Rosemary Cauliflower Flatbread

I'm not a big bread eater, but I was really wanting flatbread a few nights ago....so I decided to try my hand at making a flatbread from cauliflower! I had some cauliflower getting lonely in my fridge, so I gave it a turn in the spotlight and it delivered! It was actually quite easy! Here is how it all went down....

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
1 head of cauliflower
3 tbsp dried rosemary
Salt and pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup almond flour (or whatever flour you choose)

I started with one head of cauliflower, which I chopped and put in a blender until all of the chunks were crumbly. Cauliflower actually holds a bit of water, so you'll want to place the crumbled cauliflower in a cheese cloth (or you can use a thin towel or t-shirt) and squeeze out the liquid. The cauliflower will take on somewhat of a rice consistency. I then mixed the cauliflower with 3 eggs, flour, rosemary, and 1 tsp of salt and pepper. Mix until you get a consistency like this, or if you prefer, you can blend to a smoother consistency.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a large scoop and spread in a circular shape. Bake at 390F for 12 minutes, then flip the flatbread and bake for an additional 7-10 minutes, or until it is slightly browned. The flatbread should look similar to this when it comes out of the oven (I cut mine in half).


You can add anything you like to top this flatbread! I chose to add sauteed red onions (in balsamic vinegar), avocado, figs and goat cheese. Here is how it turned out....

I encourage you to try it if you are looking for something tasty and unique! Bon appetit!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Several red bell peppers were bought and trashed with the intention of making this recipe (why do they go badly so quickly?!?), but I finally got around to putting something together, and it was quite delightful! Traditional recipes call for rice and ground beef, but I'm not a big eater of either, so I elected to go grain-free, add broccoli slaw and substitute the beef for ground turkey. So, without further ado.... 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

INGREDIENTS (Serves 2)

2 large red bell peppers

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup broccoli slaw

1 cup chopped red onion

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 cups tomato or pasta sauce (I used Classico Tomato and Basil)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp allspice

1/2 pound lean ground turkey

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cut top 1/2 inch off of peppers and discard (or reserve if you want to chop them and add them back in to stuff the pepper. Scoop seeds from the peppers and discard.
3. In large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add onions, parsley, garlic and broccoli slaw (and chopped red pepper pieces, if you choose). Saute' until onions and broccoli slaw soften, approximately 8 minutes.
4. In separate skillet, season turkey with salt and pepper and brown until cooked thoroughly (the turkey should cook while the veggies are cooking).
5. Add 1 cup tomato/pasta sauce and turkey to the skillet with the veggies. Add paprika and allspice. Stir and simmer on low for 10 minutes.
6. In baking dish, fill pepper cavities with the mixture, and pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers. Sprinkle peppers with Parmesan cheese (to your liking).
7. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes until peppers are tender.
8. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and serve!

Salt and pepper, to taste.

These are great reheated as well! ENJOY!!!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Back in May, I went out to California to visit my wonderful gal pal, Rachael (who, actually, was the initial kick-in-the-pants motivator for changing the way I ate over a year ago. Although, it did take me about 6 months to get serious about it). So...THANKS, RACHAEL! Anyhoo...after a long hike in Temescal Canyon (straight uphill...again, thanks Rachael), we dined at this fabulous eatery called  +True Food Kitchen in Santa Monica. The food was creative, fresh and delightful! It is definitely one of my favorite places to eat, and I discovered we had one here in Dallas which was some of the best news I received all year!

Ok, I digress. About a month ago, I wandered over to True Food Kitchen for lunch and chose a spaghetti squash casserole to dine on. WOW! It was really wonderful and I instantly decided that I needed to try and recreate it! And that, I did. Of course, I added a thing or two as I always do, but I highly recommend this very low-calorie, but highly flavorful recipe!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole (garnished with grated parmesan cheese and asian microgreens)

Now, this is not a quick recipe...it will take about an hour to prepare this dish, but the bulk of the time is roasting the spaghetti squash (which takes about 30 minutes). And, I actually skip making my own tomato sauce and just choose a great organic sauce which saves about 20 minutes as well.

Total cooking time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS
1 medium spaghetti squash
5 roasted garlic cloves
1 cup broccoli slaw
4 oz fresh mozzarella
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 jar, organic tomato (or pasta) sauce
Parsley, basil, or microgreen leaves (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut squash in half lengthwise; scoop out seeds. Place with cut side down in a baking dish; Cover and bake at 375° for 20-30 minutes or until it is easily pierced with a fork. When cool enough to handle, scoop out squash, separating the strands with a fork.
2. In the same baking dish, roast garlic cloves (with the squash) for 20 minutes until softened. Once softened, squeeze garlic out of its skin and set aside.
3. Slice mozzarella into small slivers. Set aside.
4. In a skillet, heat tomato sauce with 1 cup of broccoli slaw. Cook and stir for 15 minutes while squash is baking. Simmer on low once broccoli slaw softens.
5. In a large bowl, mix spaghetti squash with roasted garlic, mozzarella, broccoli slaw and tomato sauce. Transfer mixture to an ungreased 1.5 qt. baking dish (I use my Corningware). Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25 minutes until mixture starts to bubble. 
6. Take out of oven, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley, basil leaves, or microgreens.
7. Let stand for several minutes before serving.

