Cheesy Cauliflower and Broccoli Casserole

I have another similar recipe on the blog, the Cheesy Cauliflower Bake.  In that one I steamed the cauliflower in large chunks on the stove.  Lately, I've been enjoying "riced" cauliflower with the food processor, then cooked in the microwave, so that's what I did this time.  And broccoli, of course.  Just a few little differences.  We both really liked this recipe though.  Had it tonight with pork medallions and I did up a pan gravy with the drippings.  Delicious!

Have had Hot Water Music's "Wayfarer" in my head.  -jen

CHEESY CAULIFLOWER AND BROCCOLI CASSEROLE
Special Equipment:  Food Processor
Prep Time:  25 minutes
Cook Time:  25-30 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  6-8 servings

• 1 large head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 1/2 crown of broccoli (2-3 cups, roughly chopped)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 8oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 tbsp Greek yogurt or sour cream (optional)
• 2 cups cheddar or cojack, shredded
• 3 tablespoons green onions, diced (about 3 medium)
• 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 2 dashes Sriracha sauce (or other hot sauce)
• salt and pepper to taste (I used my KFCseasoning, a little Mrs. Dash and some white pepper)
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, F.  Prepare a 2-quart 8"x8" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

Add cauliflower and broccoli to food processor.  Pulse until vegetables are about the size of rice.  Place in a microwave safe glass bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Microwave on high for 10 minutes (bowl will be hot!!)  Let sit for 5 minutes with plastic wrap on.

Return cooked vegetables to the food processor and add butter, cream cheese, and yogurt/sour cream.  Process on high until smooth and creamy.  Return to glass bowl and stir in shredded cheese, green onions, Worcestershire, and Sriracha.  Now is the time to add your salt and pepper while you can still taste it and adjust.  Then stir in the egg.

Transfer to the prepared baking dish, making sure mixture is level.  Sprinkle Parmesan over the top and bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.  Top should be golden brown.  Serve immediately.

Cheesy Cauliflower and Broccoli Casserole with pork medallions and gravy

Cheesy, Creamy Cauliflower Soup

When we go grocery shopping, we always go with a budget and a list which means we generally have the week's meals planned out.  Sometimes, things that weren't on the list sneak into the cart.  This time I grabbed a cauliflower with no ideas for it... if nothing else, I knew it'd get thrown into the roasted veggie mixes (we eat baked chicken and roasted veggies once or twice a week for dinner).

I don't know why, but I decided I wanted cream soup, and I've never actually made a cauliflower soup, so it seemed like the thing to do.  The cheese was a last minute idea since I remembered we had them in the fridge, and I'm glad I did!  This soup came out great... I really liked it.

I can't even tell you why, but I've had Billy Joel running through my brain... which then, instantly makes me think of the Gimmes.  So Me First and the Gimme Gimmes doing "Only The Good Die Young" (because they didn't eat their cauliflower).  -jen

CHEESY, CREAMY CAULIFLOWER SOUP 
Prep Time:  20 minutes
Cook Time:  35 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Makes:  11-12 cups

• 6 tablespoons butter + 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, separated
• 1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
• 3 medium carrots, diced (about 1.5 cups)
• 2 celery stalks, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 poblano or green pepper, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium head cauliflower, roughly chopped
  
• 3-4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1.5 cups shredded Asiago cheese
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar or Cojack cheese
• 2 teaspoons sherry
• several dashes Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• a few dashes of cayenne pepper or Sriracha sauce (optional)

In a large stockpot, saute onion, carrots, celery and pepper in 6 tablespoons of butter over a medium-high heat until vegetables are softened, 5-7 minutes.  Stir in cauliflower, garlic, thyme, marjoram and crushed red pepper flakes.  Cook an additional 2-3 minutes.   Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, then simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes.  (At this point, I like to use a stick blender or regular blender to blend about 2/3 of the soup, smoothing it out a little but I like to leave a few chunks.  You can leave everything whole, or blend the whole thing, whatever you prefer!)

Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, melt remaining 1 stick of butter.  Stir in flour and cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, to make a roux.  Remove from heat.  When the cauliflower in the broth is tender (and blended, if you're blending any), add the roux and the heavy cream.  Bring back to a boil, then simmer, stirring frequently until thickened, about 5 minutes.  Add the cheese, one handful at a time, stir until completely melted before adding next handful.  Add sherry, Worcestershire, salt and pepper to taste, and cayenne or Sriracha, if desired.

