Avocado Mango Cole Slaw

SUMMER, I AM READY FOR YOU.  Now that I made this avocado mango cole slaw that screams Summer BBQ, I am ready.  Just kidding! We live in Texas. I hate summer! Summer in Texas makes me want to crawl back to my beautiful lake-filled-cool-summer-nights Wisconsin roots. Texas has a lot to offer, but in my opinion Summer just isn't one of them.

But, talk about a fun way to add color to cole slaw. Cole Slaw is sort of notoriously bland looking. We all love it, but it looks boring/borderline gross in the picnic setup. So, here's mine with lots of fun color and flavor.  Tip - the cabbage blend at Trader Joe's is a great base. Love the mix and pretty purple cabbage!

Recipe

• 4 cups cabbage/cole slaw blend
• 1 cup chopped mango
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 cup light mayo
• 1/4 cup buttermilk (or 1/4 milk with a dash of lemon juice)
• 1.5 tablespoons white vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher/coarse salt
• poppyseeds (optional). 

Make the dressing by combining the mayo, buttermilk, vinegar, sugar, salt and poppy seeds.  Mix in the cabbage and mango.  Let marinate for at least 1 hour.  Prior to serving, add in the chopped avocado.

Roasted Parmesan Cauliflower

It's the weekend! And I'm off to Nashville with my sisters! Baby free! I actually can't believe how good it feels like to have two functional arms again. Two functional arms that I can do whatever I want with. I can even read the news on my phone in one hand and drink a cup of coffee in the other at the same time!!  (just kidding no coffee this weekend - I'm only doing wine.)

I miss those little boys already, but the freedom feels nice. Shout out to my husband for taking on a weekend of mobile 8-month old twins in stride - and even being excited about it. (sorry for saying 'shout out;' I couldn't think of a more appropriate term).

Anyway, it's the weekend and if you're cooking dinner, here is your side! So good! Obviously so easy. There is no reason I used purple cauliflower here other than the fact that I could. I was at the grocery store, and it was pretty. Use whatever you want!

Recipe

• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 teaspoon kosher/coarse salt
• Fresh cracked pepper
• ~2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano (I used a combo)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Chop up the cauliflower into individual florets, and transfer to a baking sheet lightly coated with nonstick spray.  Include all the little tiny pieces of cauliflower that break off during the chopping process. They get really brown and delicious. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and toss to coat. Season with a little fresh cracked pepper.  Roast for 25 min, then toss on the cheese, and roast for a few minutes more until melted.

Hatch Chile Corn Fritters

Delightful, that’s what these are. Sweet corn with a little bit of heat from the chiles…..big payoff for minimal effort.  It’s Hatch Chile season, which is a type of chile from New Mexico that makes it's way into every grocery store in Texas. Central Market goes nuts for hatch chiles this time of year, incorporating it into everything. Literally everything: tortillas, bread, chocolate, brownies, cheese, chips, etc.  So, I wanted to make Jalapeno corn fritters but decided to get a little more festive with the hatch chiles.  Jalapenos would be delicious too!

Recipe

• 2 1/3 cups fresh or canned corn, divided
• ½ cup corn flour
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup chopped green chiles
• ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar
• Breadcrumbs
• Olive oil
• Sour cream (for serving)

Using a food processor or blender, pulse 2 cups of the corn, the corn flour, sour cream, egg and salt 2 or 3 times (you don’t want to turn it into a paste).  Add the chiles and do one more pulse. Mix in the cheese and remaining 1/3 cup corn, and do a mini pulse (you want to leave some big chunks of corn).  Form the corn mixture into patties, coat with breadcrumbs, and place on a plate. I would recommend putting the patties in the freezer or fridge for 15-30 minutes to help solidify the shape, but I didn’t have time to do this and they turned out fine.  Heat enough olive oil to coat the pan over medium-high heat, and cook the patties until brown on each side (2-5 min per side).  Serve with sour cream, duh!

Grilled Corn with Jalapeno Butter

I’m cooking with jalapeno’s a lot lately. That must mean I’m officially a Texan - things taste bland without them.  We love grilled corn at our house, and I’ve been experimenting lately with different spices/butters. Loooooved this one – it’s summery, a tad spicy, a tad sweet, and so so easy.

