Buffalo Cauliflower

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Buffalo cauliflower

Buffalo cauliflower

Lately, buffalo cauliflower recipes have been popping up all over Pinterest. I was immediately intrigued. The pictures were pretty. And I like both cauliflower and buffalo wings. But together?

I’m pleased to report that they’re every bit as delicious as I’d hoped, and they couldn’t be easier to prepare. Here’s how you do it: Roast two heads of fresh cauliflower (cut into florets and drizzled with a little olive oil), in a 425-degree oven for about 40 minutes, stirring once at the halfway point. Then, just before the cauliflower is done, melt 1/4 cup of butter (we’ve used regular and Earth Balance, both to good affect) with 1/2 cup of Franks RedHot Original hot sauce. Toss the cauliflower with the wing sauce and there you have it.

Unless your kids are of the hot Cheetos-eating variety, you’re probably best off making some plain roasted cauliflower for them (though my 4-year-old sweated his way through a couple florets). We served it, alongside barbecued chicken and raw veggies, to neighbors for dinner, and have eaten it in its unadorned state as a light supper.

The whole thing has me thinking—what other vegetables would take to the buffalo treatment? Post your ideas below!

Wheatberries, Chard, and a Change of Direction

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Wheatberries Braised with Chard and Mushrooms

Wheatberries Braised with Chard and Mushrooms

What if I told you that the one of the most kid-friendly dishes I’ve made this year was vegan, full of braised greens, and involved wheatberries? Not even I believed it—in fact, I pre-gamed my young children with heavy snacks before dinner, so skeptical was I. My guess was that the 4-year-old, our adventurous eater, would try it, possibly eating around the chard or mushrooms. But would the 2-year-old get behind the chewy texture of wheatberries? Why yes, he would. In fact, both of my children ate it like it was going out of style. Or like they hadn’t had peanut butter toast an hour before dinner.

I took advantage of the wheatberries’ rice-like neutrality and treated them more or less like rice. Rather than pre-cook the berries, as is common, I braised them in a fragrant broth—a mixture of oregano, tomatoes, cannellini beans, mushrooms, and chard. But the linchpin was the balsamic-honey sauce. I believe it was this sweet-and-sour element that sealed the deal for the kids.

As you’ll see, this is not a freezer-friendly meal (though it does make for good leftovers; we ate it first, warm, for dinner, then at room temperature the next day in a brown-bag lunch). I’ve recently had to retool not only what I served, but how I thought about food, due to my 2-year-old’s dairy allergy. It’s been a bumpy few months, filled with lots of roasted meats—more meat, generally, than I care to feed the family. So, with this post, we start anew.  Look for more vegetables and whole grains, some non-dairy baking projects, and a much more regular posting schedule. And, of course, we’ll still be putting some dishes into the freezer.

In the meantime, get cracking on this wheatberry braise and let me know what you think!

Find the recipe for Wheatberries Braised with Chard and Mushrooms here.

Curried Carrot-Lentil Soup

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Curried carrot-lentil soup to go.

Curried carrot-lentil soup to go.

Our epic battle with the flu has (finally!) ended and we are cooking once again. Of the things I’ve made recently, my absolute favorite is this curried carrot-and-lentil soup. It’s fairly spicy—too much so for my 2- and 4-year-olds. But sometimes, a bit of curry powder and jalapeño is in order. And there is something about sneaking around with one’s spouse, indulging, after the children have gone to sleep, in fiery dishes and dairy and bad television. As parents to young children, this is the stuff of marital bliss.

The soup is delicious on its own but made even lovelier with a bit of cilantro yogurt on top.

The soup is delicious on its own but made even lovelier with a bit of cilantro yogurt on top.

But back to the soup. It’s a great dish to throw together when there’s almost nothing in the house. It doesn’t even call for stock— just carrots, jalapeños, a few pantry staples, and a blender. What’s more, it freezes really well. So when we had a quick round of head colds, post-flu, Lee and I were about to quickly reheat a nourishing meal with which we could nurse ourselves back to health. Again.

See the recipe for curried carrot-and-lentil soup here.

Slow-Cooker Red Beans and Rice

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Slow-Cooker Red Beans and Rice with turkey kielbasa

Slow-Cooker Red Beans and Rice with turkey kielbasa

No sooner had I resolved to stop buying store-made bread than I found myself sheepishly in line at Whole Foods, plastic-bagged sourdough in hand. I have a reasonable excuse, though: the whole family got sick not one week into the new year and I was in no condition to bake anything. Luckily, I had already put several meals into the freezer, so we were able to cobble together some good eats with our store-bought bread, Tylenol Cold, and dairy-free pudding.

