Mexican Black Beans

 

Serves 4

From Food Lovin Family

Ingredients

• 1 16 oz can black beans
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 4 oz can diced green chiles (These can be omitted.)
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Pour oil in large skillet or saucepan. Warm over medium heat. Add diced onions and sauté until softened, or 4-5 minutes.
• Stir in garlic and cook another 30-60 seconds. Pour in black beans, diced chilis, cumin, salt and cilantro.
• Simmer for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Pickled Red Onions

Ingredients

• 2 small red onions, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt

Directions

• Put the sliced onions in a medium heatproof, nonreactive bowl. 
• Put the vinegar, orange juice, lime juice, bay leaves, sugar, coriander and 1 tablespoon kosher salt in a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook, whisking occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. 
• Pour the mixture over the red onions and set aside until cooled to room temperature. 
• Serve at room temperature or cover and refrigerate up to 4 days.

Maple Sweet Potatoes (make ahead)

Ingredients

4 lb sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 (?) Maple flavor pancake syrup

Directions

Peal potatoes, chop into small pieces, and place in boiling water until tender. 

Add butter/syrup and mash or whip. Spoon into greased 2 quart dish. Cover and refrigerate.

To reheat: bake at 375° for 25 to 30 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

 

You can make this casserole 24-48 hours ahead and cook it whenever you are ready.

To save time, I used canned cooked sweet potatoes. Simply drain the syrup and mash. The recipe calls for 3 cups of cooked sweet potatoes, or you can use 1-29 oz can of yams or cut sweet potatoes in syrup.

Unfortunately, it’s not a low-calorie dish, and despite the healthy sweet potatoes, with the butter and sugar, it’s probably not a dish you would want to eat every night, but since it’s a holiday... well, maybe you should just plan to take a long walk after dinner.

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes or 1-29 oz can yams/cut sweet potatoes in syrup, drained
• 1-cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup toasted and chopped pecans
• 1/3 stick melted butter

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, eggs, melted butter, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix well.
• Pour this mixture into a medium size casserole dish, which has been lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
• For the topping, combine, light brown sugar, flour, toasted and chopped pecans and melted butter in a small bowl and mix well.
• Sprinkle the topping evenly over the sweet potato mixture and bake uncovered for approximately 35-40 minutes or until the mixture is set.

From a blog post by Sharon Rigsby in the Tallahassee Democrat

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Smoky Tomato Rub

A recipe from Susie Middleton at Cook the Vineyard

This preparation was partly inspired by a chile-roasted cauliflower dish in Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook, Flavor. It looked so good when I first flipped through the book that I hadn’t gotten it out of my mind. And yet I knew at first glance I needed a few more pantry items to make it, so I never looked at it again, being busy. Then recently I got it in my head to roast cauliflower steaks. I had a big head of cauliflower and I wanted to know once and for all if the stems would cook through in the oven before the florets turned to mush. So I cut one-inch slabs and rubbed them with oil and smoked paprika, roasted at high heat for a bit, and then smeared them with a mixture of tomato paste, olive oil, more smoked paprika and a bit of chile paste and garlic. Then I kept roasting until everything was quite toasty.

Aside from a very yummy result, the stems did cook through, and while the rest of the cauliflower is quite tender at that point, the texture is still pleasing because the edges and tips are crisped (aka oven-fried). So on balance, after now making this again (the first time with Fly By Jing chili crisp, the second time with Asian chili-garlic paste), we give it four thumbs up. Which means we loved it. That said, I welcome you to play around with this and see how it works for you — whether you want more chile, or less roasting time. I’m afraid some of you might want less olive oil, but we would have to fight about that.

For this I used a dark nonstick baking sheet (one I don’t normally use), thinking it might induce some further crisping, but I think any heavy-duty baking sheet would do. You can serve these straight off the sheet pan or arranged with a bit of yogurt and lime on top. These would make a wonderful side for lamb.