Recipe

• Grilled corn on the cob
• 1 stick butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 jalapeno
• 1-2 teaspoons honey
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Start by grilling the jalapeno.  Straight on the grates, no oil, maybe 20-30 minutes or so until nice and charred.  When it’s cool enough to handle, peel the skin off and discard. Dice into small pieces, removing the seeds along the way.  Mix the jalapeno into the softened butter, along with the honey and salt.  Brush onto freshly grilled corn.

Cheesy Avocado Toast

I am not in any way pretending I came up with this idea. But man, I wish I did. And while I also wish I invented chocolate cake and cinnamon roll muffins and this veal piccata, I don't think I would have ever had the natural ability to do that. Avocado toast, though, I could have. It's two ingredients! Oh wait, three. I added cheese because I'm from Wisconsin. I guess this is technically my recipe now.

Recipe (for one)

• One slice thick-cut wheat or sourdough bread
• One half large perfectly ripe avocado (soft not squishy)
• 1/2 lemon
• Fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt
• Provolone

This recipe is for one because I have no one to eat this with. My husband doesn't think it counts as a meal, and generally when I have dinner with my girlfriends we go out. And if I did cook for them (which I definitely do from time to time), I don't think I would ask them to come over for avocado toast.

So, make this for yourself while sitting on the couch and watching Friends. It's perfect for that.

Turn on the broiler.  Place the bread on a baking sheet, spray with Pam, toast for a few minutes and then flip to toast the other side. Add the cheese, then place back under the broiler until bubbly.  Meanwhile, mash the avocado and mix in several sprinkles of salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I like to keep it relatively chunky.  Remove the toast from the oven, top with smashed avocado and another sprinkling of coarse salt, and enjoy!!

Spicy Roasted Cauliflower

First of all, if this isn’t fun I don’t know what is. And yet it’s so simple. I love roasted cauliflower, so why not roast the whole darn thing??! It’s fun to make, it’s fun to eat, and it’s fun to look at.  This recipe came from my once-in-a-while genius food researcher husband, who found the recipe here.  We omitted the garlic because we don’t really like it, but do as you please. It went perfect with our steakhouse dinner. 

Skinny Broccoli and Cauliflower Casserole

We're broccoli people. Frozen, fresh, steamed, sauteed, in a salad - we love it. I happen to love broccoli casseroles, but wanted to try to make a healthier version to enjoy with our healthy orange balsamic salmon.  Turns out, you don't need all the excess fat and cheese found in most broccoli casseroles - this was perfectly delicious and relatively low in calories, I think.

Recipe

• 5-6 cups broccoli florets
• 1 1/2 cup fat free milk
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• Shredded parmesan
• 1 cup bread crumbs plus 1 tablespoon light butter (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400.  Steam the broccoli and cauliflower until almost done but still a bit crisp. Drain.  Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Add the broccoli and cauliflower, and season with plenty of S&P.  In a saucepan, whisk together the milk and corn starch.  Heat it over medium heat until thickened, then stir in the cheddar cheese. Pour over the broccoli/cauliflower and mix.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup or so).  Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, melt the butter and mix with the bread crumbs.  Remove the foil from the casserole, add the bread crumbs, then broil for a couple of minutes to brown the topping.

Corn and Veggie Kabobs

Aaaaand another way to eat corn.  Isn't this fun-looking? Unnecessary, but fun.  Slice the cob into thirds, along with your veggies of choice. I chose red pepper, mushroom, and onion, and then tossed them with a pinch of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I kept the corn plain, because I knew there would be plenty of buttering and salting going on later.

Thread the vegetables onto the skewers (a bit tricky for the corn, but if you stab it through, then twist it a bit to increase the hole size you should be good to go), then grill for about 20-30 minutes over medium heat. 

Roasted Carrots

When I was a kid, my mom used to take us to the farmers' market on the weekends. We'd roam around, sample anything and everything, and pick up groceries for dinner. It was always a delightful experience, until one dark and tragic day I can remember so vividly it hurts me to type this. 

I spotted the carrots from across the market. Big, pointy at the end, and they HAD THE GREEN TOPS STILL ON. Just like Bugs Bunny. Just like you see in the movies. Oh my god. I was so excited...I was raised in the era when mini bagged carrots were all the rage and they on no level resembled those that were consumed by Bugs Bunny. I didn't even realize garden carrots really existed.

I was really young, btw (I think?).

