Monday, April 27, 2015

Spring adventures

We've had some pretty fun spring break adventures - a week and a half's worth.  If you know me at all, you know I took about 400 pictures during that week and a half and it's hard to sort through them sometimes, but these are a couple of my favorite shots.











Back before spring break and our trips, there was Easter.  My mom and dad made a delicious Easter supper and one of the things we enjoyed was this cauliflower hummus.  I know it sounds a little strange but the curry powder goes great with the traditional tahini flavor and the texture was awesome for dipping veggies or crackers.  


Roasted Cauliflower Hummus (yields 1.5 cups)
from Cooking Light, Apr 2015

1 cup cauliflower florets
2 tsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. curry powder
2 T tahini
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 15oz can unsalted chickpeas, drained
3 T water
1 garlic clove
2 T chopped, pitted green olives
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Toss cauliflower with 2 tsp. olive oil, curry powder, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.  Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet.  Bake at 450 for 20 minutes or until tender, stirring after 10 minutes.

In a food processor, combine tahini, lemon juice, 1 T olive oil,  chickpeas, water, and garlic clove.  Process until smooth.  Add cauliflower to the food processor, reserving 1 T of the cauliflower.  Process until smooth.  Taste - add more salt and pepper if desired.

Top hummus with reserved 1 T cauliflower and chopped olives.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Kale and Cabbage Slaw


From his initial dislike of kale salads, my husband has done a 180 degree turn.  We both especially like the Kale Dianne Salad at Green Street and the Kale Salad at Seco when we're in Pasadena.  I've tried a few other combinations and came across this slaw recipe on Pinterest.  Kale seemed a natural fit for coleslaw and I had a container of buttermilk hanging around that I needed to use.  I initially added way too much dressing and my husband thought that the kale to cabbage ratio needed to be revised (I kept the original amounts below but you could get away with half and half).  We ate it with the chicken in the last post so you can see the salad on that photo!

Cabbage and Kale Slaw
from Simply Recipes

1 T minced shallots
2 tsp. dijon mustard
2 T white wine vinegar
6 T buttermilk
2/3 c. olive oil
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch of pepper

4 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 cup, packed, thinly sliced kale (center stems removed before slicing)

Start by toasting the caraway seeds in a pan on medium heat.  Do not brown, just heat until they are fragrant.  Then, use a herb grinder or mortar and pestle to grind them.

Put the shallots, mustard, vinegar, buttermilk and olive oil in a jar and shake really well.  Whisk in caraway, salt and pepper.

Combine the salad ingredients (cabbage, onion, kale) and drizzle with the dressing.  You won't use all the dressing.  Let the salad sit for about 15 minutes before serving.  Add more dressing if needed or desired.

Monday, April 6, 2015

World's Best


I'm a sucker for recipes like this that claim to be the "world's best chicken" - a few ingredients added to chicken breasts and *presto*!  I've made several versions and this was the latest (from Pinterest - where else?).  It wasn't bad - I don't think it's the "world's best" and I'd probably go back to the honey mustard chicken that we're sort of addicted to but it was a nice change.  The chicken breasts were juicy and flavorful and the kiddos ate it.

The "World's Best Chicken"
original recipe here

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 T red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
fresh rosemary

In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, syrup, vinegar, salt and pepper until smooth.  Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray or olive oil and place the chicken breasts in it.  Dump the sauce over the top, coating each piece of chicken.  Bake for 30-40 minutes at 375 degrees.  Serve with chopped rosemary on top.