Roasted Vegetables with Buttermilk Herb Sauce

Did you have a fun and festive St. Patrick’s Day?  We didn’t do too much to celebrate.  (I have a little Irish in me, but no freckles!)   I did make a cabbage dish on Monday, leaving me with half a head of green cabbage.  I love roasting wedges of cabbage, but I wanted something a little more assertive, so I decided to make an herb dressing for them.  Add in some other roasted veggies, and I came up with this recipe for Roasted Vegetables with Buttermilk Herb Sauce.

Buttermilk is not something I grew up with, so I can’t really say much about it.  It does have a pleasantly sour taste that adds complexity to baked goods (think pancakes) and sauces.   If you add a lot of dill and pepper to this recipe, you’d have something very close to ranch dressing, but without all the chemicals and preservatives in bottled or packaged varieties.  I used parsley because that’s what I had but I’d like to try it next time with a big handful of tarragon.  If you grow your own herbs, this is the perfect canvas for trying new flavor combinations!

I served the sauce over roasted cabbage wedges and roasted golden beets.  Here is a list of other vegetables I think this would taste good on:  carrots, leeks, green beans, baked potatoes, and Brussels sprouts with bacon.  I served this with balsamic-glazed salmon last night, and you know what?  The sauce went great on the fish too!  I had a little sauce left over, so this morning I used it to make chicken salad for my husband’s lunch.  Find your own way with this delightfully green and springy sauce—start here!

Roasted Vegetables with Buttermilk Herb Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 beets
• olive oil
• 1/2 head green cabbage
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 4 green onions
• handful of fresh herbs:  use parsley, tarragon, dill, or a combination of these
• 1 clove garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• squeeze of lemon if desired (I used a big squeeze – okay, two big squeezes!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Prepare the beets for roasting:  Wash them and remove any greens from the top.  In a large rectangle of aluminum foil, place the beets, root tip facing up, in the middle.  Drizzle with a little olive oil, maybe a tablespoon total.  Wrap up the beets in the foil and place in a pie plate or Pyrex bowl.  Bake for one hour or until they give when you push on them.  Set aside to cool.
2. While the beets are baking, prepare the cabbage: Cut out the core of the cabbage, then cut the cabbage into 4 wedges.  Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle each wedge with about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil.  After the beets have been in the oven for half an hour or so, add the cabbage.  Bake for about 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake again for about ten minutes.  (The time will vary depending on your oven, your cabbage, et cetera.  You want the cabbage to get golden and a little crispy at the edges, but not too dark!)
3. While the vegetables are cooking, combine buttermilk, yogurt, green onions, herbs, and garlic in a food processor.  Taste it…need more garlic?  Go ahead!  Add salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon if you like and blend again.  Taste to make sure it’s yummy, and then put in the fridge until ready to serve.
4. Skin the beets:  once they are cool enough to handle simply slip the skins off with your fingers.  If you are using red beets, you may want to wear gloves, since they will turn your fingers pink!
5. On each plate, lay down a wedge of cabbage and a beet cut into quarters.  Serve the hot veggies with the cold buttermilk herb sauce.

Italian Tuna Wraps

I love it when a plan comes together!  I was hungry at lunchtime yesterday, so I opened my pantry.  I stared at the shelf for a good minute…eyes glazing over.  ”There’s got to be something here, some combination of flavors that will fill and delight me” I thought.  And bingo!  Inspiration struck and I made these Italian Tuna Wraps.

Okay, this is pretty much just tuna salad in a lettuce wrap.  But the addition of white beans makes it filling, contributes a creamy texture, and ups the fiber.  A handful of chopped parsley adds freshness.  This recipe serves two for lunch.  Or just do what I did, and put it in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.  It will still taste great the next day!

Italian Tuna Wraps

Ingredients:

• 1 can of tuna
• 1 can of white beans
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper
• pinch of garlic powder
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped parsley
• Boston lettuce leaves (or other lettuce leaves of choice) for wrapping

Directions:

1. Drain the can of tuna and put it in a large bowl.  Drain the beans, rinse them in a strainer and then add them to the tuna.
2. Toss the tuna mixture with the lemon juice and olive oil.  Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder; toss again.  Add parsley and toss.
3. To serve, wash and shake dry the lettuce leaves, and place a large spoonful of tuna in the lettuce.  Wrap and eat.  Couldn’t be easier!

Brussels Sprout and Kale Salad

Now you all know I love a good salad.  I will eat a salad for breakfast – in fact, I’m finishing this big bowl of Brussels Sprouts and Kale Salad right now, with my morning coffee!  Raw Brussels sprouts—for breakfast?!  Yes indeed!