I garnished mine with some of the shredded cojack and some diced scallions I had in the fridge.

Cauliflower "Couscous" Salad

This recipe is vegan/vegetarian, gluten-free, and low-carb!  Oh yeah, and it tastes amazing.  We try to eat low-carb most of the time and jumping on the cauliflower bandwagon the other day, I was making some pizza crust out of cauliflower, cheese and eggs.  I was supposed to "rice" the cauliflower in the food processor, but I did it a little too long and the pieces came out more like couscous than rice.  Then I mixed in some minced garlic and dried oregano as  part of the crust recipe, and decided to give it a taste.  Totally gave me the idea to do a couscous salad out of it.

I can't actually tell you how incredibly stoked I am at how good this came out.  I really enjoy Mediterranean-style cold salads.  I used to do them with rice, but I don't eat rice anymore.  So we started doing them with barley and couscous... but they're still pretty high-carb.  This solved the problem and I foresee us having this salad in the fridge on a frequent basis for lunches during the work week and quick dinners.

I decided to go with Lagwagon's "I Must Be Hateful".  I was feeling pretty hateful tonight towards a medical issue I'm having.  Seemed apropos.  -jen

CAULIFLOWER "COUSCOUS" SALAD
Prep Time:  10 minutes
Cook Time:  10 minutes
Makes:  About 6 cups
Requires:  Food Processor

• 1 large head of cauliflower, diced large
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 2/3 cup English cucumber, seeded and diced small
• 2/3 cup bell pepper, diced small
• 1/2 cup green onions, diced small
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced small
• 1/2 cup carrot, shredded
• 1/4 cup green olives, chopped
• 1/4 cup giardiniera, chopped (optional)
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh basil, julienned or chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• juice of 1 whole lemon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Place large-diced cauliflower in food processor and process until it looks like cooked couscous.  Place in a large, microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap (I recommend using glass so the plastic wrap sticks).  Microwave on high for 10 minutes.  Fluff with fork.

Add all remaining ingredients and stir until mixed.  At this point, you can serve it while it's still warm, or refrigerate and serve chilled.

Per 1 Cup Serving:  Calories-130, Fat-9g, Carbs-11.5, Fiber-4, Protein-3g

Cheesy Cauliflower Bake

I guarantee you that you could serve this to 10 people who claim they don't like cauliflower, not tell them what it is, and at least 9 of them are going to love it.  If you're into watching your carbs, this is the PERFECT substitution for mashed potatoes.  A little high in fat, maybe, because of all the cheese.  But it's great.  We made it last night to eat with Fish Piccata and I'm eating the leftovers for breakfast as I type this up.  Good way to fool kids into eating their veggies too, if you happen to have that problem.

So how about a little smooth and creamy singing by Iggy Pop with "The Passenger".  (I dug all the clips from classic movies on this video.)  -jen

CHEESY CAULIFLOWER BAKE
Prep Time:  25 minutes
Bake Time:  30 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Yields:  about 8 cups

• 2 heads of cauliflower
• 3 tablespoons butter, cubed
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste (and any other seasoning)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup green onion, chopped (about 3 onions)
• 3/4 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 3/4 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously coat a 2-quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. 

Cut cauliflower into medium-sized florets.  Steam until tender.  Times will vary, depending on the size of your florets, 5-15 minutes.  You should be able to slide a fork into it easily - "fork-tender".  Remove from heat.

Place cauliflower into food processor bowl (if you don't have a food processor, egg-beaters/hand mixer would probably work).  Add butter, milk, garlic and cayenne.  I added just a pinch of salt, a few cranks of fresh black pepper, and a pinch of Caldo de Pollo (seasoned Mexican chicken bouillon).  You can use whatever seasoning you want - thyme, rosemary, dill, seasoning salt.  Blend in the food processor until smooth and creamy.  At this point taste it to see if it's seasoned to where you want it, add more seasoning if necessary.  Then add the eggs and blend those in.

