For a recent party, we served Po’Boys and for my vegan friends I made them with Cajun-roasted Cauliflower. It was crazy easy and makes a wonderful sandwich.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix oil and Rub in a large bowl. If you like things really spicy add 1/2 tsp more of Rub, but generally 1 tsp Rub is plenty.
Add cauliflower and toss well to coat. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake 25 – 30 minutes tossing occasionally. You want the edges of the cauliflower to start browning up. Serve immediately.
Emeril’s Rustic Rub (From Louisiana Real and Rustic Cookbook)
Still using up apples from an overly ambitious purchase and remembered that Lied Lodge in Nebraska City serves an apple oatmeal that is sweet, spicy and so good!
I’ve made many versions of their oatmeal, using apple butter and spices, but we really like this version where you make the applesauce right in the pan before you add the oatmeal. It’s slightly less sweet, but easy to add syrup, honey or brown sugar if you want.
Many recipes call for apple juice but I find this one so apple-y you don’t really need it.
Ingredients
2 apples, peeled, cored and grated. (I used Galas.)
1 tsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch cloves
pinch freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups water
2 Tbsp brown sugar
In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add apples, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vinegar. Cook on low heat stirring occasionally until the apples are soft, 7-8 minutes.
Add oatmeal, water and brown sugar and stir well. Increase heat until it begins to simmer, then reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for 10-12 minutes. Serve with a little half & half and a dusting of cinnamon. If you prefer it a little sweeter, drizzle maple syrup, honey or sprinkle a little more brown sugar over.
Note: You can use whatever oatmeal you have on hand. Just adjust cooking time accordingly. For very long-cooking oatmeal, keep an eye on the liquid and add a bit more water if it’s getting very dry. Also very tasty topped with chopped walnuts.
No time to cook the apples? Just substitute 1 1/2 cups applesauce for the apples.
You can also make this in a crockpot for overnight. Just cook the apples separately, and add everything to your crockpot the night before, set the heat to low and cook 7-8 hours.
Just back from Niobrara, where we had some amazing meals in our cabin, especially the dinner where Ali grilled steaks!
These were ridiculously good steaks – and since we’re from Nebraska, that’s saying something. I need to ask Ali to share his method – they were so delicious.
Anyway, nothing goes better with a great steak than Ina’s Parmesan Roasted Broccoli (I’ve included the original link for those who want it, but am including the version I made below.)
Even if you don’t like broccoli, you will love this. My kids are not huge broccoli fans and they gobbled it up!
Ingredients:
4-5 lbs. broccoli, cut into florets
4 big garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thinly
Olive Oil
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Zest of one large lemon (1 1/2 Tbsp?)
Juice of that large lemon (2-3 Tbsp?)
1/3 cup chopped, pan-roasted walnuts
1/3 cup good Parmesan Cheese
4 Tbsp fresh basil leaves, julienned
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Cut broccoli into 1-2″ florets, leaving a longer piece of stem on each one. You’ll end up with about 8 cups of florets. (Don’t throw away the leftover, big stems! Instead peel them and munch on them raw or roast them, too. They have a lovely, delicate flavor.) Lay all out on a large baking sheet, and sprinkle the garlic slices on top. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper.
Roast for 25 – 30 minutes until the broccoli is crisp-tender and bits are just starting to brown. (Test the florets – I ended up needing an extra 5 minutes or so.)
While the broccoli is roasting, heat the walnuts in a sauce pan on medium heat, shaking frequently (think popcorn) until they start to get a nice, toasty smell. Remove from heat and put in a medium-sized bowl.
Once the walnuts have cooled a bit, add a Tbsp or so or Olive Oil, along with the lemon zest and lemon juice, reserving about 1 Tbsp of lemon juice. Stir gently.
When Broccoli is finished cooking, remove it from the oven and spread it out on a large platter. Drizzle the walnut mixture over and gently toss the broccoli. Then sprinkle the fresh basil and Parmesan on top, with an extra squeeze of the lemon juice. Delish!
