things I like

things I like

Roasted Cauliflower Soup-Ali Slagle

  • 2½ pounds cauliflower (1 very large head), cut into 1-inch florets, leaves reserved
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • Carrots
    Onion
    Celery
    Veggie stock
  • Cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  • garlic

  1. Step 1 Heat the oven to 425 degrees. On a sheet pan, toss the cauliflower florets, lleaves and onions with the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle exposed cloves with salt, then drizzle lightly with oil. Roast until the cauliflower is browned and tender and the garlic is soft and fragrant, 30 to 35 minutes.
  2. Step 2 Meanwhile, in a large pot or Dutch oven, bring 6 cups of water and veggie to a simmer over medium. Add Carrots and celery then Reserve about 1 cup cauliflower for the topping, then add the rest to the pot, including any browned bits on the sheet pan. Cover and simmer until the cauliflower is very soft, 7 to 10 minutes.
  3. Step 3 Off the heat, using an immersion blender (or working in batches in a traditional blender), purée the soup until smooth. If thick, add water to taste. If thin, simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 10 minutes to reduce slightly. (The soup will also thicken as it cools.) Season to taste with salt.
  4. Step 4 Serve the soup topped with the reserved roasted cauliflower, a drizzle of olive oil and more black pepper.

Quinoa with Broccoli, Cauliflower and Toasted Coconut Marcus Samuelsson

  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  •  Kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup small broccoli florets
  • ½ cup small cauliflower florets
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or hot red pepper flakes
  •  Freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION

  1. Toast coconut in a small, dry skillet over medium heat, stirring, until golden. Set aside.
  2. Rinse quinoa well in a fine-mesh sieve, then drain. Combine quinoa, 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup coconut milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until quinoa has absorbed the liquid, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
  3. While the quinoa cooks, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add broccoli and cauliflower and cook, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes. Then toss in carrots and cook about a minute longer.
  4. Add celery, scallions, ginger, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Place tomatoes in the skillet and mix well. Add parsley, mint, smoked paprika and Aleppo pepper and stir once or twice, until everything is heated through and combined. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Spoon quinoa into a wide bowl. Add vegetables and coconut flakes and mix well. Serve hot.

instant pot golden lentil soup, kitchen treaty.com

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
  • 2 medium stalks celery, diced 
  • 4 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper+ more to taste
  • 1 cup dry brown lentils, rinsed well in cold water
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 8 ounces (about 6 cups) baby spinach or1 pkg  frozen spinach
    parsley to taste

 
  1. Hit “Saute” button on Instant Pot. Add oil. When hot, add the onions, carrots, and celery. Saute, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, turmeric, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.
  2. Add the lentils and pour in the broth. Stir.
  3. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and make sure the release valve is in the “sealing” position. Press the “Manual” button and set the timer at 14 minutes.
  4. The Instant Pot will warm up for about 10 minutes and then start cooking. After the 12 minutes is up, quick-release by flipping the release valve to “venting” (a little bit at a time at first).
  5. Once venting is complete, remove the lid of the Instant Pot. Stir in the spinach. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if desired. Serve.
  6. Keeps in the refrigerator for about 3 days. Freezes well too!

New Orlean’s style white beans from fatfreevegan.com

  • 1 pound great northern beans dried
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 ribs celery
  • 1 small green bell pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or gluten-free tamari)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon Tabasco or to taste
  • hickory smoked salt optional, but good, to taste
  1. Soak the beans overnight. (Or do a quick-soak by putting them into the pressure cooker with enough water to cover them by three inches. Bring to high pressure and cook for 1 minute. Allow pressure to come down naturally before opening the cooker.)
  2. Drain the soaking liquid. Put the beans into the pressure cooker with 5 cups water and start heating, uncovered (use the Saute or Brown setting on electric cookers).
  3. Meanwhile, chop all vegetables fine, by hand or in a food processor. As you chop each one, add it to the pressure cooker. Add remaining ingredients except Tabasco and hickory smoked salt. Check water level in cooker and add another cup if there isn’t sufficient water to cover all ingredients by 1 inch.
  4. Seal the pressure cooker and set the timer for 12 minutes (electric) or bring to high pressure and cook for 12 minutes once pressure is reached. Remove from heat (or turn off electric cooker) and allow pressure to come down naturally.
  5. If pressure is not down in 20 minutes, quick-release the pressure. Check beans for doneness. They should be tender, and most should be starting to fall apart. If your beans are still tough, return them to high pressure for a few minutes. If beans are tender, add Tabasco and smoked salt and cook uncovered until liquid reduces and the cooking water starts to become more like a sauce.(Use the Saute or Brown function in electric cookers, on low, if possible.) Stir often to make sure they are not burning on the bottom and to incorporate any dried beans on the sides of the pot. After about 20 minutes, if the liquid still seems watery rather than creamy, you can take an immersion blender and blend part of the beans (be sure to remove bay leaves first).
  6. Add additional salt to taste. Serve over hot rice with hot sauce on the table.

