Want a delicious side dish that is mashed potato-like but not loaded with as many carbs and calories? Then try this mashed cauliflower with parmesan cheese.
Ingredients
2heads cauliflower, riced
½cupgrated parmesan
¼cupbutter, divided
3tablespoonschopped chives
Directions
Boil until tender. Add cauliflower and water and bring to a boil, cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes.
Reserve the cooking liquid, then drain. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Drain the cauliflower.
Mash or purée. Place the drained cauliflower and reserved cooking liquid back in the pot. Mash using an immersion blender to desired consistency.
Mix in half butter and salt to taste. Plate a pat of butter on top. Serve hot.
Add in the parmesan (mention using rind), half of butter, and mix thoroughly. Garnish with chives. Serve hot.
Roasted root veggies are such a treat. In this video, I show you how to roasted beets and radishes and top it all off with a delicious garlic dill yogurt sauce. I think you will love this vegetarian side dish as much as I do.
Ingredients
Roasted Roots
1bunch beets
2tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1bunch radishes
1tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Yogurt Sauce
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
3garlic cloves, minced
2tablespoons chopped dill
Pinch of sea salt
Cracked black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Move the rack to the middle position.
Remove the greens from the beets and the radishes and scrub them clean.
Quarter the beets, cutting them into equal size pieces. Add them to a mixing bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix until fully coated.
Transfer the beets to a baking sheet and bake them for 20 minutes.
While the beets are baking, prepare the radishes. Add them to the mixing bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix to fully coat.
After the beets have roasted for 20 minutes, add the radishes to the baking sheet. Bake for another 15 minutes, or until the radishes are thoroughly roasted.
While the roots are a roasting, make the yogurt sauce.
Add the Greek yogurt, minced garlic, and chopped dill to a measuring cup and whisk to combine. Salt and pepper to taste. It is easy to over salt yogurt add so keep that in mind.
Remove the beets and radishes from the oven and plate them on a serving tray. Drizzle the yogurt sauce over them. Then top them off with fresh sprigs of dill and cracked black pepper.
Radishes like you have never had them! Roasted and delicious with a creamy pesto made from the radish greens. This side dish is yummy, vegan, and fights food waste!
Ingredients
Roasted Radishes
2bunches of radishes
2tablespoonsolive oil
½teaspoonsea salt
¼teaspooncracked black pepper
Radish Green Pesto
2garlic cloves
½cupradish greens
⅓cupwalnuts
½cupolive oil
¼teaspoonsea salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Move the rack to the middle position.
Cut the radishes into equal-sized pieces. If they’re particularly large radishes, cut them into quarters. Otherwise, simply cut them into halves. The goal is to have pieces that are of equal volume.
Add the radishes to a mixing bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss the radishes until they are fully coated and seasoned.
Place the radishes on a baking sheet and face down if you want them to brown nicely.
If the radishes are small, roast them for 15 minutes and check to see if they’re done. If they’re larger, it may take up to 30 minutes. Check on them every 10.
While the radishes are roasting, let’s make the pesto!
Add the garlic, radish greens, walnuts, sea salt, and olive oil to a food processor and puree until the ingredients are fully chopped and form a nice even sauce.
Once the radishes are done roasting, top with the pesto and enjoy!
Yogurt dishes don’t always need to be sweet, and this recipe is proof. Lovely Easter radishes roasted to perfection and then layered over a whipped goat cheese and Greek yogurt mixture that has a bit of lemon zest to brighten it up. I think you’re going to love it.
Ingredients
Roasted Radishes
1bunch of Easter radishes
1tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Yogurt Sauce
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
2ounces goat cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Move the rack to the middle position.
Cut the radishes into equal-sized pieces. If they’re particularly large radishes, cut them into quarters. Otherwise, simply cut them into halves. The goal is to have pieces that are of equal volume.
Add the radishes to a mixing bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss the radishes until they are fully coated and seasoned.
Place the radishes on a baking sheet and face down if you want them to brown nicely.
If the radishes are small, roast them for 15 minutes and check to see if they’re done. If they’re larger, it may take up to 30 minutes.
Whisk together yogurt, goat cheese, and lemon rind until smooth. Spread on a serving platter.
Top with the roasted radishes and more salt and pepper if desired.
Get your Thanksgiving on with this reimagined version of Sweet Potato Casserole. I create hasselback sweet potatoes that are baked in a bourbon-brown sugar sauce and then topped off with toasted marshmallow creme and a pecan crumble. Unlike the casserole recipe, this one is 100% vegetarian.
Ingredients
Pecan crumble:
¼cupflour
¼cuppacked brown sugar
½teaspooncinnamon
4tablespoonssoftened butter
⅓cupchopped pecans
Bourbon sweet potatoes:
6medium sweet potatoes
1cupveggie broth
¼cupbourbon
½cuppacked brown sugar
½teaspoonsea salt
7ouncesmarshmallow fluff
¼teaspoonground black pepper
2tablespoonsbutter, melted
Directions
We’re going to start off making the pecan crumble by adding 1/4 cup flour into a mixing bowl.
Add in 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 cup brown sugar, then mix it all together.