A great vegetarian skillet supper that was simple, delicious and hearty. I didn’t really have anything much in mind for supper tonight and threw something together from what I had in the pantry and fridge. Maya loved it and I’d definitely make it again.
Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp crushed Garlic
1 bag frozen fajita peppers from Trader Joe’s, or 2 fresh peppers cored and sliced into 1/4″ strips
2 Tbsp taco seasoning mix (I used McCormicks.)
1 can black beans, drained but not rinsed
1/4 cup salsa
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 cups cooked rice
1 cup Mexican or cheddar cheese
Heat oil in a skillet and saute onions until softened. Add garlic and saute for a few minutes. Add frozen fajita peppers and taco seasoning mix and saute until the liquid from the frozen peppers is mostly gone. Add the black beans, salt and pepper and the salsa. (You can add a little water if anything is sticking to the bottom of the skillet.) Cook for another 5-6 minutes stirring occasionally until the black beans are warmed through. Dump in the rice and fold the bean mixture and rice together, cooking for a few minutes until the rice is warmed. Sprinkle the cheese on top, remove from the heat and cover for a couple of minutes.
I have never really loved cabbage. It’s okay – but I can’t tell you how much cabbage I’ve thrown away over the years. You need 2 cups for a salad, and then what?
But I’ve changed my tune after making sauteed cabbage. Just like roasting brings out the mind-blowing deliciousness of so many vegetables, sauteing turns cabbage into sheer nirvana. It gets a sweetness yet retains a nice bite. And it’s ridiculously easy.
Ingredients:
1 cabbage, cut into 1″ squares (They will all fall apart so no need to be precise.)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 fresh ground black pepper
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the butter and as soon as it is mostly melted (happens quick – watch carefully) dump in all the cabbage and start stirring. If it won’t all fit in the pan, that’s okay. You can add it in stages.
Sautee for several minutes until the cabbage is reduced and edges are starting to brown very slightly. Add the salt and pepper and stir well. Taste and check seasonings.
Serve. Devour. Yum.
That’s it. The simplest ingredients and method turn a plain Jane vegetable into a star. Leave out the butter for a vegan version.
I used the Boursin Cheese recipe from Food.com, and added a few more ingredients to make a slightly softer cheese spread. This is great with crackers, flat bread or fresh veggies.
Ingredients:
8 oz butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 Tbsp plain yogurt (unsweetened, full-fat)
3 Tbsp grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried dill weed
1⁄2 tsp dried marjoram
1⁄2 tsp basil
1⁄2 tsp chives
1⁄2 tsp black pepper
1⁄2 tsp dried thyme, crumbled
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley or 1 heaping Tbsp dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions:
Blend the butter, cream cheese, mayo, yogurt and parmesan cheese until smooth. Dump in all spices and mix well.
Can use immediately, but tastes better if it sits for a half hour or so.
Our friend Sharon recently served us this incredibly delicious Vegeterian/Vegan dish and was kind enough to share the original recipe with me, from CookieandKate.com. I made it almost exactly as shown, and then a couple nights later used the leftover peanut sauce as a dipping sauce for oven-roasted sweet potatoes. It is so delicious and uses ingredients you probably have in your pantry already.
INGREDIENTS
Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup soy sauce (Can use Tamari to be gluten-free)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 and 1/2 Tbsp honey (or agave nectar, to taste)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp water
Roasted vegetables
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1 inch long, ½ inch wide chunks
1 red bell pepper, cored, deseeded, and sliced into bite-sized strips
about 2 Tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (I used more than original recipe.)
1 tsp Sea salt (to taste)
Rice and garnishes
1 1/2 cup jasmine rice (could use any rice, really)
3 green onions sliced into thin rounds (green and white parts)
Handful cilantro, chopped
Handful peanuts, crushed
Sriracha sauce on the side (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mix 2 Tbsp of olive oil, salt and cumin. Put the sweet potatoes in a roasting pan and drizzle with about 2/3 of the oil. Drop the peppers in the remaining oil and toss them. You’ll add them to the pan a bit later.