One such meal was this Slow-Cooker Red Beans and Rice. The below-freezing temps and bread-baking vows mean I’ve got soups, stews, and braises on the mind this month, and this recipe was one of the first things I put together. I adapted it from Cooking Light, tripling the quantities, messing with the seasoning a little, and reducing the amount of meat called for in the original. It is quite possibly the easiest freezer meal I’ve posted here—everything but the rice is added to a slow cooker at the same time, then frozen. The beans have some real depth of flavor considering the hands-off cooking method, and they produce a nice little sauce for the rice, which you should cook fresh. Alternatively, forego the rice and just eat the beans with a slice of store-bought sourdough—I won’t tell.

See the recipe for Slow-Cooker Red Beans and Rice here.

Food Resolutions

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2013: More of this.

2013: More of this.

I suppose my procrastinating nature shows today, as I’m getting in just under the wire, but I don’t think it’s too late to talk New Year’s resolutions quite yet. And despite their bad rap, I have made a few. Mostly, I am concerned with being more mindful and present in 2013—often, I am so preoccupied with whatever comes next that I forget where I am. But on a smaller scale, I have a couple of cooking-related goals for the year.

First: No store-bought bread. I’ve been practicing my baking skills for a good six years now, and I can reliably turn out several varieties of sandwich and rustic breads. But my time-management skills lag somewhat, and after a few weeks’ success I’m back in line at the grocery store, head hung low, $4 plastic-bagged sandwich bread in hand. This would not be so bad if it weren’t for the quality. Dry! Stale! And one can make so many loaves of bread with four dollars. Oh, the frustration. And so I declare 2013 the year of the home-baked loaf. I’ll keep you posted on my progress and share a few favorite bread recipes along the way.

Second: I will learn to make snack/energy bars in my own kitchen. It seems there are two main types of bars on the market—those with very long ingredient lists, many of which (naturally derived or not) are a long way from whole foods; and those that are so simple that it seems silly to pay for them. That said, I have never successfully made a granola bar that rivals the stuff you find at grocery stores or bakeries. But I have a year! Every month, I’ll try a new recipe and share it with you—if you have a go-to granola/snack bar, please share it with me.

I reserve the right to make more resolutions as I go, but there you have it—for starters, two simple goals to implement now and in the year ahead.

What are your food resolutions for 2013? Please share them in the comments!

Whole-Wheat Cherry Sconemen

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Handsome enough to eat.

Handsome enough to eat.

This little guy comes with a story. A couple of weeks ago, I made scones based on stuff I had in the house—some farmer’s market cherries I’d frozen months ago, ricotta left over from making spaghetti squash casserole, and some whole wheat pastry flour for which I had no other plans. Then I had the clever idea to use our gingerbread man cookie cutter to create Christmassy breakfast treats. We’d serve them as part of our Christmas brunch! The dough came together nicely and the test scone I baked was delicious. It was flaky, tender, and lightly sweet. And so cute! I was feeling quite proud of myself.

Then, the next day, I took my younger son to his 2-year checkup, where I was told that we should cut dairy out of his diet completely. It was not a complete surprise—he’s struggled with severe reflux and has been dairy-free before (albeit as a baby). Still, a part of me—the selfish part—hoped we’d hear something different.

In the end, the news isn’t bad, since for the first time in his two years, he’s consistently sleeping through the night and no longer spitting up. As holiday wishes go, I’d put a healthy kid right near the top. I’m trying to focus not on the few foods that are off-limites, but on the many thousands of food he can eat.

And so. It looks like the sconemen won’t make it on to our holiday breakfast table this year. But I hope they make it onto yours.

See the recipe for Whole-Wheat Cherry Sconemen here.

White Bean Soup with Quick-Cured Pork

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White Bean Soup with Quick-Cured Pork

White Bean Soup with Quick-Cured Pork

In this month of merry-making and party-throwing, the talk inevitably turns to food. Party food. Fancy roasts. Cookie towers. In newspapers, on television shows, and in the locker room of my gym, weeknight meals are rarely discussed these days. There are, after all, more important meals at stake.

However, I think part of the reason everyday cooking falls by the wayside is plain old winter meal doldrums. Winter—in climates where winter is truly cold—requires cooking. When the walk to your front door involves trudging down an alley in 20- or 30-degree weather, a cold salad doesn’t do it. And sometimes, housebound with a sick toddler, dinnertime arrives and it’s already been dark for two and a half hours. Summoning the will to cook can be rough.

Pork riblets

Pork riblets

But here is a lovely thing about winter—you can cook. When the spirit moves you, you can quick-cure and roast some pork riblets and spend the day simmering them with white beans and aromatics. Then into the freezer they go, waiting for a rainy day—literal or otherwise. White bean soup reheats beautifully, and warming it on the stove makes the house smell good all over again. I like it served with a piece of sourdough drizzled with olive oil and toasted in the broiler. And maybe a crisp green salad, too—a reminder of the sunny days that are just around the corner.

See the recipe for White Bean Soup with Quick-Cured Pork here.