Warm Cabbage Apple Salad

There's something about cooked cabbage that I just love. A good coleslaw is always appreciated, but if you really want to do me in, give me an egg roll stuffed with shredded cabbage or maybe some hearty borsch. And since I've been craving cabbage lately, I found this apple-cabbage salad to be pure fall perfection.

Garlicky Flash Zucchini

Yep. Another zucchini recipe. This one is super simple (note the tag) and frankly there's not a whole lot to say about it. So let's get right to the point. These zucchini are cooked on high heat in a flash with plenty of garlic, leaving you with firm, flavorful squash. You know. The kind people actually want to eat.

Try serving alongside one of the following: Grilled Cuban Chicken, Jerk Chicken, or Broiled Tilapia Parmesan.

Ode to Zucchini

Today as I consider what I should cook this evening to post on this blog, I am overwhelmed with zucchini recipes floating around. So I think I should post a recipe with zucchini. And let's be honest my friend gave me a zucchini that is the size of my forearm before she left town (thanks Kristi) that I need to use as I am preparing to leave town myself (headed to the Great North, eh).

So rather than posting a recipe right here, right now (which I should be doing), I am going to refer you to an assortment of zucchini recipes from our own blog. I picked my top 5 favorites (which was harder to narrow down than I thought it would be). If you don't see what you are looking for in my list, search our labels, on the right side of your screen, and you will find several more zucchini recipes to give a try.

Veg Cream Cheese

I debate even posting this "recipe". But it is so so good. If you are lucky enough to live in Utah and have had the opportunity to visit Rich's Bagels in Salt Lake you have had the chance to taste the BEST veg cream cheese ever! If you visit Salt Lake make sure you go there and try their veg cream cheese on an Asiago Cheese bagel...to die for! However, I no longer live in Salt Lake, so I have to make my own veggie cream cheese. Yes, I know you can buy it in the grocery store, but let's be honest the veggies are really just specks of flavor. I want veggies in my cream cheese, not specks. So I came up with this Super Simple recipe for homemade veg cream cheese. Feel free to add other veggies and try experimenting with different herbs or season salts. Get a great bagel (I like the everything bagels from Costco) add some cucumbers, freshly ground pepper, and you have yourself a great sandwich.

Turkish Carrot Salad

After spending 2 weeks in Turkey during June, I have two major regrets: 1) that I got dreadfully sunburned, making the idea of a scrub down and massage at a Turkish bath sound an awful lot like torture. So no Turkish bath for me; 2) that I never ate Turkish carrot salad even once. The first time I ever had it, I'll admit I was a little afraid of the consistency/appearance (shredded carrots + yogurt really doesn't look very pretty), but since one of my Turkish students had made it, I felt obliged to try it. After my first few bites, I was looking for reasons to finish the pan.

We ate a lot of other delicious things, mostly fresh from the market. I swear Turkish peaches have more flavor and juice than the ones found in American supermarkets. I wish I could share some of the kilos of pistachios, figs, or apricots that I brought home with me, but since I couldn't, think of this recipe as my gift to you. And while you're at it, please enjoy a scene from the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul. It will make you feel a little like you're in Turkey...the air there really does smell like spices. 

Turkish Carrot Salad
Recipe by Kelly's Turkish student
Picture by Kelly

2 cups plain Greek yogurt*
4 cups shredded carrots
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
parsley or mint, for garnish

1. On medium low heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil and minced garlic together. Cook garlic until fragrant and just beginning to brown (don't burn it!). Remove garlic bits and add to yogurt. 
2. Pour remaining oil in the pan and heat on medium. Add carrots and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender, but not soft, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool about 10 minutes.
3. Combine carrots, yogurt, and salt in a large bowl. Chill at least 30 minutes and serve topped with roughly chopped parsley or mint.

*You can use regular plain yogurt in this salad as well, but it must be strained or your salad will be too soupy. Use a very fine mesh sieve or, preferably, line a colander with muslin or a coffee filter and place in a bowl. Pour in the yogurt and let it sit and drain for about 20 minutes before adding to carrots.

