Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower

Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower

I was reading this post from Huffpost by Carolyn Berry and this mashed cauliflower sounded so yummy, and  would be a good substitute for the heavy mashed potatoes. I have decided to cut down on my starchy sides at dinner this year. It's not easy, when you have been eating potatoes, rice and pasta with your dinners for decades. But I agree with Carolyn Berry that this mash is so good you won't miss the mashed potatoes. 

The great thing about this mash, you can add what ever taste profile you'll like, by adding sundried tomatoes, chives, leeks, parsley, horseradish, olive oil, feta cheese or goat cheese. I have to try adding some homemade pesto to the mash next time. Basil is my favorite herb, just the smell makes my mouth water.

Ingredients:

• 1 large head cauliflower, chopped into small florets

• 1 teaspoon chicken base

• 1 cup (125 ml) water (cooking water)

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled

• ¼ cup plain greek yogurt

• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

• salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

In a medium saucepan, bring water, chicken base, cauliflower, and garlic cloves to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cover, allowing to cook for 15-20 minutes, until cauliflower is tender and easily mashed with a fork. Drain the cauliflower well, if not you'll end up with a purée. 

Add the cauliflower, garlic, yogurt and parmesan to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with your favorite protein.

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

I'm trying to cut down on the starchy sides at dinner time. I wanted to try another way to eat brussels sprouts. I  been cooking with brussels sprouts in my brussels sprouts purée, and the crispy salad on top, made me think of making a salad.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 medium brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

• 1 shallot, thinly sliced

• 1 handful hazelnuts, toasted with honey

• 1-2 blood oranges

Dijon vinaigrette:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• blood orange juice (I squeezed the core after filleting it

• salt & pepper

Directions:

Dressing: Shake the ingredients in a mason jar, season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl toss brussels sprouts and shallot together with the dressing until everything is well-coated. Plate the salad and top with blood orange fillets and hazelnuts.

Jalapeño poppers my way

Jalapeño poppers my way

Jalapeño poppers are so yummy, they are spicy, creamy and salty, all in one. It's the perfect snack for Super Bowl or just for a spicy side for your weekday dinner. If you don't like spicy food, you can make poppers with small sweet peppers like the ones I use in my oven-roasted potatoes.

My version calls for bacon, natures best spice.

Makes 8 poppers

Ingredients:

• 4 jalapeños 
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese
• 4 small mozzarella balls
• 2 scallions 
• 4-8 slices of bacon (you only need one slice on each - but I went a little overboard) 

Directions:

preheat the oven to 375℉.

Mix the cream cheese with the chopped scallions.

Cut jalapenos in half, length-wise. Remove the seeds with a spoon. If you like spicy foods, leave some of the white membrane which is where the spiciness comes from.

Fill each jalapeno half with cream cheese, top of with some mozzarella and wrap jalapeno with bacon (½ slice). Secure the bacon by sticking a wooden toothpick through the jalapeño.

Bake poppers on a rack with a pan underneath for 25-30 minutes. If, after the 25 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. Serve immediately.

Kale Salad

Kale Salad

Kale has never been one of my favorites until I tried this salad. Kale is filled with vitamins A, C and K and calcium, so it's one of the healthiest things you can eat. Curly kale is fibrous and grassy tasting and it goes well with a creamy and lemony dressing, like the one I use here. The kales call for more dressing than a regular salad like iceberg or butter salad.

The dressing I use is a old-fasioned creamy dressing called mormordressing (grandmothers dressing) made with whipping cream, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper. My mom made another version of this dressing substituting the whipping cream with a fermented milk product called ymer, kinda like the Icelandic skyr, you can get in most supermarkets.

I love this Kale salad with different curries or with a nice pork chop. 

Ingredients:

Salad:

• 1 pound kale curly red or green

• 75 grapes

• 1-2 mango

• ½ cup (50 g) almonds, chopped

Dressing:

• ½ cup (1 dl) whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Dressing:

Mix the ingredients and add lemon or sugar to taste.

Salad:

Rinse and cut the ribs out of the kale leaves, and finely chop the leaves. Discard the ribs.

Rinse the grapes and cut them in halves. 

The mangos should be ripe and soft, so you can peel of the skin without using a knife. Peel mango and dice it. 

Mix it all in a large bowl with the dressing, so all the kale is covered in a thin layer of dressing.

Chop the almonds and sprinkle them on top of the salad. 

Enjoy.

Scalloped Hasselback Potatoes

Scalloped Hasselback Potatoes

My husband send me a link to a recipe for hasselback potato gratin. It looked to be the best of both worlds, a combination of the creamy potato gratin and the crisp hasselback potatoes. 

I thought it would be perfect with a ribeye steak. I changed it up a bit, to what was in my refrigerator.

This is my version.

Serves 4-6 people.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds russet potatoes

• 6 fl oz (5 dl) heavy whipping cream

• parmesan cheese

• smoked gouda

• 2 garlic cloves

• 2 sprigs thyme leaves, leaves only

• salt

Direction:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Grate the cheeses, and set about ¼ of it a side, and mix the rest with the cream, garlic, thyme.

Peel the potatoes and slice them thinly on a mandolin. Toss the potato slices in the cream/cheese mixture, making sure to cover each slice. 

Stack the potato slices and lay them in ovenproof dish with their edges aligned vertically. Continue to fill the dish with the potatoes until the dish is filled. Pour excess cream/cheese mixture evenly over potatoes.

Cover dish with tin foil, and bake the potatoes for about 30 minutes. Take off the foil and spread the rest of the cheese on top, and continue to bake for 30 minutes.

When the potatoes is done, take the dish out of the oven and let the potatoes rest for a few minutes.