Stir in the green onion and cheeses with a spoon, leaving a little bit of cheese to sprinkle on top; don't use the food processor.  Pour into your greased pan.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Giardiniera

Giardiniera is a pickled, spiced vegetable mix, often used as a condiment for food in the Midwestern U.S.  Jennifer grew up in the Chicago area and was very familiar with this mix as a topping for Italian Beef sandwiches so we decided to try some here at home.  This is not an authentic Italian giardiniera as it has some jalapeños, olives, fennel, etc and the Italian variety, as I understand it, is more spartan with onion, zucchini, carrots, celery, and cauliflower in vinegar.

We just went to the farmer's market, decided what looked good, and went with that for veggies.  I suggest that if you like something specific, use it.  If you don't like something I used, leave it out or substitute something else.  This really is just a pickles veggie condiment so get creative.  Do green beans if you like.  Get nuts!

While giardiniera is usually pretty hot, I don't like to make mine burn-the-taste-buds-off hot.  Add Serrano peppers or more red pepper flake if you like the scorching, mouth-blistering heat.

I know I'll probably hear from 15 different people how this isn't authentic or whatever but you know what?  It's not the end of the world.  This is:  -justin

GIARDINIERA
Time: overnight +20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: About 2 1/2 pints worth

VEGGIES

• 1/2 cup cauliflower, diced
• 1/2 cup carrots, diced
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1/2 cup fennel bulb or stalks, diced
• 3/4 cup banana pepper, seeded and diced
• 3/4 cup sweet Hungarian pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 large jalapeños, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup salt
• water to cover

 PACKING LIQUID

• 1/4 cup pimento stuffed green olives, diced
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flake
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp thyme

Place all the veggies in a bowl, add the salt, add enough water to submerge the veggies, cover with plastic wrap and leave in fridge over night.

The next day, drain and rinse veggies under cold water.  Add the green olives and minced garlic to the drained veggies.  In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, oregano, red pepper flake, black pepper and thyme.  Place the vegetables in your storage container of choice (I recommend glass jars), add the whisked liquid.  Store in fridge for 2 days before serving.

Note:  Storing it in the fridge, the oil will separate and congeal on top.  Either take the jar out of the fridge a half hour before you know you'll need to use it.  Or if you need it immediately, because it's so awesome you can't wait a half hour, just remove the lid and microwave for 30 seconds and stir.

It's great on salads, sandwiches, soups, as a side dish for a heavy or greasy meal, mixed in rice dishes or casseroles, etc.

This batch was made with broccoli instead of cauliflower.  (We prefer cauliflower.)

We also sometimes cut the vegetables smaller for a small relish!

Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Barbecue Sauce; Roasted Garlic Creamed Cauliflower

These were recipes Justin came up with for dinner the other night.  They're really simple and easy dishes that seem a little more decadent than just "meat and potatoes".  His play list consisted of the Descendents' compilation album, "Somery".   -jen

PREPARE THE ROASTED GARLIC FOR THE CAULIFLOWER DISH

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare roasted garlic by cutting off stem end, about 1/4" into the garlic cloves.  Place garlic, cut side up, in the center of a square of aluminum foil that's about 8"x8". Drizzle the exposed garlic with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Salt and pepper it with a pinch of each.  Fold ends of foil to make a pouch that won't leak and roast garlic in 375 oven for 60 minutes.  Remove and let cool.

ROASTED PORK LOIN

• 3 pound pork loin roast
• 1.5 teaspoons Sate seasoning (Indonesian spice found at Penzeys.com)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground thyme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all spices in a small dish.  Rub outside of entire roast with seasoning mixture.  

Place pork in roasting pan, fat-side facing up.  Cook in 350 degree oven uncovered for approximately 45 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 148 degrees using a meat thermometer.  Remove roast from oven, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.  Serve with warmed or chilled Blackberry Barbecue Sauce.

ROASTED GARLIC CREAMED CAULIFLOWER

• 1 head of roasted garlic 
• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into large chunks
• 1 cup shredded Gouda cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temp
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, parsley, or any herb of choice
• salt and pepper, to taste

Steam cauliflower in a large pot by placing 1" of water in the bottom of the pan.  Put cauliflower in pan, cover and bring to a boil.  When water begins boiling, turn heat down to a simmer and keep covered until tender, about 25 minutes.  Test cauliflower by poking with a fork.  If fork slides in easily, cauliflower is done.  Remove from heat and drain thoroughly.

Using a food processor or immersion stick blender, combine drained cauliflower with all other ingredients and blend until smooth.  Garnish with chopped green onions.