.

Ingredients:

6 russet potatoes, peeled, diced, and thrust in lightly salted ice water until use
2 yellow or orange bell peppers, diced (can be omitted)
1 white onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TBS butter
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 sticks of butter, melted (reserve 1/4 cup for second use)
1 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 cups of panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Melt 1 TBS butter over medium heat. Sautee onions, garlic, and peppers until just soft. Drain potatoes, and add to pan. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine melted butter (reserving 1/4 cup for later use), shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and chicken stock. This will look like one big mess, but don't worry. Add potato/pepper mixture to bowl and combine. Pour ingredients into a 9x13 baking dish. Cover top with panko crumbs and drizzle reserved butter over the top.

Cover with tin foil and bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes. Remove tin foil and continue baking for 15 minutes, until panko is golden brown.

Soy-butter glazed carrots

When I was pregnant, I ate a lot of carrots. A. Lot. But, because I'm crazy, I tried to limit the amount of my intake due to naturally occurring nitrates in the carrots (told you... C.R.A.Z.Y). When my kids were born, I made my own baby food from scratch... for all four. However, the only food I did not make from scratch, but chose to purchase, was pureed carrots. Every book I read said that when you puree your own carrots, you are unable leach out all of the nitrates, and I certainly didn't want to risk any extra nitrate consumption, when it was otherwise avoidable. 

Regardless of how and why I limited my intake, my kids are obsessed with carrots. They like to have them, A. LOT. These days I am less concerned about naturally occurring nitrate intake, and more concerned about the realistic fear that they might turn orange. I also like carrots, but these days, I find I need to switch it up a little bit, so we (I) don't always have them the same way. 

Ingredients:

6 cups of julienned carrots

1/4 cup soy sauce

6 TBS of salted butter

1 tsp sugar

Directions:

Bring a large stock pot of salted water to boil. Once a rolling boil is achieved, blanch your carrots in the water until just tender... about 7 minutes. (Technically not a true blanch, since you are leaving them in longer than a minute... but you don't want them to take on any extra water, or become too mushy). Remove from water and drain. Empty pan of water and return to stove. On low, melt the butter and whisk in soy sauce and sugar. Return carrots to pan, and stir until sauce coats them all. Cook on low for 5 minutes. Remove and serve. 

Roasted Brussels

Brussels, Brussels, and more Brussels. We are a Brussel Sprout family. In order to satiate all of our brussel craving, it takes at least four bags of brussel sprouts per meal. And even then, someone (usually me, since everyone else has no shame in stealing them off my plate, while I'm up getting something for someone else) is never feeling like they had enough...

I do a version of them like this quite often, but today I'm going to talk about simply roasting them. It's a lot easier than you might think... the hardest thing about brussel sprouts is the time it takes to prep them. First off, the smaller the sprout, the more tender and sweet it is. To make cleaning/prepping a little easier, what I do is cut of the very bottom of the stem (this removes a little of their bitterness), and then slice them in half from top to bottom. When you do it like this, you will see that their outer leaves will just fall off, saving you the hassle of peeling the outer layer. It also allows some of the inner leaves to fall off, and/or separate from the base of the sprout-- which you want, if like me you are partial to the crispy leaves created by roasting. The crispy leaves are my favorite part about roasting brussels... it's almost like a kale chip in consistency.

A big mistake that people make when cooking brussel sprouts, is not salting them a lot. The salt helps counter the bitterness and, just like the sprout's cousin the cabbage, salt really brings out the flavor.

To roast, preheat your oven to 425. You want a higher oven temp to help crisp them up. But don't worry, they won't get too crispy, the insides will be nice and tender-- and, if you don't want them crispy, you can follow the same steps, just lower your oven to 400.

After you've prepped your brussels, toss them in extra virgin oil, salt (use a heavy hand like mentioned above), and pepper. pour them out on a parchment lined baking sheet, and roast for 20 minutes. That's it. That's all there is to it. Don't be afraid to play around with the length of cooking time, to get the level of crispy/tenderness you desire. And most of all, enjoy them!

Steakhouse Chop Salad

Sad, but true... I tend to judge a steakhouse not only by it's quality of meat, but also by the vegetables it offers. I'm a true carnivore, but I need some greens to go with it. This is my version of one of my favorites. It calls for iceberg lettuce and I am quite aware that as lettuce goes there is no redeeming health benefit, however... Iceberg allows the other flavors of the salad to shine, and makes a nod to the other great steakhouse salad... the wedge. The dressing is sweet, spicy, and tart, as are the ingredients... it's sure to be a favorite of yours, as it is of mine.

