I know, I know, that doesn’t look like risotto. But it – sort of – is.

One of the benefits of having your own food blog is that when you’re not at your computer, or at grocery store, or in this case, reading a magazine, your memory is jogged – hmmm – have I made this before? Reading a recipe for mushroom and cauliflower (rice) risotto made me go to the blog and sure enough, I posted this recipe about 9 years ago. I hadn’t made it in the interim. It was good then, and it’s still good! I bought a whole cauliflower and a bunch of mushrooms and decided I’d make this for myself.

What I remembered was the delicious umami flavors (in this case it’s the low-sodium soy sauce – and the mushrooms also – which give it that unctuous flavor). I made it just a bit differently this time – all of the flavor profiles are the same – it’s just that I chopped up the mushrooms (whole, fresh) and the cauliflower (whole, fresh) in the food processor. I did that separately because you cook the mushrooms longer than the cauliflower. The shallot and garlic enhanced the flavors as they’re added in with the mushrooms, plus a bunch of dried thyme. I love thyme. My favorite herb, I do believe.

There’s the pot-full of the mixture in the photo at right. Since it had been awhile since I made it, I couldn’t remember if I needed to stir it all the time (like you do with risotto). I didn’t, but I did stir it frequently as it gently simmered. I kept a spoon handy because I had to taste it frequently so I took it off the heat when it was JUST done, not over-done. You still want some texture. Of course, cauliflower doesn’t have the texture of rice, but it was close enough. Mushrooms have tons of flavor. As I added the soy sauce I thought – 4 tablespoons – wow, that might be too much. Looking at the recipe again, nope, it’s correct. Poured it in. Cream is added and some broth toward the end. When done, you need to be ready to serve it immediately. This takes about half the time as real rice risotto. Have all the ingredients ready and it goes together very quickly.

For myself, I ate it as my lunch. My complete lunch, and surprisingly, with looking at the low calorie count, it was quite satisfying. The recipe says it serves 6, but that’s as a side dish. As a main event, probably 3 servings. Nuts aren’t commonly on risotto, but you could easily add some pine nuts, perhaps. That would give the risotto some added texture.

What’s GOOD: the overall taste is really fabulous. Hard to believe the mushrooms – and the soy sauce – can make the dish so very tasty. Easy and quick to make. Leftovers need just a jot more liquid (broth, water or cream).

What’s NOT: a bit of prep with the mushrooms and cauliflower in the food processor, but once that’s done it’s easy. No other challenges.

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Think hummus (the texture) but instead of garbanzo beans, think of butternut squash (soft texture, almost sweet) with all the same flavors.

Recently I was able to borrow a library e-book of Damaris Phillips’ cookbook, called Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy. It’s an interesting read (published in 2017), about her marriage and her valiant effort to find things that she enjoys (she eats meat) that he will eat (he’s vegetarian). And she’s been quite successful at it. I copied a bunch of recipes out of the book, this being one of them. Damaris has become good friends with Bobby Flay and they were on a show together, though I never saw it. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

I’m not eating beans mostly (forsaking carbs), but I think an occasional winter squash is perhaps better for me. Anyway, I spotted a package of Trader Joe’s already cubed butternut last week, and ding-ding, I remembered this recipe. I needed a new jar of tahini, and I had za’atar on hand already.

Into the food processor goes the caramelized squash (cooled), some salt, EVOO and tahini. Easy. I boxed it up in the frig to let it mellow a bit, and have served it several times over the last week. Yesterday I ate the remaining serving straight. When I served it to guests, I put out some lavash bread alongside, that I’d cut into triangles.

What’s GOOD: Oh my goodness, this is wonderful. Love the texture, much like bean-hummus, but maybe better. Squash gives it a sweeter taste, but there’s no sugar in it. Loved it on the lavash triangles. It keeps for about a week, or freeze if you have some leftover.

What’s NOT: not a single thing. This is a keeper of a recipe.

