New Favorite Thing: Cauliflower Rice

After becoming gluten intolerant, I've been relying on corn, rice and quinoa products.  Quinoa pasta is definitely my favorite, and I enjoy using it as a grain in replacement for rice.  However, as much as I would love to eat nothing but rice all day - I've learned I definitely need to limit my rice intake where possible.

A good friend of mine, who is intolerant to ALL grains, recommended using cauliflower as my "rice" for Thai food.  I was skeptical, as was G$, however it's definitely a great substitute!

Here's a recipe:

What you need:

• Cauliflower head cut up in fourths
• Steamer
• Pinch of Salt
• Microwave

Instructions:

Use a mandalin, chopper or just a knife to finely chop the cauliflower.  The finer the chop, the closer it will be like rice.  Then stick it in the steamer with a pinch of salt.  Be sure to not add any water, as cauliflower has a ton of moisture.  Then microwave for 4 minutes in the steamer.

Voila!  Cauliflower rice.  Layer it under your favorite curry.  I'm enjoying mine with Jungle Curry leftovers.

Brazilian Black Rice - With Some Modifications

Since I am home all week without work travels, I vowed to cook more and get more done around the house.  With yesterday being G$'s first day of work at a new gig (hee hee), I decided a nicer meal than chili was in order.

We've both been dying to try black rice - we've heard its really good for you.  So I found this recipe from Food and Wine online, and made some modifications.  I added clams because I really do adore them with white wine and tomatoes. I used GF/LF free butter, which tastes the EXACT same. I also added a few strands of saffron and three dried red chilies (since G$ prefers food spicy).  It was DELISH.  I think that black rice may end up substituting brown rice in our household.  


Enjoy!

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Recipes provide a source of inspiration to me.  I take the procedure as guidance and then tailor and fine tune it with the random things in my kitchen.  Yesterday, I saw this Couscous Feta Salad from Trader Joe's and this was my inspiration for dinner.  I ended up making a similar concoction with Quinoa. 

Ingredients:
1 cup of quinoa (I used the red kind because its pretty)
1 can of garbanzo beans
3 stalks diced green onion
4 basil leaves
Handful of feta
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon of onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
italian dressing to taste (i would have been ok with just olive oil and balsamic)

Procedure:
Cook qunioa per the package directions (I substitued water for chicken broth).  Allow the quinoa to cool (I stuck it in the fridge while I showered).  Toss all ingredients together and there you have a light meal.  This was our main meal, but it could have made a great side dish with a piece of grilled meat.

Sunday Funday Dinners

Gravy Train has mentioned the idea of Sunday dinners to me for quite some time.  The conversation usually ends with "why don't we live closer, so we could do these all the time!?"  That is something that usually ends our Sunday dinner conversations.

Recently, me and G$ have decided to use Sunday dinners as our opportunity to test new recipes that we can then use when friends come over (and since Gravy Train and Xtian are my only friends that like to eat and are willing to rough it to my 'hood, they can be our guinea pigs).

So in the past few weeks, I want to share what's been on the menu for Sunday Funday dinners:


French Onion Soup with Grilled Cheese

Paired with a 2007 Savannah Chanelle Cab Sauv

Wild Mushroom Rissoto with Seared Scallops and Pancetta

Paired with a 2007 Ledson Sauv Blanc (DELISH, and only $14 / bottle)

Spicy Crab with French Bread Crostinis

Paired with a 2007 Ledson Cab Franc

(G$'s treat to me since it was my bday weekend)

Fresh Sashimi (Octopus, Yellowtail, Salmon, Tuna, Ebi)

Spicy Seaweed Salad

Miso Soup (not pictured)

Paired with a Nigori Sake

The Sunday dinners have been a fun way to end the week, and plan for our next get together at our house.  I'll keep you posted on any other fun ones.  No Sunday dinner this week since I'll be partying it up with Miss N for her big birthday!  Maybe we'll post a joint dinner :)

Mmm....Dirt

Is there any better use for processed snack foods than to make a big pot of cookies 'n cream? There are tons of recipes for dirt cake, but the one my mom (or whoever she got it from) uses is the best IMO. Plus it tastes just as good if you use all fat free/low fat/sugar free ingredients.