Ingredients:


Dressing
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 small garlic clove, smashed and minced
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt


Salad
1/2 head of iceberg lettuce, chopped into approximately 1/4 inch square pieces.
1 large, firm, beef steak tomato, chopped
4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
3 hearts of palm, rinsed with outer layer removed and only the most inner part chopped. You can find them in a jar, usually near artichoke hearts and olives.

1 shallot, minced

Directions

Dressing
In a small bowl, combine garlic, sugar, salt, mustard, and vinegar. Whisk together to fully incorporate ingredients. Once combined, while whisking, slowly add in the olive oil in a slow and steady stream. This will help to hold the dressing together.

Salad
In a large bowl, toss all the ingredients together. Pour dressing over all, and toss to full coat. Serve immediately.

Vegan Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

8 large tomatoes, cut in large pieces
2 red bell peppers, cored and sliced in 4 large strips
Splash of balsamic vinegar
3 Tbs vegetable oil, divided use
1 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 cup of chopped carrots
2 ribs of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 cups of vegetable stock

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss tomatoes and bell peppers in enough vegetable oil to barely coat, about 2 Tbs. Salt and pepper, and add just a splash of balsamic vinegar. Pour onto parchment paper and roast for 40 minutes.

In a large sauce pan, saute onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in 1 Tbs of vegetable oil. When soft and translucent add roasted tomatoes and peppers. Add chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low. Using an immersion blender, puree ingredients together. Serve warm.

The Twice Baked Potato: Twice Baked

I love to cook. Love. But lets face it. I have four children, six and under. The opportunity to immerse myself in the kitchen doesn't always present itself. For this reason, I have several recipes in my arsenal that allow me to 're-purpose' (if you will) my meal into something else the next day. Last night we had a baked potato bar with our steaks. I loved bars of any kid, because the kids have fun being able to create their own meals, and I love seeing them get creative in the kitchen. Tonight, I will use the ingredients of my potato bar, to make Twice Baked Potatoes- a meal on its own if accompanied by a salad or other vegetable. I simply baked more potatoes than we would need last night, and saved them for tonight.

Twice Baked Potatoes don't have to be re-purposed... they are quite delicious on their own, or accompanying a meal at any time.  Personally?  I like the play on twice baking the twice baked (say that five times fast). 

First Bake: Baked Potato Bar

Ingredients

6-10 Russet potatoes (extra for the next night)

Sea Salt

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. While heating, scrub potatoes well. Pat dry and pierce skin several times with a fork. Pour a generous amount of sea salt on to a paper plate. Using you hands rub a generous amount of olive oil on the skin of each potato, and roll potatoes in salt. 

Place on oven rack. I tend to roast potatoes in the upper 3rd of my oven, placing a jelly-roll pan that's been lined with tin foil on the bottom rack underneath potatoes to catch any olive oil drips. Bake for 45-60 minutes, testing with fork for tenderness. The fork should go in easily when done.

For the potato bar, I simply provided butter, sour cream, chopped onions, crumbled bacon, and shredded cheddar cheese in bowls for people to add to their potatoes as desired-- then added the leftovers to my twice baked potatoes tonight.

Second Bake: Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

6 Baked Potatoes (see above)

1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup of salted butter

1/2 cup of sour cream

4-6 green onions, sliced

6 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled (you can omit bacon if not handy, or if not using as a stand alone dish)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the top off of baked potatoes, leaving about 1/8 of an inch of potato flesh attached to skin, to provide some stability.

Using a spoon, scoop out potato flesh, leaving again 1/8 of an inch of potato on the inside so skin holds together. Place in bowl. Place hulled out potato skins into a baking dish, saving tops for later.

Do this for all six potatoes, and mash by hand using a potato masher or fork. Add cheese, sour cream, butter, onions, and bacon. Stir until combined. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture into potato skins, and cover with the removed top.  Return to oven and cook for 15-20 minutes more (if making immediately).

If this is a second bake - cook for 30-40 minutes until potato is hot throughout.

Tip: If you are using pre-cooked potatoes from the night before, you will need to melt the 1/4 of butter before adding to the potato flesh, as it will not be warm enough to melt the butter on it's own.

Roasted Cauliflower

I'm pretty sure Cauliflower must be one of the most underused vegetables around.  Most people think of cauliflower as the 'white broccoli' and that couldn't be further from the truth.  Cauliflower was my grandfather's favorite vegetable, and as a result it was served quite often in our family.  It's perfect by itself, simply steamed over boiling water until tender.  It's fabulous pureed, and almost tastes just like mashed potatoes when milk and butter are added. However, my most favorite way to have it? Roasted.  It's an easy side dish, and has a buttery quality to it, that makes it seem more decadent than it is.  Roasting brings out the flavor and when done right, will make it melt in your mouth.