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Such an easy side dish  – for a brunch or dinner

Awhile back I’d downloaded a recipe from Ottolenghi for a salad much like this. But when I made it, I wanted to make a couple of changes. The “dressing” for this is nothing but plain yogurt and some horseradish. I had Greek yogurt on hand, but it’s not a very tart/sour type – it’s very smooth (Fage) which is why I like it so much for my breakfast. When I tasted the dressing – the yogurt, horseradish, salt and pepper – I knew it needed something. So I added some whole grain mustard and a tetch of red wine vinegar to it. That gave it the extra oomph of tart that I was looking for. Because when you mix potatoes you want/need some acid in it. If you’re using regular plain yogurt (not Greek) you may not need the vinegar. Taste it to determine. Certainly this ended up being different than Ottolenghi had in mind when he created this dish.

I’d also cooked up a couple of slices of bacon – because I thought I was going to  use it in the egg dish I made, but changed my mind. So, obviously, the bacon went into the potatoes. Easy.

What I had on hand were small Yukon gold, so I boiled them until they were just tender, and once drained I let them sit briefly to dry the outsides. Then I  used a potato masher and very gently mooshed each potato once – JUST ONCE – to smash it. So it left the potatoes in small chunks. Peel on. Then I mixed in the dressing and the bacon, then added some chopped green onions on top and it was ready to eat.

What’s GOOD: this was just delish. I’m not eating potatoes these days, but I did have one very small bite and my guests loved it. I loved that one bite I had and definitely wanted to dip in for more (but didn’t). It was so very easy to make and the dressing took not more than a minute to mix up.

What’s NOT: nothing, really. If you like a pristine look of a cubed-up potato salad, this rustic style might not meet your needs.

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Elevate a simple vegetable to “four star” status with this preparation.

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you might recall several years ago (March of 2020 to be exact, just when Covid began – it was announced while I was on that trip) I went on a driving vacation to California’s Central Coast. While there I had lunch at a restaurant in San Luis Obispo (with friends) and was blown away by a chilled soup I ordered – a cauliflower soup with a topping of pine nuts, raisins and capers. Once home I did an internet search and discovered a recipe at Serious Eats that was served as a vegetable – the florets roasted and with the vinaigrette poured over.

It was my guess at the time, that the chef at the restaurant had served the veggie the night before at their dinner service and repurposed it the following day as a soup with the vinaigrette as a garnish on the top.

Since then this recipe, or a variation of it, has appeared in dozens of places. Most of them without the caper vinaigrette. The Italians perfected using cauliflower with pine nuts and raisins. But the vinaigrette just adds a pizazz to it. I was pretty sure I’d like it just because I really have enjoyed the soup combo (have made it 3-4 times since 2020).

The preparation is quite simple. I made the vinaigrette ahead of time and kept it in the frig overnight. I was having a big birthday gathering. The cauliflower had to be chopped into florets, tossed with EVOO and roasted for about 15-17 minutes, turning them over once during the baking time. Onto a platter they went and the vinaigrette is poured over it. I didn’t use all of it, just most of it. I thought we were ready to sit down, but no, we weren’t, so the cauliflower had cooled to room temp by the time we ate, but it was delicious anyway. I had a little bit leftover and ate it cold, straight from the frig the next day and it was every bit as good!

What’s GOOD: everything about this dish is good. Loved the sweet (raisins) to acidic (capers) and the various textures (pine nuts, parsley). Altogether wonderful dish. This one’s a keeper.

What’s NOT: nothing really  – the vinaigrette is easy to make. I did a mis en place so once I started it was easy to finish.

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Nostalgia here. I used to make these over and over again, back in the 60s and 70s. Do you remember them too?

A few weeks ago two friends of mine and I hosted a luncheon for a group of 10 of us ladies, a fundraiser that the guests all paid money to attend. We decided to do a dip into the past, the 50s and 60s. You’re going to see a few recipes from this event in coming weeks. This appetizer, a salad, and an entree too. Lois made some meatballs (I forgot to take a picture or I’d post that recipe too) cooked in chili sauce and grape jelly (remember those variations?). Linda made the lime Jell-O salad which I just loved, almost identical to the one I used to make. We also made my mother’s crisp apple pudding with whipped cream, which harkens back to the 1930s I would guess, but I grew up with having it in the 50s.

These little cocktail appetizers are not hard to make, though you do have to mix up the dough, flatten a teaspoon or so of it to enclose a pimiento-stuffed olive, chill them in the frig for an hour or so, then bake them. When I made them years ago I’d double the recipe and once baked I’d freeze them on a cookie sheet, then pile them into a freezer container, all ready for some dinner party when I’d pull them out and re-bake them.

