Mashed Cauliflower

I've tricked at least a dozen people with this recipe thinking it's potatoes, most of them admitting they don't like cauliflower. This is one of my husband's favorites. If you are carb sensitive like me, then this is the perfect substitute for starchy side dishes like potatoes and pasta. Hey, I never said it was low fat, just low carb okay?!

1 head cauliflower, cut up into small pieces
4-5 Tablespoons butter
2-3 Tablespoons sour cream
1 Tablespoons cream cheese
Kosher Salt and Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Steam or boil cauliflower florets until very soft (when touched with a fork, it falls apart). If boiling, salt the water. Strain if boiled. Remove saucepan from heat and return cauliflower to warm saucepan. Put butter, sour cream, cream cheese, and about 1-2 tsp kosher salt into saucepan with cauliflower and mash with a potato masher until well mixed and smooth (start out with smaller quantities of the ingredients first) Taste puree, make any adjustments needed. I usually end up adding a little more butter, a little more salt and just a tad more sour cream. That's what my tastebuds fancy. It seems to work well for the general population...

Strawberry and Grapefruit Salad with Vanilla Dressing

These colors are so pretty together and they taste really good too. Strawberries and Grapefruits are both a little tart so this sweet dressing goes well with them. I made this as a side to my Monte Cristos. It was delicious.

1 Grapefruit, cut into slices and seeds and rind cut out
10 ounces (or so, you can eyeball it) strawberries, fresh or thawed

Mix fruit together in large bowl. Then drizzle with Vanilla Dressing (recipe follows).

Vanilla Dressing
adapted from Alton Brown's recipe

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup mayo (sounds weird, but it's good)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp honey
2 tsp powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
pinch of fresh cracked pepper

Combine all ingredients. Let rest for one hour in fridge before serving. Depending on what fruit you are using, you might want to adjust the acidity (lemon juice) and the sweetness (honey and powdered sugar) to suit your tastes (the strawberries and grapefruit are both acidic and a little tart so I added less lemon juice and more sweetness).

Tempura Monte Cristos

It was my Mom's Birthday and I know that one of her favorite things are Monte Cristo sandwiches. They are kind of a novelty and I've only seen a handful of restaurants that offer them. They are usually served as a brunch item. I decided that would be the perfect thing I could make for her on her birthday and it was! The whole family enjoyed them (including a 12 year old). Of course, when you see how they're made, it's no surprise they were a hit. (They're super easy too. Shh. Don't tell.)

Monte Cristo

• 2 slices sweet Hawaiian bread per sandwich
• 2-3 slices Honey roasted Ham per sandwich
• 2-3 slices Smoked turkey per sandwich
• 1 slice Gouda per sandwich(or Swiss which is the traditional way)
• 1 slice American Cheese per sandwich(also not traditional)
• Mayonnaise
• Blackberry Jelly(or Raspberry, traditionally speaking)
• Store bought Tempura Mix(found in the International section)
• Vegetable Oil(for frying)

Let bread sit out a little while so that it hardens a little bit, or you can toast it a little. Assemble the Sandwich by spreading Mayo on one slice and Jelly on the other slice. The layering will look like this:
bread-turkey-ham-cheese-cheese-ham-turkey-bread

Assemble sandwiches and then cut the crusts off to help seal the sandwich. Then, wrap each sandwich individually in plastic wrap and put in fridge for 30 minutes up to 6 hours. When ready to cook, take sandwiches out of the fridge and cut in half lengthwise. Prepare tempura batter as directed on the box and dip each half into mixture coating all sides of the sandwich. Put in oil and fry on both sides until the batter is a light golden color. Place on paper towel to dry. Sprinkle with powdered sugar immediately and serve. For condiments, offer jelly or maple syrup. On the side, I served it with a Strawberry and Grapefruit Salad with Vanilla Dressing. Oh Yeah.

Saganaki, Greek Turkey Meatballs and Zucchini with Tzatziki Sauce

I love Greek food and I decided I would do a Greek themed meal that started with Saganaki, which is delicious cheese that is traditionally set to flame and drizzled with fresh squeezed lemon juice right before it is served, and if you go to a Greek restaurant and order this appetizer, they light it up right at your table.

Saganaki:
Kasseri Cheese (about 1/2 inch thick, you might have to cut the block down)
2 TB butter per lb of cheese, melted
1/2 of a lemon

Turn on the Broiler. Place the cheese into a pie dish or Corningware and pour melted butter ontop. Put into broiler until the cheese gets toasted and bubbly ontop. Take cheese out of broiler, squeeze lemon ontop and yell Opa! Serve immediately with bread or with no bread. It's good however you have it!

When we were first married, I started experimenting and these meatballs are one of he products of my experimentation. The meatballs are really simple and healthy and you can add different things to have them take on a different theme. I make these all the time and I will put in parentheses the things I added to make them more Greek. (They will feed about 4 people).