As always, ENJOY!

20-Minute Deliciousness

I fully planned on eating dinner at a friend's house tonight, but ended up having to get some work done, so I headed home instead...and I hadn't planned dinner. I'm a couple days overdue for a grocery adventure, so I put my thinking cap on, and cooked up this yummy meal in about 20 minutes with some random things in my kitchen! Sometimes you just gotta get creative!

Curry-roasted shrimp, with roasted peach, chayote and basil medley, baked tomato and a peach-basil yogurt dip.

INGREDIENTS

Raw shrimp (if you can get them already deveined, great!)

Peaches (you can get them canned, I won't judge you...but drain the juice out of the can)

Basil leaves

Tomato

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt

Chayote (Mexican squash)...you can use regular summer squash, too...I just think chayote is fantastic!

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt (or regular salt will be fine)

1/2 tsp ground pepper (I like mine freshly grounded, but you can use the pepper shaker, if you like)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the peach (or use 1/2 canned peach slices -- drain the juice out of the can) and spread the slices on the baking sheet. Sprinkle peaches with 1/4 tsp salt. On the same baking sheet, roast 1/2 tomato and quartered slices of squash (or chayote). Roast peaches, tomato and squash for 14 minutes.
2. In separate bowl, mix shrimp with olive oil, curry powder and the remaining 1/4 tsp of salt. As soon as the peaches, chayote and tomato come out of the oven, set them aside and put the shrimp on the baking sheet, and roast for no longer than 5 minutes.
3. Peach-basil yogurt: put remaining peach slices in blender or food processor with crushed red pepper. Mix blended peach mixture with greek yogurt and chopped basil leaves. Set aside.
4. Once shrimp comes out of the oven, mix chayote and peaches (add a bit of chopped basil), and plate all food (see above picture). Put peach-basil yogurt in a separate dish to dip the curry shrimp in...or you could spread the yogurt over the shrimp...either way, it's yummy.

AND ENJOY!

Much Ado About Scallops

It's no secret I'm a seafood enthusiast. On my 10th birthday, all long-limbed and twiggy, I proceeded to devour 3 lbs of snow crab legs...by myself....with room for more! I've always loved seafood and always will....I think it's the New Englander in me. 

Anyway, one of my Dad's favorite seafood dishes is scallops and I remember him eating them from time to time when I was a kiddo, but I don't think I really tried them until a few years ago. They are delicious! And now, I eat them so much, I'm kind of burned out on them, but they are easy to cook and actually, quite good for you! 

I usually just pan sear them and throw them on top of a salad, but I had some cauliflower and heirloom tomatoes I needed to use, so I whipped up this quick, delicious meal.

Scallops, chili-spiced mashed cauliflower, heirloom tomato and feta salad

The salad is pretty self-explanatory (pick your favorite greens, chop tomato, sprinkle feta and some balsamic vinaigrette, and ta-da! Salad complete! You could add some pine nuts for a little something extra, too)

Cauliflower is actually equally as easy to make! I modified this recipe since I didn't want to use olive oil in my cauliflower, so I added a little zip by adding a tablespoon of some chili-spiced cream cheese I bought for a dinner party a few weeks back.

Broiled scallops are quick and very easy... Turn the broiler on high. Pat your scallops dry, season with coarse sea salt and black pepper and set aside. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to shallow baking dish (I just use my Pyrex) and place scallops in dish. Broil for 5 minutes, flip scallops over and broil for an additional 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika (for color). Serve immediately.

ENJOY! 

Grilled Eggplant Pizzas

I've bought several eggplants over the past few months, and guess what? They all went bad and ended up in the trash after I couldn't decide to what to do with them. Last week, I bought another one and decided today to hop on Pinterest and found this wonderful recipe! 

Here is the version I made on the right: 

I added cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, basil, sunflower greens, crushed red pepper and red onion. It was wonderful! And for once, they are just as pretty as the Pinterest picture (cause we all know how RARE that is)!

The original recipe (see link embedded) called for a grill, but these turned out just fine with a grill pan on the stove top. All in all, the meal took about 20 minutes to make...very easy...and I think I'll make it again tomorrow for lunch, and this time, I'll drizzle some balsamic vinegar on top for an added zip!