The recipe I had differed a little from Lois’s recipe here, but they tasted much the same, so I’m using hers except for the addition of paprika to the dough. At the time (the 60s), these were quite the “thing,” and because some people didn’t like fussing with a dough, they were very special. Truly, they’re not difficult to make, and you’ll hear raves from your guests. They can be served hot or at room temp.

What’s GOOD: the contrast of the cheese dough and the astringency of the stuffed olive are a good balance. Cheesy, briny all in one. These are a winner and here we are 60+ years later, making them again, and they’re still just as good as in the 1960s. Great to freeze and have on hand.

What’s NOT: only that you do have to “fuss” a bit with the dough, flattening it out to encircle the olive. You don’t want olive juice in there either or the dough won’t seal well.

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Lovely roasted veggies enhanced with lemon juice in a vinaigrette.

Having shopped that morning and with numerous vegetables to choose from, I decided a sheetpan of roasted veggies sounded good for dinner. My complete dinner. But adding some kind of dressing would be even better, so I kind of made up a dressing with EVOO, a tad of red wine vinegar and fresh lemon juice (my Meyer lemon tree is loaded, absolutely loaded with them), Dijon, a tiny bit of sugar, salt and pepper and some minced shallot.

After cutting up the veggies (one sweet potato, chunked large, 1 large sweet onion cut in wedges, about 12 Brussels sprouts, halved, one baby bok choy, cut into wedge thirds), I piled them onto a sheet pan lined with parchment. EVOO was drizzled over it and I used my hands to make sure every surface had been kissed by the oil. Then I added some salt and freshly ground black pepper, and it was ready. Into a 400°F oven it went for 35 minutes. If I’d wanted more caramelization I wouldn’t have used the parchment, but they were just done in that time frame (and the sheetpan was mostly clean). Meanwhile, I’d mixed up the vinaigrette, tasted it, and added a bit more oil. Once the veggies came out of the oven I put them onto my plate and drizzled (using a teaspoon) some of it over each piece of vegetable. That way, I hoped, I’d use less of the dressing (therefore fewer calories). So delicious. As I write this, I made the veggies last night, and at lunchtime today I couldn’t wait to have more of them. I reheated them in the microwave for a quick meal.

The recipe below makes more than you’ll need of the dressing – use what’s left on a green salad. Therefore, the calorie count in the actual recipe is way off. This is a mix-and-match kind of dish – don’t like sweet potatoes? Add white potatoes. Don’t like Brussels, add red, yellow and green bell peppers, cauliflower or eggplant. Don’t have sweet onion? No problem. Regular onions should work just fine. Add carrots to this – they’d be great – they become very sweet when roasted. I was trying to stick with low carb. Sweet potatoes are a resistant starch, so they don’t get absorbed by the body like most starches/carbohydrate. I have some portobello mushrooms and if I make this again in the next few days, I’ll add those, although they’d need the dark gills cleaned out  (otherwise the resulting dark fluid would spread over the other veggies – wouldn’t look pretty). I’m not a fan of cooked celery, but it probably would work here too. Regular cabbage would work too if cut into smaller wedges.

What’s GOOD: oh gosh, every veggie was wonderful. The vinaigrette just “made” it – it was the lemon juice that was the key to that. If you cut the veggies in somewhat even thickness they’ll all be done at the same time. Using parchment made for easy clean-up. The leftover vinaigrette I’ll use on a salad in the next few days. Absolutely wonderful dinner. If you wanted to serve it with a side of protein – a grilled chicken breast, or some rotisserie chicken, easy. A grilled pork chop maybe, or even a piece of fish. All good with the vegetables.

What’s NOT: only that you need to have the right combo of vegetables. Use what you have. No complaints here!

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Green beans – oh so delicious – can be a veg or a salad.

Over Christmas there was quite a bit of too-ing and fro-ing from one family location to another. Going south, we (my cousin Gary from NorCal was here) met on the 23rd for a big family dinner and gift exchange and one of the family’s homes in Corona del Mar. I think there were about 25 people there, with 22 of them being part of my daughter-in-law’s extended family. I took a gluten-free dessert and something else . . . at this moment I can’t recall what I made. I think it was a salad of some kind. Oh well, it will come to me . . . Then on the 24th my cousin Gary and I drove north to La Canada (where my son Powell and his family live). We had a lovely dinner that night, paella and all the extras from a local Spanish restaurant. We had desserts leftover from the 23rd, and we had lovely Sangria to enjoy too.

