Posts Tagged ‘cauliflower’

I think the one thing I hate the most about Texas summers is the fact that I cannot avoid putting on a bathing suit.  I try trust me.  I have a myriad of excuses up my sleeve and more swim suit cover ups than anyone needs.  I also hate my knees.  I know it is weird but my knees are ugly.  Ok EVERYONE’s knees are ugly but I especially hate mine.  I feel like when I put on a bathing suit my knees are screaming for everyone to look at them.  All my friends know that when I say “geez that girl has really great knees”  that this is the nicest compliment I can give someone.  My knees are white and chubby and I can never quite shave every hair off of every odd angle which is super attractive (sarcasm placed here).  This summer I have decided I’m going to deal with this whole knees/bathing suit issue by just giving in.  I’m going to go shopping in 3.5 weeks for a new swim suit because I have a lake party to attend and I’m pretty sure no one will let me on the boat in jeans…

I plan to face this swim suit issue head on and start working out my knees, amoung other obvious areas that lack in perfection that we really don’t need to talk about today.  I mean for heavens sake this is a food blog right?  I don’t want you all leaving grossed out!!

So for the next 3.5 weeks it will be all healthy skinny knee recipes for you!  Are you ready knees??  Let’s do this.

Serves 4 people with chubby knees.

Hot Mama Tilapia:

4 Tilapia filet’s

1 tbs. olive oil

2 Jalapenos

1 tsp Cumin

1 Lime

1/2 Red onion

1 tsp Garlic

1 tsp Black Pepper

Avocado Sauce:

1 ripe Avocado

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 TBS diced red onion

Veggie broth

Cauliflower Mashers:

1 head of white Cauliflower

sea salt to taste

black pepper to taste

1 tsp crushed garlic

1/2 jalapeno de-seeded

Hot Mama Tilapia:

Pat each Tilapia fillet with a paper towel to make sure the fish is as dry as possible.    Dice up the jalapeno and onion and set aside.    Heat the olive oil in a large pan.  When the oil is hot add the garlic, red onion, and jalapenos.  Cook for about 1 minute just enough to really let the garlic open up but not burn.  Add in the Tilapia and spritz each fillet with the limes juice. Dust each fillet with the cumin, pepper and garlic.  Flip the tilapia over and spritz with the lime and dust with more of the spices.  It is ok if the red onion mixture is in the way of the fish touching the pan this will actually help with the flavor of the fish.  Cook the fish all the way through and plate.  This should only take about 5-8 minutes.  Sprinkle each fillet with the left over ingredients in the pan.

Avocado Sauce:

In a small food processor puree the ripe avocado, garlic, onion, and about 1 tbls of veggie broth until creamy.  Add more veggie broth as needed to reach desired consistency.  Drizzle over plated tilapia.

Cauliflower Mashers:

Boil enough water to submerge cauliflower in a large pot.  Cut off stems of cauliflower and discard.  Add the tops of the cauliflower to the boiling water and cook until the cauliflower is soft.  (You want to be able to stab the cauliflower with a fork easily)  Don’t over cook or it will just disintegrate.

Pat dry the cauliflower and place it in a large food processor.  Add all the additional ingredients and puree until you reach a similar consistency to mashed potatoes.   This is normally when I would tell you to add Asiago cheese but I will have skinny knees so I’m not going to.  If you have skinny knees than I suggest adding about 1 cup of Asaigo cheese and mixing it all together.

Recipe Card

Slowly over the past month my entire office has been getting sick.  One or two people here and there start coughing and sneezing and then pass it along to the next round of people.   

I was a good little girl this year and actually got my flu shoot so I was feeling pretty confident about not coming down with a crazy sickness.   I have also been drinking lots of hot green tea, taking vitamins and washing my hands so much they are cracked and dry.  None-the-less I’m feeling like poop anyway.  My neck is achy, my nose is running and I have a head ache.  I’m afraid this is just the beginning of a not so fun week for my poor little hubby. 

See, when I get sick I don’t want to do anything.  I’m not the type that needs any babying but I get awfully grouchy.  I just don’t want to talk.  Period.  You would think this wouldn’t be such a bad trait but as my husband will attest, it kind of is….  See, instead of talking I get whiny and I glare at him.  (yes even more whiny – shut it) I expect him to read my mind.  See how this might be a problem?  I mean come on – I’m pretty much perfect in every other way so a week of mean stares for no reason can’t be that bad right?!? 

This soup is something I like to make when I get sick.  It is low in calories so I can keep my new years resolution but has really great flavor.  (or at least it normally does.  I can’t breathe right now which means I can’t taste anything….  Michael said it was awesome) I like to eat spicy things when I’m sick, to you know, open up the sinuses….  Which is kind of gross.  Sorry ya’ll.  :)

Ingredients:

1tbs olive oil

2 medium sized shallots

2 tbs crushed garlic

1 head cauliflower cut into medium pieces (I used purple cauliflower which is why my soup is a bit brown, feel free to use either color.)

2 jalapenos chopped and de-seeded

1 rutabaga skinned and chopped

2 tsp ginger root

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seed

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp turmeric

2 tbs diced cilantro

4 cups veggie stock

1/2 cup milk

1 cup asiago cheese – leave this step out if you want to cut out the calories, but man it is tasty with it!

Sour cream as a garnish if desired.

In a large pot heat the oil until hot.  Add the sliced shallots and garlic.  Cook them until the shallots are caramelized being careful not to burn the garlic.  Add in the cauliflower, jalapenos, and the rutabaga cooking for about 5 minutes.  Add in all of the spices, stirring them in and combining everything slowly.  Lastly add in the stock and the milk.  Cook everything stirring occasionally for about 15-20 minutes.  You want the cauliflower to break apart easily with a fork but not be mushy.  Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor leaving out most of the liquid.  Puree the mixture until it is smooth but still has texture.  A few quick pulses should do it.  Add the blended mixture back to the pot with the reserved liquid and stir in the cheese until it melts.  Serve hot and garnish with cilantro, sour cream, and a little bit of cheese if desired.

I know I always talk about the dishes I prepare, but I thought I would bring you something a bit different today.  Some of you may already know this, but my other half really enjoys cooking.  And he is a very good cook.  I know…you’re jealous, aren’t you?!  Craig and I may not have too many shared hobbies, but cooking is definitely one of them.

Last Sunday when I was drowning in my final memo for school, Craig decided to cook us a nice dinner.  I had been writing for two days (literally) and he had been busy with school work as well.  We needed a quiet sit-down dinner together.  Craig found a beautiful cauliflower recipe in that morning’s Wall Street Journal and set out to plan and prepare our meal.  He grilled some thick New York strip steaks and we paired them with this roasted cauliflower.  It was a simple meal with really clean flavors.

We’ve both tried really hard to eat well while we’re in school.  Eating out is so expensive and let’s face it…it’s fattening!  With great recipes like this one, eating at home is easy and delicious.

Roasted Cauliflower
Adapted from the Wall Street Journal

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 head cauliflower, cut into medium florets
1 onion, sliced
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a large bowl, whisk 1/4 cup olive oil and all spices, including salt, together.  Add cauliflower florets and toss until well coated.  Spread cauliflower on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes.  Flip florets half-way through roasting time.

In a medium saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until they are soft and translucent, about 6-8 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and stir in roasted cauliflower.  Add parsley and toss to combine.

Serves 4.