I found this recipe on the Bon Appetit website, which I tweaked to my liking.  The best thing about this salad, aside from the fact that it tastes good, is that it is so hearty.  I made it last night, had some for dinner, and it’s still good this morning!  But because it’s so sturdy, you’ll want to keep the nuts, fruit, and cheese separate until you’re ready to eat it.  You can sub any dried fruit you like for the cranberries:  cherries, blueberries, golden raisins, and diced dried apricot would be delicious too.  And if you don’t have toasted almonds, substitute pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts.  Check it out, and report back with your chosen combination of flavors!

Brussels Sprouts and Kale Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch Tuscan kale (also called dinosaur or lacinato kale)
• 1/2 pound large Brussels sprouts
• 1 shallot (or 1/4 red onion)
• juice of one large lemon
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• to serve:  almonds, dried cranberries, and Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare kale:  Strip the leaf off the thick stem, then soak the leaves in cold water to remove any dirt.
2. While the kale is soaking, prepare the Brussels sprouts:  cut off the stem end and any brown or wilted leaves.  Slice in half lengthwise, and lay down flat on the cut side.  Thinly slice each sprout half to create shreds.  Place shredded sprouts in a very large bowl.
3. Dry the kale.  Grab a handful and sort of wad it up, then run your knife through the kale to shred it.  Add to the sprouts in the  bowl.
4. In a small food processor, blend together the shallot, lemon juice, olive oil, and honey.
5. Pour over the kale and mix with your hands.  I mean get in there!  Massage the dressing into the kale, squeezing it to soften everything up and get the dressing into all the sprouts and kale.
6. To serve:  Dish salad into a bowl.  Take a handful of almonds and crush with a knife or in a mortar and pestle – just crack them lightly, you don’t need to pulverize them.  Add the cracked nuts and cranberries to the salad, then shred some Parmesan to go on top.  I shaved the block of Parmesan with my vegetable peeler, but you don’t have to do that if you don’t want.  Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Mondo Coconut Shrimp

Yes, MONDO!  With four, count ‘em, FOUR different coconut products, you too can make your favorite appetizer from that restaurant you go to with your girlfriends!  Mondo Coconut Shrimp are really quite easy to make, and, a fun and tasty appetizer for a party.

You’ll want to use BIG shrimp for this recipe—the larger the better.  I found  some 13-15 count shrimp on sale, and they worked really well.  If you are using smaller shrimp, decrease your cooking time so you don’t make these guys all tough and rubbery.  I coated these in both sweetened AND unsweetened coconut.  Feel free to use one or the other if you don’t have both.  I was going to make this recipe just with the unsweetened kind, but I found a cup of sweetened coconut in my freezer and decided to use it up – and I’m glad I did!

To be  honest, these are fantastic with just some salt sprinkled on top when they come off the stove.  I took a photo of them with a lemon slice, and found out they didn’t even need that to be delicious!  So make these for friends, or as part of a funky dinner, and go MONDO!

MONDO Coconut Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• coconut oil, for frying
• salt for serving

Directions:

1. Set up a breading station.  In the first bowl, beat the 3 eggs with a tablespoon of water.  In the second bowl, pour in the coconut flour.  In the third bowl, mix together the two coconut shreds and the curry powder.
2. Start breading:  Dip a shrimp into the egg, then the coconut flour, then back into the egg, and then the coconut shreds.  Place on a plate while you complete the breading.
3. In a large non-stick frying pan, heat one heaping teaspoon of coconut oil over medium heat.  When  hot, carefully add the breaded shrimp.  You’ll probably have to do this in at least two batches.  Let them cook for about six minutes, then flip and cook again for another five minutes.  Watch your heat here – you want it medium to medium-low, so that the shrimp cooks evenly and the breading doesn’t burn before the shrimp are done.
4. Remove cooked shrimp to a plate and immediately sprinkle with kosher or sea salt.  Add another teaspoon of coconut oil  to the pan, if necessary, and cook the next batch.  Serve hot!

I texted my husband a photo of the shrimp and he said, “Oooh, looks yummy!” so I saved him some.  Unfortunately, they aren’t as nice the second time around.  They still taste great, but you can’t get them crispy on the outside a second time.  That means Carpe Diem – Gather ye rosebuds while ye may – and eat your shrimp while they’re hot.

Cabbage and Pineapple Slaw

Don’t let the monochromatic appearance fool you – this salad packs a tasty punch!  Winter veggies come together with fruit, nuts, and a light yogurt dressing in this recipe for Cabbage and Pineapple Slaw.

Cabbage is not a glamorous vegetable.  In fact you can probably buy a giant head of it today for less than a dollar.  Nutritionally it’s a powerhouse, though, and you probably could stand to eat more of what it’s offering!  Sliced very fine (or grated if you prefer), it’s a perfect foil for crunchy apples, chewy raisins, and whatever nuts you like.  I used sunflower seeds, but try almonds, hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts.  I think walnuts would make it taste even more like a healthier version of Waldorf Salad (a childhood favorite of mine.)  The star of the show, and what lifts this recipe above other coleslaws, is pineapple.  Fresh pineapple, minced, would be glorious, but I used a half a can of crushed pineapple and it was delicious.  Save the rest of the pineapple for smoothies, or to dress up cottage cheese.