Because their house was full-up with guests, Gary and I were treated to an overnight at The California Club. My son and his wife have joined it and they have 30+ rooms available. It’s in downtown Los Angeles. It’s like a private country club but without a golf course. In the morning we enjoyed coffee (Gary had other things; me just the coffee) in the bar at the Club. We were sorry they had to provide food for guests on Christmas morning, but we weren’t the only people staying there, and the waiter was ever-so nice. Then we returned to the house for an official breakfast.

Karen made some GF eggs in pastry cups (recipe to come soon). They were just delicious and I was amazed at the flakiness of the pastry. I did a huge charcuterie board (I made Gary help me with the creating of it) which everyone munched on during the afternoon. For dinner Powell grill-rotisserie-d a double boneless leg of lamb stuffed with all kinds of herbs, and everyone else helped out with other dishes to round out the dinner. It was a fabulous meal – a formal dining room setting with the family china. I think the lamb was the most tender leg of lamb I’ve ever eaten – it was as tender as prime rib or a tenderloin.

So, this green bean dish . . . it comes from Milk Street, and you can tell, it’s Russian. First you make the Adjika (I’m assuming it means “sauce”). It’s comprised of a LOT of fresh mint (thank goodness I have it growing in abundance in my yard), Jalapeno chiles, garlic, salt, a bit of oil and some ground coriander. The green beans were cooked just past the crunchy stage, then they’re tossed with the sauce, some yogurt, lemon zest and juice and garnished with more fresh mint and some toasted walnuts. I made the mint sauce (the Adjika) at home so it was easy to mix in when composing the dish.

What’s GOOD: I thought these were stupendous. I’d have loved to have had leftovers the next day, but I left them for Karen and family to enjoy. Definitely a keeper and one I want to make again. Although I have mint growing, I’ll need to wait a few weeks for the patch to recover from harvesting so much of it for this dish! We’re having very cold temps at night, and mint doesn’t much like that – often it dies off in the winter. I was just lucky there was plenty when I needed it. We have several family members who can’t eat nuts, so the picture doesn’t show them – I had them nearby for people to sprinkle on top as they wanted. Make the sauce earlier in the day, and make the yogurt sauce ahead also. The green beans could be made ahead too, so all you’d have to do is toss everything. The dish is very low in calorie. I made a double batch to feed all of us.

What’s NOT: There are a few steps to making this – none is difficult, just a bit time consuming.

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A special way to serve tomatoes – more so if you have some heirloom or super-tasty home grown ones.

A note: do not make this if you don’t have really good, ripe, tomatoes. Ordinary ones from the grocery store might not taste like much. I used those dark-skinned ones called Kumato. I’ve forgotten where they’re grown (hothouse, maybe) but even in mid-winter they’re really delicious.

This tomato side dish can be made about 4-6 hours ahead – a boon in my book since it’s nice to get it out of the way ahead of time. The tomatoes are combined with green onion and fresh chopped parsley. The vinaigrette is heated: EVOO, brown sugar, celery, garlic, oregano, thyme, some hot pepper sauce of some kind to give a little bit of zip, grated lemon zest, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Once it’s heated you cook it for a minute only. That actually barely cooks the celery, or at least takes away the real-crisp rawness of them. You pour the dressing over the tomatoes, cover and let them sit in the frig until about 30 minutes before serving. Take it out of the frig and let it warm up to about room temp, then pour it out onto a pretty service plate or platter. I garnished it with a few more sprigs of parsley. Do taste it to make sure you’ve got enough salt and pepper on the mixture. This recipe came from an ancient Bon Appetit magazine. I  have an old stand-by favorite for tomatoes on my blog already, Mrs. Nylander’s recipe – and it’s better than these, but I like to have some variety now and then, especially if you have a surplus of tomatoes.

What’s GOOD: just another way to serve tomatoes – would be great for an outdoor barbecue, a picnic, or anytime, providing you have good tomatoes. They are the star of the show, obviously.