Ingredients

1 pack Oreo cookies

1 box Jello vanilla instant pudding

1 (either 8 oz or 12 oz) container Cool Whip

1 brick cream cheese, softened

Preparation

Crush Oreos into fine crumbs using a hammer, rolling pin, or food processor.* Follow package instructions to prepare pudding (usually just mix with milk and let thicken). Mix pudding, Cool Whip, and cream cheese in a large bowl until relatively smooth. Spread a layer of cookie crumbs on the bottom of a flower pot, serving dish, or whatever contributes to the look you're going for. Spread a layer of pudding mixture on top and repeat until all the ingredients are used up, finishing with cookie crumbs on top. Decorate with gummy worms or fake flowers.

*If using regular Oreos, you can refrigerate them beforehand to make them more brittle. I wouldn't recommend it for reduced fat Oreos because the filling gets a bit hard.

Dinner for Three

Because I heart food, I don't hate cooking. However, I don't have a ton of experience with it. I also get obsessive over what to cook for people, how to make things pseudo-healthy, and how do make do if I don't have the correct fancy gadgets. Ms. M and Ms. K were brave enough to be guinea pigs the first time I made a 3-course meal from scratch last week.

Drink

prosecco with muddled fresh pineapple

Appetizers

whole grain bread (store-bought) with herbed dipping sauce

zucchini bites, minus the cheese and sun-dried tomatoes and plus kalamata olives

Entree

spinach ricotta gnocchi with sun-dried tomatoes and basil pesto

Desserts (yes, plural)

individual pumpkin tiramisu with sponge cake instead of ladyfingers

apple blueberry cardamom bread pudding with fresh whipped cream

The zucchini bites were probably my fave since they were basically like bruschetta but in little zucchini bowls. And using a melon baller is fun! The gnocchi was tricky and ended up looking more like little dumplings than the traditional pasta. I had to trash the first sponge cake I made for the tiramisu because it wasn't to my liking, but the second was nice and fluffy. I will totally make the bread pudding again because it was not too rich, customizable, and can be relatively healthy.

Monday's Yummy Dinner - July 12

After many weeks out of my house, I finally decided to stop living like a bum and make a decent grocery run.  After two full grocery trips, our fridge is now stocked like a normal couple's.  So for the first time in three weeks, G and I actually had a meal that required turning on the stove (SHOCKING! I know). 

I wanted to share what we had:  ginger soy pork tenderloin (bought pre-marinated from Gene's), spicy green beans (made by moi) and quinoa (also made by moi).

I've included the recipe for the green beans (you'll learn - my recipe is VERY different than a normal person's)

Ingredients:
*  Fresh sliced green beans
*  1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced
*  1 tsp of minced garlic
*  1 tsp of minced ginger
*  1.5 tsp of five spice powder
*  Olive oil
*  Chili oil
*  2 tbs of sesame seeds
*  Sriracha hot sauce
*  2 tsp of soy sauce (or really a R Dash)
*  1 tsp of lime juice

To prepare the green beans, heat a wok on high heat and coat with olive oil.  As the pan gets warm, add the sesame seeds.  You want the sesame seeds to be toasted dark before you add the garlic and ginger.  Once the garlic and ginger become fragrant (OR once it starts to darken if you can't smell), add the green beans and sliced garlic.  Shake the wok to ensure everything is stirred up.  As the green beans cook, add the five spice powder, sriracha, soy sauce and continue to shake the wok.  As the green beans complete cooking, add the lime juice and a quick dash of chili oil and allow a couple more minutes before taking the green beans off of the heat.

Bon Appetit!