Add in 4 tablespoons of butter and work it into the mixture.
Add in the 1/3 cup chopped pecans and mix again.
Lay out the mixture on a baking sheet. NOTE: I recommend using parchment paper as it will make it easier to break apart once cooked.
Bake the mixture at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
Set aside to cool.
Now to prepare the sweet potatoes. Take each of the 6 sweet potatoes and cut it crosswise, between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch thickness between slices. Do not cut all the way down because we want to leave the bottom part on. It should sort of look like an accordion.
Put the sliced sweet potatoes in a lasagna pan.
Now to make the bourbon sauce. Start off with 1 cup vegetable broth.
Mix in 1/4 cup bourbon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 cup brown sugar.
Whisk it all together until it’s combined.
Add the sauce to the pan with the sweet potatoes.
Brush each sweet potato with the 2 tablespoons melted butter. Make sure to be generous, as you want to get it between all the slices of the sweet potatoes.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake the sweet potatoes at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes, until they are fork-tender.
Remove from oven, uncover. Take 7 ounces of marshmallow fluff and top off the sweet potatoes with it, dividing it between all the potatoes. For extra credit, you can toast the marshmallow fluff with a cooking torch.
If you are looking for a healthy and delicious side dish, check out these delicious braised radishes and greens. Easy to make and hella tasty. This vegetarian recipe can easily be made vegan.
Ingredients
1 ½lbsCA Grown Radishes, about 3 bunches
2cupsCA Grown radish greens
2cloves CA Grown garlic, minced
1CA Grown shallot, diced
2tablespoonsbutter, unsalted
1cupvegetable broth, low sodium
½teaspoonsea salt
Directions
In a shallow dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter over a medium-low heat.
Add 1 diced shallot and saute until softened. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and saute for another minute.
Add in 1½ pounds trimmed radishes (but save the greens) and mix until well coated in the butter sauce. Increase heat to medium-high and saute radishes until they just begin to soften, about 2 minutes.
Add ½ teaspoon sea salt and 1 cup veggie broth, bring to a simmer and cover.
If you don’t have a shallow dutch oven, cut a piece of parchment paper to cover the radishes with. This is a cartouche — a parchment paper lid — but like I said, a shallow dutch will do. This reduces the amount of evaporation that occurs during braising which is key to the technique.
Cook radishes, stirring once or twice, for about 12 minutes until fork tender.
Add in the chopped radish greens, cover, and turn off the heat. Cook until the greens just wilt.
This dish can easily be made vegan. Replace the butter with oil.
Fennel is one of those herbs that, once you discover it, you wonder where it’s been all your life. Fresh, crisp and clean, the fennel plant rally has SO much to offer. First off, this stuff reduces flatulence. I mean…that alone is good considering how Mexican food and I are BFFs.
I had been wanting to do a braising sauce with yogurt for a while. Well, you know what, you cannot. For one, cooking yogurt over 120 degrees kills all the good bacteria; nobody wants that. Also, the stuff just burns and curdles. So I decided to do a white wine sauce and mix yogurt into it. I used another Top Ten wine from Whole Foods Market because, well, they are cheap and tasty!
You can use any wine, really. You just need one that is dry or off-dry, with grassy notes and some good acidity and minerality to it. It almost needs some salt on the palette.
Ingredients
2tablespoons butter
1tablespoon olive oil
2fennel bulbs
1cup Donnafugata’s Anthilia
3cloves of garlic, peeled
½teaspoon salt
5fresh sprigs of thyme
lemon peel
½cup Greek yogurt
1tablespoon flour
Directions
Clean and quarter the two fennel bulbs. You can see my video on How to Cut Fennel for doing this. By the way, did you know that fennel is also rich in Vitamin C and fiber. And like I said, it also helps you stop farting. Yup, that. So let the dutch oven jokes begin! The organic compound that gives fennel its flavor is called anethole. This compound actually helps reduce flatulence. So you can make a tea with fennel or even the seeds. It’s very good for digestive health.
Using the dutch oven (heh), melt 1 tablespoon of butter over a medium-high heat and then add in the 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Add the quartered fennel, cooking it until it’s browned on each side. This should take about 5 minutes total.
Add 1 cup of wine, 3 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 sprigs of thyme and a lemon peel. Bring the mix to a boil and then turn off the heat.
Cover the fennel with parchment and place the lid on the dutch oven (tee hee!). Bake it at 375 degrees F for about 30 minutes, until fennel is tender.
Remove the fennel and all the other bits from the pot, leaving just the braising sauce. Place the fennel in an oven-safe dish, putting it back in the oven. You want the oven to be off but it should still be warm from before.
In a separate bowl, mix the tablespoon of flour into the 1/2 cup of greek yogurt, until it is smooth. Yogurt can be used to thicken sauces much like heavy cream, but you will need to add some starch to keep it from curdling. This is because yogurt lacks the fat of heavy cream. Also, you must start with yogurt that is at room temperature.
Now temper the yogurt by adding the braising sauce to the yogurt, a couple tablespoons at a time to start. You don’t want it to curdle.