What’s NOT: only if the tomatoes you have aren’t ripe or tasty enough . . . don’t bother!

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This has “comfort food” written all over it. First bite to the last.

A post from Carolyn. It’s no secret that I love shepherd’s pie. And traditionally, it’s made with ground lamb. If you make it with beef, it’s considered cottage pie. This version has all the ingredients, but made into a soup instead. I’m not sure when I began making shepherd’s pie – decades ago – maybe I had it on my very first trip to Britain in about 1978. I’ve always made it with beef. Maybe we Americans have adopted the title, but without keeping to the British tradition of lamb. I like it with either. And originally, the “pie” was made with tiny, minced up pieces of leftover roast, not the ground meat we buy at the grocery store. I started with a recipe I found online, but then augmented it with more flavor (mushrooms, celery).

Because I try to limit carbs, I made this with less potatoes. To explain . . . this soup has two quantities of potatoes in it: (1 part) cooked separately, made into mashed potatoes (or use some leftover you have) and added to the finished soup to give it a thick texture; and (2nd part) cubed potatoes added in at the end of cooking and cooked in the soup just until done. You can see a cube right on that spoon in the photograph. Originally this recipe called for a total of 3 pounds of potatoes. I used about 1 1/2 pounds total with half in the mashed potato part and half in the soup. You can change this to suit your wants or your family’s.

Important flavors in this soup: Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and mushrooms. All umami flavors. Actually, because I didn’t want to have beef, I used Impossible Burger meat in mine. Because it’s mixed into a soup, truly you’d never know the difference. And if you want to eliminate the meat altogether, you’ll have a delicious vegetarian soup. Just make sure the broth you add has lots of flavor.

What’s GOOD: altogether comfort food. Good stick-to-the-ribs winter meal. Serve with some crackers or toasted bread and you have a full meal. This is going onto my favorites list as I’ll be making it again soon.

What’s NOT: nothing at all. This is a keeper.

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Yummy. Comfort food at its best.

A post from Carolyn. Once in awhile I get a craving for risotto. Usually after I’ve watched someone else make it on a TV program, I’ve seen it on a menu, or someone mentions it in passing. I used to make it much more regularly, but since it’s a very simple carb, I try not to. Yet a craving sometimes needs to be answered. My cousin Gary was visiting and he doesn’t mind having meatless meals. As it happened, I had some chicken sausages that I cooked separately, for some added protein.

I have a relatively “old” Breville multi-cooker – it’s a similar shape to an Instant Pot (smaller in all dimensions). It’s not an Instant Pot (though I have one of those also) – this was before IP came into being and has now taken over pressure cooking in general. This old Breville cooker (that doesn’t pressure cook) has a risotto setting. FYI: you can’t buy these old Breville models anymore. Not sure if anyone manufactures a device that “makes” risotto like it does. This little model does have a saute function, but I was in a relative hurry, so I cooked the shallots and mushrooms in another skillet and added them to the cooker. I’ve revised the recipe with directions for using a regular pan on the range, since I doubt many people have this old Breville thing.

Risotto requires a lot of stirring, and particularly at the end of the cooking time as it could burn easily if you’re not watching it. Have the rest of your meal all ready at this point so you can concentrate on the risotto.

One of the secrets to risotto is adding a little bit of white wine at the very beginning – with the rice – and allowing all the wine to be absorbed by the raw rice. Then you begin adding broth about 1/2 cup at a time and the mushroom concentrate. (A note about that – if you don’t have mushroom base, it’s now available from Better Than Bouillon, and I hear it’s really delicious.) Continue cooking, adding broth, until the rice is done, kind of mildly firm to the tooth, but still just barely cooked through. Then you add a dollop of sherry wine and 1/2 cup of heavy cream. I let it continue to warm through, and maybe add some water if it’s too thick, or to cook a minute or two more if it’s too thin. Scoop into heated bowls and garnish with black pepper and some grated Parm.

What’s GOOD: oh my, yes, I do love risotto. If you like mushrooms, you’ll love the intense flavor in this. Do click on that amazon link above for the mushroom concentrate – it makes a difference. The risotto was so satisfying – comfort food for sure. Leftovers were mixed with a tiny bit of water and served a few days later. Altogether wonderful.

What’s NOT: only the time of cooking risotto, with stirring and stirring.

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