Ingredients

2 Heads of cauliflower
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.  Cover the bottom of a jelly roll pan with tin foil. (Why? Because I'm lazy and like to avoid cleaning a pan... and it also helps you to avoid staining your pan with olive oil, keeping your pan looking clean for when you need to use it for a Texas sheet cake).

Peel leaves from the cauliflower, and cut into bite sized 'trees', place in bowl.  Using your hands toss cauliflower spears with olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper.  Spread cauliflower on tin foil, being careful not to overlap pieces.  Bake until slightly browned... about 20 minutes.

Simple Butternut Squash Soup

And now? I'm addicted to butternut squash soup.

I know I just posted a Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, I know... but it's fall, and it's yummy, and it's all I can think about.  So here, is an extremely simple variation.  It's a little bit creamier, a little bit richer, and just as tasty.

You're welcome...

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash

4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped

Olive Oil

4 cups of chicken broth

Sour cream

A handful of chives, minced 

Salt and pepper to taste

4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions

Slice off top and bottom of squash, this will help you get a better handle on the rind, which you will then peel off (this is most easily done, by using a serrated peeler, takes the skin right off).  Then, slice the squash in half, lengthwise and remove pulp and seeds.  Cut the rest of the squash in roughly 1/2 inch pieces. 

Coat the bottom of a large dutch oven with olive oil.  When heated, add squash and saute until soft, stirring frequently to prevent burning.  When squash is easily pierced with a fork, add chopped apples. Turn heat to low, and continue to saute until you are able to mash both squash and apples with a fork... 5-10 minutes. Add in 2 cups of the chicken stock, and use an immersion blender to puree squash and apples.  Continue to add in the rest of the chicken stock.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes. 

When ready to serve, add 1 TBSP of sour cream to the top of each bowl of soup. Sprinkle with 1 TBSP of chives (I use kitchen shears, and snip off chives directly onto bowl), and several pieces of bacon. 

Although I'm not sure there is ever an occasion that warrants it, you could leave out the bacon, substitute vegetable broth, and you've got a simple vegetarian dish...

Brussel Sprouts with Apples and Bacon

Brussel sprouts - if you love them, you want to eat them constantly, if you hate them, it's because you haven't had them like this. When I was growing up, Brussel Sprouts were found in the frozen food aisle, and tasted acidic and bitter. It wasn't until I made them for my children, that I realized how delicious they could be.  We eat them in some form, at least once a week.  When we are grocery shopping, at least one of my kids will point to them and exclaim loudly, "lets get Brussel Sprouts!" Undoubtedly, some random shopper will make a shocked comment about my veggie loving children - and yes, I'm not too proud to admit that, when this happens, I give myself an internal high five.

Although delicious any way you make them- this is by far, our favorite.

What you need:

3 Small Bags of fresh Brussels (about one large stalk, or 60ish individual sprouts)

1 package of nitrate free, applewood smoked bacon

4 Gala apples

Fill bottom of double boiler with water- bring to a boil. Cut the bottom off of each sprout, and halve them, peeling off the outer leaves in the process. Rinse and set in vegetable strainer. Place over boiling water and cover. Steam until sprouts are bright green, and just tender (they will finish cooking later).

In the meantime, peel, core, and dice apples. 

Dice bacon into approximately 1/4 inch squares. Add to skillet that has been heated on stove. Cook bacon until browned, being careful to stir frequently so bottom of pan doesn't burn. Add apples to bacon, and saute for 5 minutes in bacon fat.  Add steamed Brussels to pan, coating with bacon fat.  Add a pinch of salt. Saute for 5 more minutes and serve immediately.

For a slight flavor variation, stir in the leaves from 5 stalks of fresh thyme, just before serving..

Lindsay's Pea Salad

1 1/2 bags of frozen peas

8 slices of bacon (I bake mine in the oven at 400, on a broiler pan for 20 minutes) crumbled

1 large shallot, minced

(chill above ingredients overnight, and mix together)

Dressing

1/4 cup mayo

Juice of one whole lemon (I microwave it for 10 seconds, before halving, to really get a lot of juice)

1-2 Tbsp fresh Dill

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp granulated garlic

10 grinds of white pepper

Whisk together until totally combined and then spoon over peas, bacon, and shallots.