Wild Rice Soup from pinchofyum.com instant pot recipe

  • 5 medium carrots, chopped
  • 5 stalks celery, chopped
  • half of an onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup uncooked wild rice (see notes)
  • 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (see notes)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

For the Stovetop:
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)

  1. Instant Pot: Put all the ingredients in the first list into the Instant Pot
    Cook for 45 minutes (manual). Release steam using the valve on top.
  2. Stovetop: When the soup is done, melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour. Let the mixture cook for a minute or two to remove the floury taste. Whisk the milk, a little bit at a time, until you have a smooth, thickened sauce. Throw a little salt in there for good measure.
  3. Together: Mix the creamy sauce with the soup in the instant pot. Voila! Mushroom Wild Rice Soup.

Autumn Crunch Pasta Salad

5 ounces fresh spinach half a 10 ounce bag1 and 1/2 cups dry small pasta
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 can (15 ounces) can mandarin oranges
1 large Granny Smith Apple
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/3 cup pecans, coarsely chopped*
Optional: Feta cheese

Dressing
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 2-4 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon each: paprika & onion powder
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
  • 1/2 tablespoon poppyseeds
  1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the dressing. In a food processor or blender (I used my small Twister jar on the Blendtec) combine the apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, sugar, (adjust — more or less to personal preference, we like a less sweet dressing and use about 2 tablespoons) paprika, and onion powder. Pulse or blend for about 10 seconds. Slowly add in the oil and pulse until just combined. Stir in the poppyseeds. IF you don’t have a blender or food processor you can combine the ingredients in a bowl or mason jar and whisk (or shake jar) vigorously.

  3. Drain the pasta once it’s cooked through and immediately toss a few tablespoons of the dressing with the pasta. This helps the pasta soak in the dressing and the flavor.
  4. Chill the dressed pasta in the fridge.
  5. Meanwhile, combine the (washed and de-stemmed) spinach with the chopped celery in a large bowl. Add in the cranberries and a can of drained mandarine oranges.
  6. If desired peel the apple (We like to leave on the peel!) and then slice into thin slices. Toss with lemon juice and then add to the salad.
  7. Pour dressing over the salad and toss. Add in the completely cooled pasta and toss with the rest of the salad.
  8. If you want to toast the pecans, place them in a single layer in a dry saucepan (don’t add anything) over medium heat. Stir constantly until the nuts are barely fragrant — just a couple of minutes. Watch carefully as the nuts are VERY easily scorched/burned.
  9. Alternatively, you can candy the pecans if desired. Check the link in the last paragraph of the blog text for how to candy pecans. *UPDATE: we’ve found we like this salad even more with the pecans coarsely chopped- you’ll get more in each bite! 🙂

  10. Top the salad with the pecans and (if desired) feta cheese.

  11. Enjoy immediately.

 

Cauliflower Salad from ketoconnect.net

1 medium cauliflower head, chopped
3 large hard boiled eggs
4 strips cooked bacon (opt.)
2 stalks celery
1/4 medium Red Onion
3 tbsp chives
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 tbsp yellow mustard
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Break the head of cauliflower up into chunks and cut into desired sized pieces.
  1. Add all the cauliflower to a microwave safe bowl and cover bowl with damp paper towels. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Re-dampen the paper towels and microwave for another 3 minutes or until cauliflower is fork tender.
  2. Dice the bacon, hard boiled eggs, celery, red onion and chives and add it to the bowl of cauliflower.
  3. In a separate bowl combine the mayo, mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt and black pepper and then pour it over the cauliflower mixture.
  4. Combine the entire mixture thoroughly with a spoon and add any additional salt and pepper as you see necessary.
  5. Store in a sealed container in the fridge up to one week. Serve cold and enjoy!

Tuna Pâté from food & wine

  • two 10-ounce cans solid albacore tuna packed in olive oil, drained
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • 6 anchovy fillets, drained
  • 3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons minced capers
  • Kosher salt
  • Pepper
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped celery rib
  • Toast or crackers, for servingLine a 7 1/2-by-3 1/2-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving plenty of overhang. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the tuna, butter, cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, cayenne, anchovies and the 3 tablespoons of capers. Season with salt and pepper and process until smooth. Scrape the puree into the loaf pan and smooth the top. Cover with the overhanging pieces of plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 8 hours or overnight.In a small bowl, stir the 2 tablespoons of minced capers with the parsley and celery and set aside. Unwrap and unmold the pate; onto a serving dish and sprinkle the parsley mixture on top. Serve chilled with toast or crackers.

 

Celery Soup from bon appetite

  • 1 head celery, celery-soup-940x560stalks chopped, leaves reserved
  • 1 large waxy potato, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 cups low-sodium veggie broth
  • ¼ cup fresh dill
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) and olive oil (for serving)
  • Combine celery, potato, onion, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat; season with kosher salt. Cook, stirring, until onion is tender, 8–10 minutes. Add broth; simmer until potatoes are tender, 8–10 minutes. Purée in a blender with dill; strain. Stir in cream. Serve soup topped with celery leaves, sea salt, and oil.