Garlic, Mushroom, Cauliflower, and Veggie Sausage Bake

Ever have one of those days where you look into the fridge and say OMG I totally forgot about X, Y, or Z - well today was one of those days. Last week I bought a head of cauliflower with the intention of making buffalo cauliflower tacos. I also purchased mushrooms for - not sure what the reason was but they looked delicious. 

I did a quick Pinterest ingredient search and found a delicious cauliflower, mushroom, and garlic dish. I added some veggie sausage and a green salad and - voila dinner. 

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (or ghee)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 pound (500 g) mushrooms, cleaned
• 2 field roast veggies sausages - chopped
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium vegetable stock
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large pan or skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion until softened (about 3 minutes).

2. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 4-5 minutes on all sides. Make sure the mushrooms render as much moisture as possible. Brown them a little more if necessary, to avoid the side dish becoming soggy at the end. Keep an eye on it so they don’t burn either ;)

3. Once mushrooms are well browned, add cauliflower florets. Cook until golden and crispy on the edges, about 10 - 12 minutes. Veggies must be well-browned.

4. Pour in the vegetable stock and cook for 2 minutes, to reduce the sauce slightly.

5. Add thyme, 1 tablespoon of parsley, garlic, and veggie sausage. Cook the mushrooms and cauliflower until the veggie sausage is warm. Season generously with salt and pepper, sprinkle with remaining parsley, and serve.

Thanks for stopping by!

Root Vegetable Biryani

Still cold, still slippery, and still winter. January is my least favorite month mainly because it’s too early to get my vegetable seeds started, the health club is packed with all the New Year’s resolution people (I know I know they’ll be gone in a few weeks), and the Master Gardener season is quiet. Tomorrow, however, things should pick up - I get to meet the interns I will be mentoring this year - I’m excited. 

I’ve also been considering converting some of Dan’s favorite Indian dishes - like Chicken Biryani - and making them vegetarian. Last night I pulled out the recipe that his mom uses and decided it was a good time to experiment. I chopped, sliced, blitzed, sautéed, and baked until it was done. 

One thing to note - root vegetables i.e. carrots, turnips, etc hold up and are better in this dish than zucchini or eggplant so keep that in mind when choosing your vegetables. I originally thought I had too many vegetables, but 2 cups of raw rice make about 6 cups cooked so it was fine. We served it with a couple chutneys (coconut and tomato) that we had on hand - it was delicious and it looks like we’ll be having leftovers for a few days and according to Dan - that is great.

Vegetables:

4 medium to large carrots - peeled and cut into chunks

2 onions - chopped

4 small turnips - peeled and chopped

1 large delicata squash - cut in half, seeds removed, and then sliced

1 small head of broccoli - break into florets

1/2 head cauliflower - break into florets

Mix vegetables in a large bowl with the following:

olive oil 

3T coriander powder

2T cumin powder

1tsp turmeric 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 - 2 tsp red pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

In a blender add:

6 cloves garlic

2 large jalapeno peppers

1/2 cup water

1-inch chunk of grated ginger

Pour 1/2 of the blender mixture over the veggies and roast 400-degree oven for 25 minutes.

Rice

2 cups brown basmati rice washed and drained.  

2 cinnamon sticks

4 cloves

4 cardamom pods

2t salt

1t turmeric

1/2 cup oil

Fry rice in 1/2 cup of oil until kernels are opaque.  Put rice in a roaster or cake pan.  

Fry 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, and 4 cardamom pods.  Add 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp turmeric, and the blender mixture (garlic/jalapeño/ginger mixture).

Add the fried spices and blender mixture to the rice plus 4 cups of water. Cover and bake rice for 1/2 hour at 350 - stir once halfway through. 

Remove rice from the oven and add the roasted vegetables to the rice - bake another 30 - 40 minutes (covered) until vegetables are tender. If the rice is still firm, add more liquid and bake for an additional 20 - 30 minutes. 

Toppings:

Fry 1 cup raisins in butter until puffed (or if preferred soak raisins in warm water for 1/2 hour until puffed and then fry in less butter just to coat). Add 1 cup of cashews and mix.

Serve with tomato-yogurt raita.

1-pint yogurt (unflavored) - can use non-dairy i.e. almond, coconut, or oat

1/2 tsp salt

1 T sugar

Chop 1 large tomato, and add onion to taste.  Mix all together and add fresh cilantro to taste

2023 Book Update - I'm an avid reader as well as a cook. This year I will be adding a short shout-out to my post about what I've been reading. If you've read the book or have book suggestions, please put them in the comments below. 

