Roasted Cauliflower with Capers, Pomegranate, and Walnuts

We have been eating a lot of cauliflower the past couple weeks. Cauliflower because who doesn't love it? But also because I froze a shit ton of it and found the stash in the deep freezer.

This is just a little something something that I have thrown together a few times and really enjoy. Basically a roasted cauliflower salad with yummy things and those yummy things are pomegranate arils, capers, and walnuts. It is fast, simple, and super delicious. A very satisfying and healthy salad situation. Perfect for winter.

Now to the cauliflower and stuff.

The stuff. Cauliflower (use fresh or frozen) pomegranate arils, capers, walnuts, a lemon, a splash of olive oil, and salt and pepper. There should also be a clove of garlic…where did it go?

Chop cauliflower into bite sized pieces.

Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and place into a preheated oven.

Rough chop walnuts and mince garlic while cauliflower is roasting.

Once the cauliflower is nice and roasted, pull pan out and toss on the garlic, walnuts, and capers, and pop the pan back into the oven for a few more minutes to slightly cook the garlic and toast up the walnuts.

And then you pull it out of the oven, dump it all into a big bowl, toss in the pomegranate arils, squeeze some lemon on top, and add pepper and a pinch of salt if you need it.

That is it. Now eat it.

-C

---

Roasted Cauliflower with Capers, Pomegranate and Walnuts

• small head of cauliflower (or a lb of frozen)

• 1/2 cup pomegranate arils

• 2 tablespoons capers

• a handful of walnuts

• olive oil

• a clove of garlic

• salt and peper

• juice from half a lemon

Preheat oven to 450

Chop cauliflower into bit size pieces and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and then place in oven and roast until nice and brown, usually about 25 minutes.

While roasting, roughy chop walnuts and mince garlic.

Once cauliflower is roasted, remove pan form oven and toss in the minced garlic, chopped walnuts, and the capers. Pop back into oven for about 5 more minutes just to slightly cook the garlic and toast and warm up the walnuts and capers. After those 5 minutes, remove the baking sheet and transfer everything into a bowl. Add in the pomegranate arils, squeeze in the juice of the lemon , and season with salt and pepper.

Then eat it.

Winter Squash, Beet, and Avocado Toast

I don’t know about you but this weekend I just want to keep things simple. And easy. (That applies to life and food.) And I’m pretty sure that I am not the only one.

Which brings me the toast, or fancy toast as some people call it. Simple in it’s own right of being a piece of bread cooked until lightly crunchy and toasty. Piled on with stuff, almost like a sandwich, but it left opened faced because, well just because. This particular piece toast is piled on with stuff is what I have been eating all week (roasted squash, beets and avocado) and am pretty sure is my new favorite food combination.

So for lunch, wanting to share my favorite flavors, I toasted a nice big piece of my homemade sourdough, grabbed the stuff (some people call left overs which you might have bunch of but I just call it ready to eat food) and made the mr a fantastic, beautiful, and delicious piece of goodness that we call toast.

The mr, well he was a little spectacle at first but one bite and he was in. Might just be his new favorite food combo too.

Gosh he is lucky I have such good taste. HA

Now to the Toast!!!

The stuff. A good add piece of bread. (or rolls, or baguette.. whatever you have). Also need mashed winter squash (I used mashed butternut and there is also sweet potato in there too). Roasted and sliced beet, 1/2 an avocado, a little red cabbage, salt and pepper, a splash of vinegar, and red pepper flakes.

How it’s done. Step 1. Toast bread to preferred toasted-ness. Step 2. Cover entire side (right to the edges) with mashed up winter squash. Step 3. Add on sliced roasted beet. Step 4. Layer on avocado then mash it up. Step 5. Add on shredded cabbage Step 6. Drizzle on vinegar and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Last step. EAT IT!

-C

---

Winter Squash, Beet, and Avocado Toast

makes one great piece of toast

• a few slices of roasted or steamed beet (cold or warm)

• about 1/3 cup mashed winter squash and or sweet potato (cold or warm)

• 1/2 an avocado

• 1 big piece of good bread

• salt and pepper

• teaspoon red or white wine vinegar

• a small little handful of shredded cabbage (optional)

• red pepper flakes

Grab great bread and toast it to your preferred toastedness. Once toasted cover with mashed squash then add on the sliced beet. Now grab avocado, place on top of beets and mash with a fork, Top with shredded cabbage and drizzle the top with the vinegar. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flake.

Eat.