My mom, being the generous farmers' market-goer that she was, happily obliged to buy me a bunch. Yay! Best day ever.  But after we bought them, the dreadful carrot man took the green tops and CHOPPED THEM OFF, right before my eyes. !!!! Why??! What cruel man would do such a thing? Talk about taking the wind right out of my sail.  That is one of my earliest, bad memories I have as a child. Which, now that I say it out loud, means I was a pretty lucky kid if that's as bad as it got.

Anyway... today, I am keeping the tops on. 

Recipe

• 2-3 bunches carrots
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt

Lay the carrots on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with cumin, brown sugar and salt.  Cover the green tops with aluminum foil, otherwise they will burn off.  Roast at 400 for about 25-35 minutes, depending on carrot size, until they are caramelized and fork tender.

Now try one, and tell me you're not having more fun eating it with the leafy top still intact. You can't do it, probably.

Roasted Carrot + Avocado Salad

I loved this salad! How fun and different and lovely-looking. There are recipes all over for this salad (starting with Bon Appetit and then here and here)…I just modified based on what I had in my kitchen. There are a few too many ingredients in the original, and I can’t imagine that I really missed out on the coriander seeds.

Recipe (serves 2)

• 8-10 medium sized carrots + olive oil for roasting
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 avocado + a drizzle of lemon juice for preserving
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• Juice from 1 large lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, preferably toasted (skillet on low for 3-5 min)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the carrots with plenty of olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper. Roast for about 25-30 minutes, depending on your carrot size.

Mix the dressing ingredients – 1 T. olive oil, 1 T. red wine vinegar, juice from one lemon, and thyme. Slice the avocado and drizzle with any excess lemon juice. Toss the carrots, avocado, dressing, and sesame seeds in a bowl and serve.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

...and a few other vegetables. I loved roasted brussel sprouts, but when I saw the carrots and cauliflower eyeing me up in the fridge I decided to add them too. Toss all your veggies of choice with olive oil and plenty of salt, then roast at 425 for about 30-35 minutes. You won't regret it.  Sorry I don't have a printable recipe for this one.

Roasted Balsamic Butternut Squash

Perfect fall side recipe! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice a butternut squash into large pieces, removing the seeds. Line a baking sheet with foil. Open a stick of salted butter and generously butter the foil. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and S&P, then place them on the pan flesh side down. Roast for 30 minutes, then turn over and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and pine nuts. Roast for about 5 minutes more, until the squash is tender.

Grilled Onions and Mushrooms in Red Wine

There's not much to this recipe, the title says it all. As a side dish last week I grilled sliced onions and mushrooms in foil, with plenty of red wine (Castle Rock Pinot Noir), and salt and pepper. I heated the grill to medium-high and grilled for about 30 minutes or so, until the onions were nice and tender. If you want the onions a bit charred, you could throw them directly on the grates for a few minutes before serving.

My postings have been sparse and lackluster lately, I know. But it is too hot here to do much cooking - I have turned into a lazy sloth. Plus last Sunday John and I wanted to try Rockfish, a casual and fun seafood place that we are forcing ourselves to get into after we got kicked out of our favorite Fish City restaurant on Henderson. We didn't really get kicked out, they closed. But it sure feels like rejection to me. Anyway, double thumbs up to Rockfish - we'll definitely be going back for the po' boys and gumbo.

Grilled Peach, Onion, and Bacon Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

Since I moved into our new home, I get a depressingly small amount of mail. I am pretty sure that I did all the proper 'mail forwarding' steps and notified all my credit cards, etc of the move - but I barely even get any junk mail anymore. It's sad. So, needless to say, I cannot explain the joy each month when my 'Bon Appetit' and 'Food and Wine' magazines show up. Not only do they fuel my passion for recipe-reading, but they also count as mail. For me.

Food and Wine has a lot of odd recipes. Many that I often want to try, but am a little too weirded out by the addition of strange things like fennel. I have never seen so many recipes that call for fennel.

This recipe also falls into the odd category. Bacon - Peaches - Onions - Mint - Buttermilk Dressing???? Weird. But, it caught my eye. It looked so amazingly delicious to me that I knew I wanted to make it the second I laid eyes on it. And boy was I glad. Serve this for a summer dinner party and your guests will be impressed by the amazing flavor and originality of this dish - and don't tell them you got the recipe from Food and Wine, so they think you're a real food pioneer. Recipe here.

Also, if you're thinking that photograph looks shockingly good for my blog, I didn't take it. I forgot to take one all together. But, mine looked exactly the same so I don't feel all that fraudulent.