Creamy Coleslaw

This is a very basic, creamy coleslaw, nothing fancy here. But it is beautiful, with bright greens, purples, and orange. And it makes a great side to really almost anything, so it is a great go-to recipe.

And because this really is a basic recipe you can feel free to add other flavors to make it your own. This particular batch I added caraway seeds. You might try adding fresh ground pepper, dill or perhaps even some oregano. Oh yeah, one last thing, because this recipe is basically just fresh vegetables it is good for you!

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

I first had this dish at my brother and sister-in-laws house years ago when they lived in New York. They have since moved, but the dish still remains a favorite of mine. I love this recipe for a many reasons. It is good. It is vegetarian. It is inexpensive. It can easily be doubled, tripled, or even halved to feed whatever group is sitting at the table. You can add beef and it becomes even hardier. And it makes great leftovers. Oh, and one last thing, because it uses olive oil it almost has a silky texture. Oh, and one more last thing, it is easy to make.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Raisins

I don't know if it's because I'm living near the south or if brussels sprouts are making a comeback, but I find them everywhere. I see them in bags in the frozen food section, looking like some kind of alien creature on the stalk, or rolling about precariously in the bulk veggie section (I may or may not always drop at least 3 when I'm trying to scoop them up). So with all these baby cabbages hanging around, aren't you surprised that we haven't posted a single recipe yet? I was. Quite, actually.

Vegetable Pancakes

Tired of salads? Tired of steamed vegetables? Looking for a new way to eat your veggies? Try these fun vegetable pancakes.

Creamy Sweet Potatoes

There is something wonderful about sweet potatoes. Perhaps it is that somehow I feel like I am being extra healthy when I eat them, even when they are smothered in cream and cheese. Perhaps it is that while it is a potato it is chock full of vitamins, specifically vitamin A. Or perhaps it is just that they seem to be one of my new favorite vegetables; I didn't eat many sweet potatoes growing up, none that I can remember in fact. And more importantly I purchased a large box of them recently and am experimenting with them in different recipes.

Couve

I didn't eat collard greens even once (to my knowledge) until I reached the age of 25. Collard greens were a weird vegetable that only southern people ate, most likely drenched butter and definitely fried, right? And they weren't called collard greens, they were "call-ahds" or just "greens." The fact that they are related to cabbage and brussels sprouts made them even less appealing. What 9 year old in her right mind willingly eats a leafy green that kind of tastes like cabbage and looks like spinach.

At least that's what I thought until my sister moved to Brazil brought her Brazilian husband back to the US (yes, this is another Brazilian story) and then introduced to me to how delicious collard greens could be. Called couve in Portuguese (pronounced ko-vee), these greens are a common side dish served with rice and beans at many a Brazilian meal. My husband has fond memories of eating couve during the time he also lived in Brazil, and to say he was excited about figuring out how to make it is an understatement.

Winter Veg Pasta with Sweet Potato Sauce

Just because the air is cold and the ground is frozen doesn't mean you can't have fresh vegetables in every meal you prepare. As we are in full swing of the holidays and our waist bands get a smidge tight it is important to have an easy go to healthy recipe. This is it; full of vegetables, lean meats, and flavor you will love.

Now, I admit I may have exaggerated the easy to make part...wait, don't go! It is easy to make, but there is a little prep time with the sweet potatoes. Unless you have a wee baby in the home, like myself, and are frequently stemming vegetables into complete submission and then pureeing them to the end of any form they once had, you probably won't have loads of sweet potato puree just sitting in your freezer, or see making some for this pasta as a great opportunity to stock up. But really is so easy to peel a sweet potato and steam or boil it, it just takes a little time. So get out those winter veggies, pull out the pasta, and start cooking, because you are going to love this.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Lately my husband and I, and even my baby, having been enjoying sweet potatoes prepared in different ways. I came across a recipe for sweet potato fries, which I had never tried, but thought sounded good. So I decided to try them alongside one of my hamburgers.