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

Soup makes everything better and that friends is a fact. Seriously think about it. When you are cold, a hot cup of soup will warm you. Are you hot, a cold cup a of soup will cool you down. Feeling a little sick or a bit blue? Of course you need soup. And if you are happy as a calm, well soup will just make you happier. There is not one situation were soup doesn’t enhance the situation. Unless it is shitty soup. Or you asked for pizza and got soup, But pizza soup..I bet you would like that.

This butternut squash apple soup is not shitty, it is fantastic so you are good. Creamy and lush and packed full of flavor without being overbearing. It feels indulgent but it is not for it is made of basic ingredients that may sound a little simple, but sometime simple is all you need to really pull a deliciously flavorful soup together. The butternut, when blended, gets super thick and creamy. The apple adds a nice brightness and depth, and there is onion and spices to round it all out. It is just a great soup. And even better for me, I made it the other day when I woke up to the first snow. It really was the best just looking out the window, seeing snow, eating soup.

Snow and soup. My happy place. HA!

Now to the soup!

The stuff. Butternut squash, a couple apples, an onion, ground ginger and thyme, apple cider vinegar,a couple cloves of garlic, and salt and pepper. Red pepper flakes if you want a little heat.

Start by dicing up the onion and garlic. Small pieces are good so you don’t need to be fancy. just cut it up and toss it into a big pot along with the ginger and thyme. Place on the stove on medium heat, add a splash of water, and let it start to cook down.

Now apples. Remove cores and chop 3/4 of the apple into chunks. Reserve a piece and cut into thin pieces. Place the pieces into a bowl and dump the apple cider vinegar on top.

And now the squash. Peel or cut skin from flesh (I have left the skin on before but it gets a little creamier without it so I cut it off and roost the skin separately… The skin is my favorite!) then cut squash into smaller cubes.

Once the onions soften up a bit, add in the squash and apple. Add in water and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring heat to high and get water boiling, then place a lid partially on pot and turn heat to medium again. Let cook for about 40 minutes.

Tender and falling apart. A few minutes before you take it off the heat, pour the apple cider vinegar from the reserves apples into the soup.

Now it just needs it to be blended. (Immersion or regular blender in small batches will do the trick)

Blended and creamy dreamy good.

All is left to do is grab a bowl, ladling in soup, top with some sliced apple, a pinch of red pepper, and lots of black pepper.

Spoon? Why yes, that would be great.

Happy souping!

-C

---

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

makes 4-6 serving

• 1 small butternut squash (about 4 cups cubed)

• 2 Macintosh apples

• 1 large onion

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 3 cups water

• I teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• red pepper flakes (optional)

• salt and pepper

Start with the onion. Remove skin and dice it up into smallish chunks. Grab garlic, remove skin and cut into small pieces. Place it all into a big pot. Add in the thyme and ginger and add a few splashes of water just to wet the onions. Put the pot on stove on medium heat to start to sweat the onions.

Now grab apple. Remove cores. Take about 1/4 of a apple and cut into long thin pieces and place into a small bowl. Dum in apple cider vinegar and set aside. Cut the remaining apple into chunks.

Squash. Cut away or peel the skin, cut in half and remove the seeds (keep both the seeds and skin to roast and eat later) and cut the flesh into chunks.

Add the cut up squash and apple to the pot with cooking onions. Add in water, stir around, and turn heat to high. Once the soup starts to boil, partially place a lid on the pot and bring heat back down to medium. Let cook until the squash is tender and is starting to fall apart, which should take about 40 minutes. A few minutes before you take the soup off the heat stir in the apple cider vinegar from the cut up apples.

Once everything is cooked through it just needs to be blended either with a immersion blender or a regular blender. IF doing a regular blender, just be careful and do it in batches so you don’t burn yourself. Blend until smooth. Taste it and check for seasoning (salt and pepper).

And then you eat it. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with pepper and red pepper flakes and top with a few pieces of pickled apple slices. Spoon to soup to face.

Peach Granola

Granola is a weakness of mine, well good granola is. I don’t really call most stuff of the stuff you can buy at the store really granola, it is more like sugary candy crap that is marketed to be good for you when it really is not. That shit is gross and that’s my truth.

Real granola, or the kind I make, is the basic bitch of granola. All it is is oats, a spice or two, salt, and a pureed up fruit (or veggies). Sometimes I will add a seed or nut at the end, or maybe even a little coconut or some other dried fruit. There is no added sweetener added, no added oils, just straight up oats and fruit.. And it’s clumpy and crunchy, and all sorts of frantastic. It really is what every granola should strive to be.

The last batch I made was peach because, if you didn’t know, it is peach season. Plus peach granola is delicious. That is fact. (unless you don’t like peaches).