For those of you science fiction fans - I recently finished Cetaganda - book 9 in the Vorkosigan Saga written by Lois McMasters Bujold - if you are a fan it’s a must-read. The book was written back in 1996 so it’s likely you’ve read it if you are a fan.

Fabulous Focaccia

It’s January 16th and already I am so so over Minnesota weather - complete with ice dams, rain, snow, and ice, you name it we’ve had it. And if the weather is not enough, the refrigerator in our bar area died - and I didn’t find it until things had gone south. I had to toss all of my pesto, some apple butter, and part of this year's tomato sauce - ugh. The good news is the new fridge will be here on Monday.

On Sunday we had Dan’s dad and a friend over for dinner. I’ll start by saying my father-in-law is the easiest person to have over for dinner; he’ll eat pretty much anything, never complains, and is always complimentary and grateful - you can’t ask for an easier guest. 

We had some turkey in the freezer leftover from Christmas dinner and some butternut squash to go with it. I added a salad, some onion gravy, and garlic, rosemary, and thyme focaccia. 

I found a recipe that mixed everything together in a single bowl (as opposed to blooming the yeast/sugar first) and I decided to give it a try. After an hour of rising, which was what the recipe called for, it was still sad and lonely. I decided to turn on the oven and let it rise on top and after an hour it was ready to bake. I topped it with minced garlic and fresh rosemary and thyme from my indoor garden and baked it for about 35 minutes. 

As you can see I tried a little corner before Dan took the photo - it smelled so good, I couldn't help myself!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, to drizzle onto the pan

Dough:

1 1/2 cups warm water

3T olive oil

1 1/4 t salt

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon instant yeast or active dry yeast

Toppings:

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes or kosher salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped oregano

Instructions:

Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a 9" x 13" pan.

Combine all of the Dough ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.

Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise in a warm place for at least 1.5 hours.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger. 

Drizzle dough with olive oil and add toppings. 

Bake @ 375 for approximately 30 - 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn bread out on a rack and cut it into pieces - serve warm or at room temperature. 

Cauliflower Parmesan and a New Year!

Happy New Year and welcome to my first post of 2023! The holidays were wonderful, we connected with friends and both families and ate way too much food. Dan and I hosted Christmas this year for 25+ people and it was great to be back together again - it’s been too long. 

We also celebrated with my family at my nephew Corey and his wife Orlean’s house - great food, great company, and lots of laughs. You know you’ve hit the gift nail on the head when your grand-niece screams the name of the book title you got her, it feels good to get it right. 

This winter we are staying in the frozen tundra and dealing with ice dams, snow (lots of snow to be precise), and cold. We are planning another European cruise with our friends Ann and Warren in May and looking forward to getting back out into the world and seeing new things. 

I’ll be mentoring new Master Gardeners, working in community gardens, and volunteering at farmers' markets. If things come together, I’ll have my own Community Garden this year, participate in a garden productivity project, and support the Growing Connections and Master Gardener Learning tour efforts. There are so many things to get involved with - it’s hard to do all of the things that sound interesting. 

I’ve been looking for new recipes and things to cook and I hope to up my blogging this year. While I’ve added fish back into my diet, we continue to have a plant-based diet. 

I found this recipe on the Eatwell 101 website https://www.eatwell101.com/cauliflower-parmesan-recipe. I served it with a green salad and we both agreed it is something we’ll have often. One piece of advice is to use freshly grated parmesan - it makes a huge difference

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower trimmed and sliced into 1-inch steaks

2 T olive oil

1/2 tsp kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 t Italia seasoning

1 c tomato sauce (I used the sauce from our 2022 garden harvest).

1/4 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese - divided

1 c vegan mozzarella cheese

1 T chopped basil

1/2 t red pepper flakes

Instructions:

1. To make the cauliflower parmesan steaks: Preheat your oven to 425°F (225ºC). Arrange cauliflower slices in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and brush both sides with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Roast the cauliflower steaks, flipping once, until cauliflower is tender and golden, about 30-35 minutes. Remove the cauliflower from the oven and top each cauliflower steak with marinara sauce. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and half of Parmesan.

3. Switch your oven to broil mode and broil cauliflower steaks until the cheese is bubbly and golden for about 3 minutes. Serve the roasted cauliflower parmesan sprinkled with remaining Parmesan, chopped basil leaves, and red pepper flakes. 

Enjoy and thanks for stopping by ❤️