At first I was a wee bit disappointed with the results of these oven fries as they weren't crispy at all, even though the flavor was what I had hoped. Fortunately I had told Kelly what I was making that night and then told her the results; so under the direction of her great wisdom, I decided to revamp the recipe slightly and rename them Roasted Sweet Potatoes and once again I was happy with the results.

Cauliflower Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Three more days. Three more days until I move into a new apartment with a real oven and stove. A gas stove. I haven't had one of those in a long time. And then a mere week until I get all my stuff out of storage, meaning the return of all my pots and pans. I can't wait. I've been perusing my cookbooks in anticipation...gingerbread, curry, raspberry rolls, berry slump, cookies...note that most of these happen to be desserts.

Parmesan Crusted Squash

This spring was a little wild where I live. It stayed cool into mid-May and it rained a lot. It was actually quite pleasant. The only draw back is that my garden did not flourish, in fact my garden did not grow at all, with the exception of my squash. And flourish they did; so much so that I have a vine growing up the side of my house, I even had to cut it back because it was interested in taking over the front door.

With the bounty of squash I am getting, and the lack of any other vegetables, I figured I'd better come up with some good recipes. I decided to try my hand at coating and baking this particular squash, which is a yellow summer squash, and I admit, I was very pleased with the results as was my dubious husband. The squash ended up being tender with a delicious, slightly crusty, outside.

Citrus Carrot Slaw

You're probably looking at this picture in awe of my chopping abilities. So even, so small, so thin. And with carrots, even. Aren't I awesome? Almost as if I'd been practicing...

But let's face it--anyone who has ever cooked with me knows that I'm a dreadful vegetable chopper. My sister is constantly getting after me for making my pieces too large. And when my Russian friend (the one who brought us this tasty Borsch recipe), saw the huge potato and beet pieces in my version of her Borsch, she was a little shocked; I had corrupted the soup with my lazy chopping. But I just can't help it. There are so many more interesting things in the kitchen to do than chop things small.

So the truth of the matter: I cheated. I bought these carrots pre-packaged and ready to go. And may I just say that this stuff was a great deal tastier because I didn't have to fight with my crummy knives to get the carrots this size.

Southwestern Avocado and Black Bean Salad

The other night I was craving a fresh salad, something summery, but not the typical vegetable or strawberry with poppy seed dressing type salad. We were also having some tamales that night, so I wanted something that would go alongside that as well. 

Luckily I had just the thing as I had gone to the library a few days earlier (more about that in the next paragraph)- a lovely salad with a slight southwestern flair.

"Cheater" Dim Sum with Vegetable Stir-Fry

Have you ever had dim sum? Do you know what dim sum is? You may have heard of it; perhaps your trendy, slightly yuppie friends have talked about going for dim sum, and you just shook your head like you knew what they were talking about, when in reality you thought, "that sounds like an insult". If this is the case let me enlighten you and perhaps you can tell your "cool" friends a little more about dim sum and move up the social ladder.

"Dim sum is a Cantonese term for a type of Chinese dish that involves small individual portions of food, usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate. Going for dim sum is usually known in Cantonese as going to "drink tea"."

Roasted and Pureed Cauliflower

Maybe you've all been pureeing cauliflower for years, but I until last week, I had never heard of it. Apparently substituting cauliflower for potatoes is quite common these days. Who knew? Now since mashed potatoes are one of God's Divine Foods (especially the ones Lindsey Rich makes), I'm not sure why you'd want to do that...but I could see if maybe you're on a low-carb diet or potatoes make your sugar go wild. Then I could understand.

Baked Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce

I like cauliflower, it's just not usually on my list of top vegetables to serve. It should be though. It's low in fat, high in fiber and loaded with vitamin C. It's also supposed to have excellent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits (see here for more nutritional info). And did you also know that cauliflower is part of the cabbage family? So many things to learn...

This recipe is sure to be a hit with your kids...or anyone who previously claimed not to like cauliflower. The cheese sauce is subtle, but enough to temper the strong cauliflower flavor. And it's a comforting, homey type of dish that belongs in the realm or mashed potatoes and gravy.