For the Meatballs:
2 lbs ground turkey
1 Tb Montreal Steak Seasoning ( or half Tb Montreal and half Tb Greek Seasoning)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
4 small shallots, minced
1 Tb fresh herbs ( I used Dill for Greek, but I have used Cilantro, Parsley, Tarragon, Thyme,etc)
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese or Bread Crumbs
1 egg
2 tsp Worstershire Sauce or Soy Sauce
Splash of Balsamic Vinegar (or Lemon Juice)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands until all the ingredients are incorporated thoughout the meat. Roll into small balls. Heat a large frying pan with a small amount of olive oil. Add meatballs to hot oil and cook until the meatball browns, turn and brown on all sides. Make sure they are cooked through.

Tzatziki Sauce
(adapted from Georgette's recipe here)

2 cucumbers,peeled, seeded and diced
2 garlic cloves
2 1/2-3 cups Greek Yogurt (you can find this in any Trader Joe's type health store)
1-2 Tb Fresh Dill, chopped
Juice of one lemon (3 Tb)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Cut up the cucumbers and put them in a strainer and add 1 Tb Kosher salt to the cucumbers. Let the cucumbers rest for 20 minutes (this process draws out the moisture from the cucumbers, this is a crucial step and sets this recipe apart and makes it super good). When the cucumbers are done resting, add cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, dill, and pepper to a food processor and mix until all the ingredients are well blended. Add cucumber mixture to yogurt and mix. Rest mixture in fridge for 2 hours so the flavors can mix (another crucial step).

For the Greek Zucchini and Squash:

Turn on Broiler
Cut up Zucchini and Squash and coat in olive oil. Add Kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and Greek Seasoning. Broil in oven until transparent. About 5 minutes. Splash some fresh lemon juice ontop when done.

Goat Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Stuffed Chicken

I have never made a stuffed chicken before and when I saw this recipe along with this recipe I was inspired to make a few adjustments and make it mine. In this picture you can see the melted goat cheese and pesto oozing out of the side. Yum!! It was easy but it looks elegant and difficult. The fun thing about it is experimenting with a ton of different fillings. Once you have the technique down, the possibilities are endless (and the technique is not that hard to get down). The filling that sounded good to me this time around was a Sun Dried Tomato Pesto and Goat Cheese combination (if these ingredients sound too exotic for you or your children, my 8 year old sister who can be picky LOVED it.) For the best results, I highly recommend making your own pesto. The store bought options for Sun Dried Tomato Pesto just aren't that good (in my opinion) unless they are super expensive.

Ready, Set, Pesto!

1 (8.5 ounces) jar Sun Dried Tomatoes packed in Olive Oil
2 garlic cloves
Salt and fresh cracked pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, packed in
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, packed in
Splash of Lemon Juice
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Blend all ingredients together except the Parmesan Cheese in a food processor until tomatoes are finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in Parmesan.

Now for the dish:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6-8 ounces goat cheese (Chevre is the brand I used and I used about 7 oz)
1 Tb dried basil
6 ounces sun dried tomato pesto
1 egg
Parmesan cheese for breading (or bread crumbs if you like) about 3/4 cups
Fresh Basil for Garnish
8 toothpicks
Baking dish, greased

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the chicken breasts one by one inbetween wax paper or a freezer ziplock bag and pound with a meat mallet until 1/4 inch thick.

Combine pesto, goat cheese and dried basil in a food processor just until the cheese is more evenly distributed throughout mixture, but not completely incorporated.

Lay out one of the chicken breasts and fill with 1/4 Pesto mixture and roll up starting with the smallest side to the largest side, tucking in any parts of the chicken that you need to. Secure with 2 toothpicks.

Crack an egg into a large bowl, pour 3/4 cup parmesan cheese into large plate. Dip the chicken into egg mixture to coat outside, then dip the chicken into Parmesan to coat. Place chicken into baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.

Make sure the chicken is spaced out in baking dish (not touching the other chicken) and bake for 40-60 minutes (mine took 55). Watch for the chicken to brown on the outside and be firm to the touch. Remove chicken from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with some fresh basil. The chicken is actually quite filling so you want to keep your side dish light, like some grilled veggies. Enjoy!

Here is a hint for printing the recipes since we don't have one of those fancy options for printing the recipe only. Copy (right click on the mouse to find it) the whole recipe and open up a new document in Word (or whatever software you have) and Paste it onto the page and then print.

Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta

My new favorite appetizer...Chimichurri is an Argentine sauce and it is unbelievably delicious.  I am pretty sure I will be bringing this to every dinner party I ever attend again.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
• ¾ tsp. salt
• dash of red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp. dried oregano
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and cubed
• 6 ½-inch-thick slices whole-grain or ciabatta bread, toasted

Directions:

Combine lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes, oregano, and black pepper in small bowl. Whisk in oil, then stir in cilantro and parsley. Fold in avocado cubes. Spoon avocado mixture onto toast slices, and serve.