Roasted Potato Crisps

I spend an exorbitant amount of my time brainstorming new things to do with potatoes. They are just so darn versatile - what can't you do with them, is the question. I have to say this is one of my favorites.  Thinly sliced potatoes roasted at a high temperature until slightly crispy, and served with a sour cream dipping sauce. Don't worry - these aren't 'wannabe roasted french fries' or those lame American fries they serve you at brunch. These are in a new category, and they are great.

Recipe

• 2-3 potatoes, thinly sliced
• BBQ rub (optional)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons mayo
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese 
• Fresh chives (optional)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• S&P

Preheat the oven to 450.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and coat with a non-stick cooking spray.  Lay the thinly sliced potato pieces in a single layer on the baking sheet. Brush each with melted butter, then sprinkle with your favorite BBQ dry rub (this is optional but highly delicious step). I used the same rub I used for BBQ ribs - it's just an all-purpose seasoning mix of paprika, cayenne, brown sugar, etc. Place the potatoes in the oven and roast for about 35-40 minutes.

To prepare the dipping sauce, mix the sour cream, mayo, and cheddar cheese. If I had bacon, I would add that too!

My Potato Salad

Yes, I finally have my own potato salad recipe. Most people probably didn't know I was even searching for my own potato salad, but I was. It has been a long, treacherous road of brainstorming, cookbook reading, and Central Market sampling - but I made it. And the result is one darn good potato salad, that is now going to become 'Gretchen's Potato Salad' - though I don't know to whom.

I totally get why there are so many potato salad recipes out there. I like them all - mustard based, mayo based, with egg, with peppers - it turns out everything tastes good with potatoes. But what I did discover during my days of study was that I think simpler is better. There is no reason to add a bunch of crap to potato salad, and there is no reason to over-mayo it.  I also came to the conclusion that my favorite quality of potatoes is the ability to turn them into loaded baked potatoes. We loooove those. So, my potato salad variation tastes an awful lot like a loaded baked potato, with a little tang from the mustard, and a little sweetness from the mayo. YUM.

Recipe

• 3-4 lbs red potatoes
• 3/4 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 heaping teaspoon yellow mustard
• ~6-8 slices of bacon
• 1 tablespoon bacon drippings
• Chopped fresh chives
• Chopped fresh parsley

Start by halving or fourthing (is that a word? Quartering might be more appropriate. Or accurate, rather) the potatoes, and boil them in a large pot until fork tender. Drain them and set them aside.

Cook the bacon until crisp, transfer it to a plate lined with a paper towel, and reserve 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings. I think I am going to tell people this is the secret ingredient.

Mix the mayo, sour cream, bacon drippings, and both mustards in a bowl. Mix into the potatoes, and add plenty of salt and pepper. Chop the bacon, chives, and parsley (to taste), and throw it into the potato mixture. Chill for several hours before serving.

I also served this at our Memorial Day dinner party, along with this and this.

Roasted Vegetables

Hello! I have been a lazy cook lately, which has in turn made me a lazy blogger. This is sort of a wimpy post, so I promise to come back with something more exciting later this week.  In fact I think I'm going to make something really delicious for dinner tonight.

In the meantime, I LOVE ROASTED VEGETABLES. I do. I really, really do. Typically I roast a large variety of them together, such as carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, parsnips, asparagus, etc. But, this week we did just broccoli and cauliflower. Why, you may ask? Because my husband found a bag of fresh Green Giant broccoli and cauliflower for $2.99 at his first grocery shopping trip to Target, and he couldn't believe how cheap it was. In fact, after making this magnificent find, he then proceeded to stop at another grocery store to compare the price of a full crown of broccoli. Slightly cheaper, he said, but the fact that the Green Giant vegetables were cut, washed, and bagged made it worth our investment. Ok John, glad we got that problem solved. Time is money.

So, after all the excitement and anticipation (and conversation) of the bagged broccoli and cauliflower, I felt obligated to make them for dinner. I roasted them, because I LOVE ROASTED VEGETABLES.

No recipe, really. Just place all the vegetables of choice on a baking sheet or dish, drizzle generously with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and roast in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

I also added tomatoes in here, because it seemed like the right thing to do. I drizzled them with balsamic instead of oil, then topped with parmesan before serving. 

This is such an easy, healthy, and delicious side dish.  Especially when your vegetables are already cut and washed for you. I think I saved a solid 2.5 minutes. Thanks Green Giant, and John, for your market research: