A few years ago, I introduced a recipe for Cranberry Sauce with a Sorghum Twist. I think using sorghum syrup is a great way to enjoy traditional dishes without using white cane sugar.
In my cranberry sauce, it also adds a different dimension to the flavor. And it’s still one of my favorite cranberry sauce recipes.
So, below is a reprint of my original post from 2013. I hope you like it. Have a fun, safe, and peaceful Thanksgiving.
______________________________ Continue reading
Thanksgiving is coming up and people are always looking for new and different ways to serve favorite and/or traditional dishes. Purple potatoes are a great way to liven up the table.
Purple potatoes are originally from South America (where 
potatoes in general are originally from), particularly Peru and Bolivia. In fact, they’re sometimes referred to as Purple Peruvian potatoes. While they taste pretty much the same as standard white potatoes, because of their pigment, purple potatoes are high in antioxidants—4 times as much as white potatoes. Antioxidants are cancer-fighting agents, are good for immunity and heart health.
I found some beautiful purple potatoes at the farmers’ market and decided to mash them. Their dramatic blue/purple color makes this a special dish while still giving everyone the scrumptious mashed potatoes they’ve come to love and expect.
Enjoy.
6 small to medium purple potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon half-n-half
½ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Scrub the potatoes and cut them in halves or quarters. Place them in a medium pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat to low, partially cover, and simmer until the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Drain well and let cool a bit. When they’re cool enough to handle, peel off the skin.
Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl. Add the oil, half-n-half, salt, and pepper. Mash with a potato masher. (Don’t use a food processor or blender, as this will make the potatoes gummy.)
Check the potatoes for seasoning and adjust, if needed.
More spaghetti squash? Why not? It’s squash season, after all. Squash is synonymous with autumn. 
Although spaghetti squash can be found from fall through the spring, there’s something comforting and pleasurable about roasting vegetables in the fall, especially squash. And since many people aren’t sure what to do with spaghetti squash, I’ve been offering some recipes. Last week, I offered Easy Spaghetti Squash Chili. This week, I have for you Roasted Maple-Bourbon Spaghetti Squash with Amaranth Pilaf.
Cultivated by the Aztecs 8,000 years ago, amaranth is a tiny little grain that is surprisingly high in protein, as well as other nutrients. One cup of raw amaranth contains 28 grams of protein, 15 milligrams of iron, and 18 milligrams of fiber, which makes it one of the most nutrient-rich grains on earth. 
Amaranth is also a great source of lysine, a protein-rich amino acid. This is good news for those of us who suffer from canker and cold sores. L-lysine has been shown to shorten the life span of canker sores. I can personally attest to this because when one of those little monsters starts making itself known, I start digging into the giant bottle of lysine, and believe me, it works.
So this dish makes the perfect side dish to any autumn meal, but because of the amaranth and almonds, it also is a satisfying entree on its own. And spaghetti squash is low in calories, low in carbs, and almost fat free, so whatever diet you may be on, you can’t go wrong with this squash. You can serve it in lovely slices, or you can scrape out the spaghetti-like flesh and eat it like a pasta dish. Continue reading
Today’s recipe is one that I created in order to have quick, easy-to-transport, and easy-to-heat breakfasts that fit in with a low-carb diet. Working a full-time job, commuting 15 hours a week, and having a writing career on the side makes it difficult for me to prepare meals for myself on a daily basis.
Obviously, I love to cook, but lack of time and energy keeps me from doing a whole lot of it. To be truthful, I rely on my mom’s leftovers to get me through the week. But when there isn’t enough for a week’s worth of lunches and dinners (never mind breakfast), or when I’m on a particular diet, I have to engage in a long, arduous cooking spree on the weekend.
And that’s what happened when I created these omelet cups. I needed something that I could have for breakfast that would fill me and that I didn’t have to think about–I could just grab some and go.
I wanted to pack them with as many veggies as I could, so I got what was fresh at the farmer’s market that week: zucchini, summer squash, and green beans. Spinach is always a good veggie option for egg dishes, but needed to make this fast (especially because it was a thousand degrees that day and I didn’t want to spend more time in my hot kitchen than I had to). But you can certainly use fresh spinach if you want to.
These are very easy to make, are wonderfully transportable, and easily heated in a microwave or toaster oven. Or eaten at room temperature. They are not only low carb, but gluten and wheat free as well. And since this makes a batch of 12, you can throw some in the freezer for three months.
Enjoy!
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped green bell pepper
½ cup chopped green beans
1 cup chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped summer (yellow) squash
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 large eggs
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Squeeze as much water as you can from the spinach and set aside. Grease the cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin (or 2 6-cups tins) and set aside. (If you want, you can use paper muffin cups.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the oil in a wide frying pan. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent.
Add the green pepper and continue sautéing until the pepper softens. Add the green beans, zucchini, summer squash, salt, and black pepper. Continue sautéing, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened and begin to brown.
Add the spinach and mix well. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Mix in the cooked vegetables, along with the cheese.
Ladle equal amounts into each of the 12 muffin cups.
and bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of an omelet cup comes out fairly clean.
Serve hot or at room temperature. These can be kept in the refrigerator up to a week, or frozen up to 3 months.
Love, love, love beets. There are different varieties, but I think it’s safe to say that the majority of us find the red most often. Getting the golden, pink, rainbow, or any other kind of beets, for me, requires a special trip to a farmers’ market or specialty store.
Well, this past week, I lucked out. The farmers’ market that sets up shop outside of my workplace once a week had golden beets, which is not always the case.
Anyway, in my opinion, the best thing to do with beets is make a salad with them. It’s the easiest thing in the world and so flavorful. And when you mix beets, it’s beautiful, too.
But if you can only find the red beets, it’s just as delicious. I like to roast beets, but in the summer, turning on the oven is not fun, so I boil them. (If you have a grill you can use, then that’s even better!). There’s nothing wrong with boiling, just don’t overcook them and use only just enough water to cover them in the pot. Enjoy!
1½ pounds red and yellow beets
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Wash and trim the beets of excess roots or threads. Place in a medium-large pot and fill with enough water to cover the beets. Bring to a boil; lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, until the beets are cooked. You should be able to stick the tip of a knife easily all the way through.
Remove beets from the water and let them cool. Peel off the skin and trim off unappealing parts (such as near the roots). Cut them into quarters or bite-sized pieces. Place in a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir gently. Serve.
Because garlic scapes have such a short season (early summer), I’ve been on a garlic scape kick, using them in as many ways as I can. Last week, I made Lentils with Garlic Scapes and the week before that, I made Beet Greens with Garlic Scapes.
All delicious. But this week I decided to use the scapes in its purest form: raw.
Continue reading
Garlic scapes are one of summer’s treasures and if you have a farmers’ market near you, try to find some. They’re available for a short time in early summer. Scapes can be used in many different ways—basically, any way you would use garlic or onions. Last week, I used them with beet greens (very tasty!).
For this recipe, I used garlic scapes as the flavor base for lentils. Scapes lend the dish a mellow garlic-like taste but there’s more complexity to it. The addition of fresh herbs really elevate this to a gourmet meal, but the simplicity can’t be beat. The final result is so flavorful and something really special. Continue reading
I was just commenting to someone that I sometimes feel that I cook more in summer than in winter. That seems counter-intuitive, but there’s a reason for this. With summer comes all the beautiful vegetables that you can’t get in winter (or they’re not as good in winter), and I definitely want to take full advantage.
One of those things is garlic scapes, which are available for a short while in early summer.
At the farmers’ market this week I found garlic scapes, as well as beets with beautiful lush leaves. Usually I cook beet greens with garlic, so I thought that garlic scapes would work well too. And they do. Continue reading
Yes, I’m still on a noodle kick. This time I’ve created a recipe using oat flour noodles. The nice thing about gluten-free noodles is that they’re lighter than wheat noodles, but like wheat noodles, they can be used in a variety of ways.
For some reason, these noodles are sold in packages with the odd weight of 13.4 ounces. I don’t know how or why they came up with that number, but it makes it awkward to create a recipe. (They probably started with 380 grams and it just happens to convert to 13.4 ounces, but why 380?) Well, I used approximately 10 ounces, which is three of the bundles that come in the package in the photo.
In this recipe, I’ve paired oat noodles with string beans and Japanese yams (although, if you can’t find Japanese yams, you can use sweet potatoes). The noodles and yams will soak up the dressing very efficiently, so if the salad is too dry for your tastes, you can add a little more olive oil, but the salad will not be oily in the slightest.
Ume Plum
For the dressing, I used an umeboshi plum. Umbeboshi plums, a Japanese specialty, are ume plums (but more closely related to apricots) that have been salted and fermented. In the world of natural healing, umeboshi plums are considered miracle workers. If you divide foods into acidic, alkaline, and neutral, umeboshis are alkaline and can adjust imbalances in your body. It’s been used in Asia, particularly, Japan, China, and Korea, for centuries for a variety of ailments, including fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, colds, indigestion, headaches, and hangovers, among other things. Samurai soldiers were given umboshi as part of their field rations. They not used the plums to help them battle fatigue, they also used them to flavor foods such as rice and vegetables. Umeboshis also acted as a water and food purifier. Continue reading
When people hear the word pesto, it conjures up images of big bowls of fragrant pesto, bulbs of fresh garlic, and creamy pignoli nuts. (Doesn’t that make your mouth water?) As good as that combination is, pesto has crossed boundaries into new territory. These days, pesto can be made with a variety of ingredients.
I made this pesto with kale. Kale is great to use for pesto because not only is raw kale packed with nutrients, but it’s a sturdy vegetable that holds up very well against the blade of a processor or blender, and it’s flavorful enough to really give a sauce some heft and legitimacy.
But rather than process the greens with raw garlic, as you would with traditional pesto, I sautéed some white onion and garlic in olive oil and added that to the kale. It gave the pesto some sweetness and cut down on the sharpness that the raw garlic would give it. Of course, that sharpness is what many people love about pesto, but the thing about kale is that it’s a heavier, stronger flavor than basil and it can stand to be mellowed out a bit. I also added a handful of cooked green beans to soften the sauce further. But after all is said and done, this is still a flavorful, hearty sauce. You can use it on meats and fish, spread it in sandwiches, or add it to soups, as you would a pistou. For this recipe, I used it with whole wheat penne.
Give it a try. If you like pesto, I think you’ll really enjoy this.
Makes 4 servings.
2 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup chopped white onion
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups kale
½ cup cooked green beans
½ teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 cups whole wheat penne
¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Asiago
Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute. Remove from heat.
Place the kale in a food processor or blender.
Add the onion and string beans, salt, and pepper. Begin processing.
Feed the extra virgin olive oil through the feed tube and process until finely minced.
If necessary, stop the machine, scrape down the sides, and continue processing. It should only take a minute or two.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil; add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain well and transfer to a bowl. Mix in the pesto. Divide between 4 bowls, sprinkle the cheese on top, and serve.
Baking - Recipes - Fun
Cooking Up a Healthy Life
Domestic Hedonism at Its Paleo-Fabian Best
Romance and Seething Fluff
Celebrating the art of food and cooking with colorful recipes, stories and photography
Exploring the possibilities of cruelty free food
Simple Everyday Recipes
Miz Chef 