Now to the granola!

The stuff. Old fashion oats, a couple of ripe peaches, cinnamon, salt, and a little water.

Cut peaches in half, remove pits, and cut into chunks.

Place peach chunks into blender and blend until smooth.

Mix the cinnamon and salt with the oats.

Pour the peach puree into the oats.

Mix until evenly incorporated and a little clumpy. If the oats are all moist but not creating any clumps, add a few tablespoons water until there is some clumping going on.

Dump mixture onto a baking sheet, You can line it, but I don’t bother.

Pop into preheated oven to bake for about 25 minutes then remove from oven and toss around. Stick it back into oven for 25 more minutes or so. After 45-50 minutes of being in the oven, turn oven off and just let granola cool in oven. It’s key to crispy granola.

Cooled off and all crispy and clumpy. Granola at it’s finest.

Into a jar to save some for later to eat however you want.

Me, I like handfuls straight into my mouth, chased by a little oat milk. Hehe!

-C

---

Peach Granola

makes 2 1/2 cups

• 2 peaches

• 2 1/2 cups old fashion oats

• a few tablespoons of water (if needed)

• 1-2 tablespoons cinnamon

• pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375

Cut peaches in half, remove pits, and cut into a few chunks. Place chunks into a blender and blend until smooth.

Place oats into a big bowl and mix in the salt and cinnamon then dump in the peach puree. Mix until completely incorporated and a little clumpy. IF there are no clumps, add a few tablespoons water and mix. Dump mixture onto a baking sheet and evenly distribute. Place baking granola into oven to bake.

Bake for 25 minutes, remove the granola and toss around with a spatula, then place back into oven and bake for another 25-30 minutes. After being in the oven for a total of 45-50ish minutes, turn oven off but keep granola in oven to cool. This is key to a good crispy granola.

After cooling off in oven, remove and eat. Place what is not eaten in an airtight container. Eat within a week or so.

Summer Strawberry Sparkling Lemonade

You know that taste, that taste of when you bite into something and it just takes you to a certain time and gives you that certain feeling? Freshly picked strawberries. They always give me all the warm feels and plaster a big smile on my face, especially when I am munching while picking. In those moments, nothing else matters except eating as many as possible and savoring every fresh burst of goodness that fills my mouth. It is exactly what summer tastes like.

A couple of days ago I went and did a little strawberry picking and brought home a bounty of greatness. I ate half, froze a few, and made this fresh lemonade situation because what is better then a glass of cold ass lemonade in the middle of a freaking hot summer day? Strawberry lemonade is, sparkling strawberry lemonade.

It is everything summer should be.

I knew how perfectly perfect this summer drink was when the mr had his drink in hand, took a sip, and said that it tasted like when he was a kid and would spend his days hunting for, picking, and eating the most delicious wild strawberries. I proceeded to laugh a little, thinking to myself, “well what a fancy dreamy childhood you had.” HA. But really though, that right there is truth my friends. Fresh strawberries are little gems of summertime happiness.

Now to the summer strawberry sprakinling lemonade!

The stuff. Freshly picked strawberries, a couple lemons, and plain seltzer water.

Easy as can be. Juice lemons until you have 1/2 cup juice. Remove stems from strawberries and add to lemon juice, then either with a stick blender or regular one, blend until smooth.

I didn’t add any sweetener to mine because we don’t like super sweet and the berries are way sweet enough for us. But if you want, add a little sweetener of your choice and blend in. Go easy though, maybe a couple teaspoons. You can always add more if you need too.

Basically all you do now is pour a bit of puree into a cup, add an ice cube, slowly pour seltzer in, and give it a little stir.

Garnish with a lemon wedge and a cute little strawberry and enjoy the taste of summer.

-C

---

Summer Strawberry Sparkling Lemonade

makes 2-3 drinks

• 1-2 lemons (1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice)

• 1/2 a pint ( or about 12 small to medium strawberries) fresh strawberries

• plain seltzer, mineral water, or club soda

• a few teaspoons of liquid sweetener of your choice if using

• ice

Juice lemons until you have 1/2 a cup off juice. Place in a jar or blender. Remove stems from strawberries and add to the lemon juice. Either with a hand blender or a regular blender, blend until completely smooth. If you are using any sweetener, you can add a little in now and blend in.

For drinks. Pour the strawberry lemon puree into 2-3 cups. Add an ice cube or two and slowly add about a cup of seltzer to each drink (you can add more of less seltzer to your liking). Gently mix with a spoon. Garnish with lemon and a sweet little strawberry if you like.