Serves 2 to 3 as a side dish

• 1 very large head cauliflower (about 3 pounds)
• ½ cup to 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon plus ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• Kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• ½ teaspoon Asian chili-garlic paste (or 1 to 2 teaspoons chile crisp)

 DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. (If your oven tends to run cool, turn it up to 450 degrees F. Higher heat is good in this recipe.) Trim the outer leaves from the cauliflower and trim just the bottom of the stem. Set the cauliflower stem-side-down on a cutting board and slice it crosswise into slabs (or steaks) about 1-inch thick. The cauliflower on the ends will not hold together; gather and reserve that to use another night. You should have 5 or 6 good slabs of cauliflower to roast.
2. Arrange the cauliflower on a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet (nonstick if you have it). (Don’t worry if some of the steaks fall apart, just piece them back together on the sheet tray.) Using a pastry brush, dab and brush about 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or enough to cover) over the top of the slabs. Combine the 1 teaspoon smoked paprika with 1 teaspoon salt and sprinkle half of that over the tops of the cauliflower slabs. Carefully turn the slabs over, brush the new topsides with 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, and season with the remaining smoked paprika-salt mix.
3. Roast for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the tomato paste, 3 tablespoons olive oil, the chopped garlic, the balsamic vinegar, the chile paste or chile crisp, ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Stir to make a loose paste. Remove the pan from the oven and spoon or brush the tomato mixture all over the tops of the cauliflower slabs.
4. Return the pan (rotating it so what was in the back will now be in front) to the oven and cook for about another 20 minutes, until the edges and tips of the cauliflower are dark brown (some smaller pieces will be very darkened). Serve warm right away. (Thec cauliflower is still good at room temperature, too!)

Lemon Herb Couscous Salad

PREP 10mins COOK 10mins TOTAL 20mins           Makes approximately 8 (1 cup) servings

We love this light couscous salad — it doubles as a side, can be the main event or works well topped with grilled chicken or shrimp! With lots of texture from crisp cucumber, sweet tomatoes, crunchy nuts, and raisins, this is certainly one of our favorites. You can even make it ahead of time.  

YOU WILL NEED

·         1 1/2 cups dried Israeli couscous, also called pearl couscous

·         Salt and fresh ground black pepper

·         1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

·         1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

·         1/2 teaspoon honey

·         1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

·         2 to 4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice, depending on taste

·         1 medium English cucumber, diced

·         1 large tomato, diced

·         1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh herbs; use any combination of fresh parsley, cilantro, basil, dill, or mint

·         1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

·         1/4 cup raisins, we love golden raisins

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add couscous and cook until tender, 8-10 minutes. Drain.

While the couscous cooks, in a large bowl, whisk the oil, mustard, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the drained couscous to the dressing and mix well.

Stir in the cucumber, tomato, herbs, walnuts and raisins. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and/or pepper as needed. Enjoy warm or cover then refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour.

ADAM AND JOANNE'S TIPS

·         If you cannot find Israeli Couscous, you may substitute with a small pasta shape such as orzo or use regular couscous.

·         To toast walnuts, add to a dry pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently until the nuts turn golden brown and become fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes.

·         Make-Ahead: This salad is delicious when eaten straight away, but you can also make the salad, cover it and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. This way all the flavors marry and mingle, making for an even more delicious salad. If you are planning to make a day or two ahead of time, keep the tomatoes and walnuts separate until you’re ready to serve. This way they will remain crisp.

NUTRITION PER SERVING: Serving Size 1 cup / Calories 219 / Protein 5 g / Carbohydrate 29 g / Dietary Fiber 2 g / Total Sugars 4 g / Total Fat 9 g / Saturated Fat 1 g / Cholesterol 0 mg / Sodium 160 mg

Parmesan Crusted Cauliflower

https://iwashyoudry.com/parmesan-roasted-cauliflower/

Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower

These Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower Bites are the perfect quick and easy side dish, or double as a vegetarian baked chicken nugget!

Ingredients

• 7 cups cauliflower florets, cut to bite sized pieces
• 3 to 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
• Combine the cauliflower and olive oil in a large zip close bag and shake to coat.
• Add the remaining ingredients to the bag and shake until coated, pressing slightly to help the breading stick. 
• Pour onto the baking sheet and spray the tops of the cauliflower with cooking spray and bake for 20 minutes. 
• Stir the cauliflower and continue to bake an a additional 10 minutes.  Serve hot.