Transfer the yogurt mixture to the pot, add in the remaining thyme leaves, and bring it to a very low simmer. Keep in mind, heating yogurt over 120� F destroys the beneficial bacteria.
Add in the fennel, cover and turn off the heat.
Top with a few slices of lemon and sprigs of thyme when serving. Enjoy!
You know, I am always looking for something to put my Bourbon Caramel Sauce on, and well, an apple latke seemed as good as anything. You could serve this up for dessert, but it would work with brunch too. Many options!
Ingredients
1lbfirm Granny Smith apples (about 2 large apples)
1tablespoonlemon juice
¼cupAll-Purpose flour
1tablespoongranulated sugar
1teaspoonsalt
2large eggs
Sour cream
My amazing Bourbon Caramel Sauce
Vegetable oil
Directions
First thing first, let’s wash, dry and core 1 pound of Granny Smith apples. So firm and juicy, these fresh apples are just asking to be a latke.
After you core them, you want to immediately shred them. You can run them through a food processor like I did or use a cheese grater–either will do. After grating them, wrap them in cheese cloth and squeeze out any excess juice. It seems silly to do this right after drying them out but put them in a large mixing bowl and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix them thoroughly–this prevents them from browning.
Whisk together 2 large eggs, 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Now add the apples to the mix, working it with your hands. You want to make sure every apple slice is thoroughly covered with the latke batter.
Add enough oil to an iron skillet so that it’s about 1/4″ deep, and then warm it over a medium high heat until it is shimmering.
Drop a heap of the latke mixture into the skillet and flatten it out, letting it sizzle. Cook it for about 2 minutes, until the edges are golden and crispy. Then flip.
When cooked on both sides, remove from the skillet and place on a towel to remove the excess oil.
Serve with a spoonful of sour cream on top and a drizzle of my amazing Bourbon Caramel Sauce.
Love, love, LOVE bell peppers, especially the red, yellow and orange ones. But I also love mashed potatoes! How can I combine the two…I wonder. Oh, I know, in this wonderful Mashed Potato Stuffed Bell Pepper dish.
Ingredients
2bell peppers
3large Baking Potatoes (about 2 ½ pounds), cubed
1cup whole milk
¼Stick unsalted butter
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Directions
Seriously, how gorgeous are these peppers. So many colors and flavors!
Cut the tops off two bell peppers and remove the hull and the ribs.
Roast the peppers at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, until they wilt and get a nice dark roasted skin.
Clean three large baking potatoes and trim them.
Simmer them over a medium high heat in salted water until they are tender and fall off a fork.
Whip the potatoes using an egg beater along with 1 cup of whole milk, 1/4 of a stick of unsalted butter and salt. I suggest you overly salt them for this recipe.
Place the peppers in a baking dish so they all stand up and stuff them.
Bake them so that the potatoes begin to brown, about 15 minutes.
Do you ever dream about food? I do. I always have.
Funny thing, this recipe came to me in a dream. I woke up salivating, craving creamy and crunchy stuffed Brussels sprouts–a dish I’ve never had. I wondered if I had read it somewhere, so I spent a few hours on the Googler. Nope. This was divine intervention. The Gods gave me some nocturnal inspiration and wanted me to share this recipe with the masses.
I hope you enjoy eating it as much as I did making it!
Ingredients
15very large Brussels sprouts
1cupwhole milk ricotta
1cupParmesan, shredded
½cuppanko bread crumbs
3Cloves garlic, minced
1tablespoondried thyme
1tablespoondried basil
1teaspoondried marjoram
1teaspoondried sage
1teaspoonsea salt
A Pinch of pepper
Olive oil
Directions
They say size doesn’t matter, but it does. Well, it matters here. The key to this recipe is 15 large Brussels sprouts. I usually buy the tiniest ones I can find. But for this one, you want them super-sized. After you wash them, trim the ends and then halve them as seen below.
I know stuffing Brussels sprouts sounds like a pain in the rear, and if you skip this next step, it will be. We need to blanch these babies. So fill a large deep pan with water, bring it to a boil and add the sprouts. You want to add them cut-side down, since we are doing this to make coring them easier. Let them cook for 1-2 minutes and remove them and let them cool.
I suggest you watch the video above for this next step. I go through how to quickly core the Brussels sprouts in just a few minutes.
Finely chop the cored Brussels sprouts pieces. We are going to saute them in some olive oil along with three cloves of garlic, minced, over a medium-high heat. Cook until the chopped sprouts are tender and the whole mixture is aromatic. Yum!
Mix the cooked garlic and sprout mixture along with 1 cup of whole milk ricotta, 1/2 cup of Panko bread crumbs, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon of dried thyme, 1 tablespoon of dried basil, 1 teaspoon of dried marjoram and 1 teaspoon of dried sage. Add in some of the salt and taste the mixture. Ideally, you want it to taste a bit overly salted because it will be less salty once they are baked. So you’ll need to experiment a bit here.
Using a small spoon, fill the Brussels sprouts with the stuffing. Over fill them. This stuff is good!
Bake the stuffed Brussels sprouts for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, or until the caps are crispy and burnt like the photo below. Enjoy!
GET MY SECRET RECIPES
Are you hungry? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter!