Spread the sweet potatoes out, but leave about 1/4 of the pan empty. Bake for 15 minutes and toss. Then add the peppers in the empty space and continue roasting for another 20 minutes. Check to be sure the potatoes are cooked and the peppers are soft and starting to caramelize.
In the meantime, cook the rice. Add 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice and 1 tsp kosher salt to a pot. Add a bit less than three cups of water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cover and cook for 25 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Make the sauce: in a bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients. If the sauce is too thick whisk in a little more water.
To serve: Spoon rice onto a large serving dish, and top with sweet potatoes, then peppers, a nice heavy drizzle of sauce, and sprinkle chopped green onions, cilantro and peanuts. Serve any extra sauce in a little pitcher.
To serve it as a dipping sauce for sweet potato fries, just gently stir in the onions, cilantro and peanuts. So good!
Made this for Kumy’s birthday last week while we were away from home. We had kind of limited supplies, but I’d brought a couple of Tbsp of Thai Green Curry Paste, which made it crazy easy. We were all starved and this was the perfect dish!
2 Tbsp Olive Oil 1 Eggplant, not peeled – cut into 1″ cubes 1 green pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces 1 small onion, cut into fat slivers 1 carrot, julienned 1 lb. chicken tenders, cut into small bite-sized pieces 2 Tbsp Mae Ploy Green Curry Paste 1/2 cup coconut milk 1/2 cup water 1 Tbsp sugar 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce (optional – I didn’t have any and it was still good) juice from 1/2 lime pinch red pepper flakes (totally optional – the paste is already very spicy) 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup Thai Basil Leaves, julienned (optional – I didn’t have any and still good)
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet until it’s quite hot. Add eggplant and cook, flipping the eggplant to sear it. Cook for 5 minutes or so, then add the onion, peppers and carrot and saute for another 3-4 minutes, or until the onion is transparent and the peppers are softened. Add the chicken and continue cooking 3-4 more minutes.
Shift veggies to the edges, and add a little more oil, and the green curry paste. Cook the green curry paste for a couple of minutes and add 1/2 cup water, the juice of 1/2 a lime and the salt and red pepper flakes. Stir everything together well and add the coconut milk. Cook for just another 30 seconds to warm the coconut milk and serve over rice.
Would probably be great with chopped peanuts, too.
Update: Last night Maya and the gals made amazing vegan egg rolls, which Samir fried. Since we had a lot of folks home for supper, I made this dish without chicken, and realized it really doesn’t need the red pepper flakes! Taylor made Sherry Trifle, so it was fine dining all around.
Everyone has a dish that is their knock out dish, and Pilau Biryani is mine. I’ve made it for graduations, parties and most recently for a wedding. (5 catering trays worth!) It’s a fairly simple dish, but so ridiculously tasty. I use a spice mix called Shan Pilau Biryani mix, which is available online or in Indian grocery stores.
This makes a really nice big batch, but leftovers never last at our house. I do make the recipe a little differently than on the box, but it’s still pretty close. If you decide to make a half box/batch, try to make sure you get roughly half of the big spices as well. It is also traditional to leave big spices like cardamom, cloves, black peppers , pieces of cinnamon etc. in the dish that you simply pick out while you are eating.
There are basically three layers in this dish: a chicken and gravy layer, a rice layer and an onion layer that all get gently tossed togther just before serving. I often start the onion layer first, since it takes quite a while to get the rich, brown color and sweetness.
Ingredients
1 box Shan Pilau Biryani Mix (See box image below) 3 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces (two portions from Costco) 1 1/2 Tbsp crushed Garlic 1 1/2 Tbsp crushed fresh Ginger (you can also grate the ginger on a ceramic grater, or a microplane) 1 cup water (may need more) 1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred well plus more for serving 3 1/2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and drained 5 1/2 cups of water 1 Tbsp kosher salt 3-4 large onions, thinly sliced 1/2 cup olive oil
To make the chicken base: In large pot, mix the chicken, spice mix, garlic, ginger and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked and soft. (Probably about an hour.) The chicken will release some liquid, and you want to end up with about 2 cups of gravy (in addition to the chicken of course). So if you end up with too much more, cook it uncovered a little longer. If you have less, add a little more water.