Since we’re still knee-deep in winter, and Soup Month is going strong, try this salad paired with a spicy soup.  I think it would be great with Chinese Hot and Sour Soup, or any chili recipe, to quell the heat.  Let me know how you like it!

Cabbage and Pineapple Slaw

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head green cabbage, sliced very fine or grated
• 1 small apple, diced
• 1 green onion, minced
• about 1 cup crushed or minced pineapple
• 1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit (cranberries or cherries would be yummy!)
• 1/2 cup nuts or sunflower seeds
• 1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise
• 2 heaping tablespoons plain yogurt
• juice of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 clementine orange
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Directions:

1. In a very large mixing bowl (or a very large Tupperware container with a lid, my preferred method), mix together the cabbage, apple, onion, pineapple, raisins, and nuts.
2. In a small container with a lid, shake together the mayo, yogurt, lemon and orange juices, and salt.  Taste to see if you want any more salt or lemon.
3. Pour dressing over cabbage mixture and shake or toss to combine.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Nothing says Valentine’s Day like Chocolate-Covered Strawberries!  Surprise your sweetie – or sweeties, because my kids went cuckoo for these!  If you can get your hands on some nice strawberries (and I know it’s still very much winter in some places, but go with me on this), you can make these for dessert and watch their eyes light up!

My trick here is to use a teaspoon of coconut oil in the chocolate.  It keeps the chocolate from becoming brittle and adds the lightest hint of tropical flavor.  Instead of shattering when you bite into it, this chocolate holds tight to the strawberry so you can eat every last bite.  No worries if you don’t have coconut oil.  You can go without and just use the chocolate, but you will definitely want to make sure your berries are blemish-free and thoroughly dried.

Ready to make your loved ones’ hearts go pitter-pat?  Bring out these healthy and gorgeous treats tonight!

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Ingredients:

• 18 strawberries
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil

Directions:

1. Wash the strawberries and dry very carefully.  Pull up the stem leaves so they point up; otherwise you’ll get them covered in chocolate!  Make sure you don’t have any open, weepy spots on the berries, or the chocolate won’t stick.
2. In a small but deep bowl, microwave the chocolate chips and coconut oil for 30 seconds at a time, and stir after each 30 seconds.  It took three 30-second bursts to get everything melted and smooth.
3. Line a baking sheet or tray with parchment paper.  Holding onto the stem of the berry, dip in chocolate and place on the parchment paper.  When all berries are dipped, place the tray in the fridge (or freezer if you are short on time!)  Serve cold.

I had a little leftover chocolate in my bowl.  I dipped cashews and banana pieces in there to get every last drop.  My 2 year-old’s chocolate mustache was a sight to behold!

Double Mushroom Pot Roast (Crock Pot)

I feel like I should apologize for the photo. It’s very…brown.  There’s really no good way to photograph this recipe.  It’s not glamorous.  But it is the easiest and most delicious thing that has ever come out of my Crock Pot!  I present to you:  Double Mushroom Pot Roast!

The secret ingredient is dried mushrooms.  I use dried shiitake mushrooms, because they’re cheap and plentiful at my Korean market.  You can try this with whatever dried mushrooms you can find.  I use a big handful, about 6 or 7 big mushrooms.  For the second dose of mushrooms, regular button mushrooms or creminis will do the trick.  Use whatever large beef roast you like.  Chuck roast is always a favorite, and for this one, I used something called a “seven bone roast” that was also flavorful.

If you want your house to smell amazing when you walk in the door after work or errands, make this in the morning and revel at how easy and delicious it is that night.

Double Mushroom Pot Roast (Crock Pot)

Ingredients:

• 1 large beef roast, preferably chuck, about 3 pounds
• 1 onion, sliced
• handful of dried mushrooms
• 8 ounces fresh button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a very large Crock Pot, drop in the sliced onions and dried mushrooms.  Set to LOW and the timer for 8-10 hours.
2. In a large pan, brown the roast on each side.  When browned, place on top of mushrooms and onion, season with salt and pepper, and cover.
3. After 8 hours, remove the roast from the Crock Pot to a large serving platter or bowl.  In  a large pan, cook the button (or cremini) mushrooms and spoon a bit of the juice from the Crock Pot over them to keep them from sticking.
4. When the mushrooms are done, pour them over the roast.  In the same pan, pour in the contents of the Crock Pot – the juice, onions and mushrooms.  Cook for 5 minutes on medium to reduce a bit.
5. Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix to blend.  Pour this mixture into the pan and stir into the onion mixture.  Stir frequently to prevent the gravy from sticking to the pan.  When thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes, pour over the roast and serve.  Season heavily with salt and pepper.