Remove from heat and pour the yogurt over it evenly.
To make the rice layer: In a separate pot, bring 5 1/2 cups water to a boil and add the rice and 1 Tbsp salt. Stir, cover and reduce heat. Cook until just about done, roughly 15 minutes. Layer it evenly over the chicken and gravy. The rice will finish cooking and absorbing moisture in the oven.
If you get a red powder packet in the biryani mix, sprinkle it on top of the rice for nice bits of yellow color. Sometimes it’s not in the box – which is a bummer, but not a fatal flaw.
To make the fried onions: Fry the thinly sliced onions in olive oil, stirring frequently until they are dark golden brown and caramelized. This does take quite a while. Keep the onions and the oil they were fried in.
Alternatively, you can bake the onions. Mix the oil and onions on a large baking sheet and bake them at 275 degrees for an hour or so. The onions may turn pinkish first, for some weird reason, but just give them a stir from time to time and let them continue cooking until they are a warm golden brown color. For my nephew’s wedding, I baked two big bags of onions from Costco. I think you could smell onions frying from two blocks away!
Ladle the fried onions and the oil on top of the rice, and cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and gently mix up the chicken and rice portion with a big spoon or saucer, and serve on a big platter. Serve with plain yogurt or a simple raita (spiced yogurt and vegetables.)
For a vegan version, substitute 3 cans of rinsed garbanzo beans, one cup of shelled pistachios, and 1 cup of frozen peas for the meat, adding the peas on top at the end and recovering the dish with foil a few minutes before you mix the biryani.
To make ahead and freeze: Make the chicken and gravy mixture and pour into a freezer-safe baking dish. Make onions and freeze them and the oil you fried them in in a ziploc bag, flattened as much as possible. When you want to serve it, take the chicken and gravy and the onions out and let them thaw. Make the rice and layer the rice on top of the chicken, then the onions and oil. Bake as usual. Works like a charm.
It always seems like we’re noshing all day when everyone is home, and I wanted to try something different for New Year’s Eve. I made a version of Jenn Laughlin’s cheese spread and it was ridiculously delicious, and also so easy!
Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup almonds, crushed (I used Trader Joe’s Sesame Honey Almonds, but you can use regular salted almonds, or other slightly-sweetened almonds.)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (I used flat leaf parsley) or Basil
1/4 cup Sarabeth’s Orange Apricot Marmalade
4-5 dried apricots, chopped
honey for drizzling
Blend the cream cheese and feta cheese.
In a gallon zip lock bag, pound the almonds until they are crushed. (I used a wooden potato masher.) Add the parsley and apricots. (I was out of apricots so I skipped them.)
On a long, narrow plate, carefully spoon out the Orange Apricot preserves. (We love Sarabeth’s Orange Apricot Marmalade, but you could use 1/2 apricot preserves, and 1/2 marmalade.) I might use a big more marmalade next time, or try warming it and drizzling it over with the honey.
Carefully cut the top off the bag of nuts and parsley. Gather the cheese mixture into a roughly long log shape and drop it into the nuts mixture. Press the mixture into the bottom of the log, and then carefully rotate the log to get nuts on all side. You can also square up the ends of the log, and press nuts into them.
Carefully remove the cheese log and place it on the marmalade. Drizzle lightly with honey. Garnish with a few parsley leaves, and serve with hearty crackers or slices of Granny Smith apples.
Jenn Laughlin says it’s also great with fig preserves.
For a recent party, we served Po’Boys and for my vegan friends I made them with Cajun-roasted Cauliflower. It was crazy easy and makes a wonderful sandwich.
Just back from Niobrara, where we had some amazing meals in our cabin, especially the dinner where Ali grilled steaks!
Little Brown Cookbook 