Honey Roasted Root Vegetables

Copied almost verbatim from the Cooking Light recipes by the same name, this is quickly becoming "my" Thanksgiving dish. It is good all year though as long as the weather is cool enough for the oven.

Ingredients:
coarsely chopped peeled sweet potato (about 1 large) or winter squash or pumpkin
coarsely chopped peeled turnip (about 2 medium)
coarsely chopped parsnip (about 4 medium)
coarsely chopped carrot (about 6 medium)
1/4 cup honey (I like Orange Blossom but any full flavored honey will do)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 shallots, quartered

Preheat oven to 450°.
Combine all ingredients except the cooking spray in a large bowl; toss to coat. Place vegetable mixture on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 35 minutes or until vegetables are tender and begin to brown, stirring every 10 minutes.

Edible Edemame

I'm always looking for ways to make edimame, which is the technical term for fresh soybeans, into something worth eating. They are super good for you, after all. Here's a simple side dish with Asian flair. Took 7 minutes to make!

Ingredients:
2 shallots, minced
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
2 cups frozen shelled edemame
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Saute the shallots in the oil for 1 minute at medium heat, then add the edamame and turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the tamari. Cook and stir for 4 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook and stir for 30 seconds more. Then serve. Yay!

Pizza sauce

You may be surprised to hear that the most important part of pizza is the sauce. Well, after the cheese, of course. The base, whatever the toppings are piled on, is usually crust but can be any number of other things, including slabs of seasoned tofu or slices of roasted eggplant. It's the sauce that turns it into pizza.

When making homemmade pizza, if you have ever wondered why it just isn't right, you are probably spending money on expensive ingredients. Don't! Pizzarias don't, so you shouldn't either, not if you want authentic. Use cheap mozzarella and cheap pizza sauce, ideally the store brand. Don't use spaghetti or marinara sauce; pizza sauce is different. And don't use too much! Spread a very thin layer with the back of a spoon.

Or, you could save money, avoid wasting sauce, and feel 1337 by using my recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 can tomato paste (about 2 tbsp)
Equal amount of water
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Mix together and allow to sit for a few minutes to hydrate the spices. You will notice this is very thick. That helps avoid the pizza being watery, a problem which afflicts homemade pizzas since we don't have a brick oven.

Mushroom Pastitsio

I have no idea what a pastitsio actually is, beyond delicious, but lately Cooking Light has had a couple of recipes for it that have been amazing. Here is my take on it... It's a cheesy wonderful casserole, with excellent leftovers.

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked rotini, whole wheat works well
16 ounces baby bellas, cremini mushrooms, or regular mushrooms, or a mix
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic or equivalent garlic powder
1 tsp Penzey's Bavarian Blend or 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/3 tsp kosher salt
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups milk
2 tbsp flour
1 brick lowfat or fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup grated mozzarella (reduced fat is okay but not fat free)

Mince the onion and chop the mushrooms finely. Saute together in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the mushrooms give up their liquid and it mostly evaporates. Add the garlic, salt, and herbs. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the tomato sauce.

Add the milk into the skillet and whisk the flour in while it's still cool (you can't whisk flour into a hot liquid). Cook and stir until bubbly and thick. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the cream cheese and parmesan, stirring until they melt and become smooth. Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and stir.

Pour half of the pasta mixture into a medium sized casserole dish. Spread the mushroom mixture on top, then add the rest of the pasta mixture on top of that. Finally, sprinkle the mozzarella on top of the whole thing.

Bake at 400 until the cheese melts, then serve.

Italian Cauliflower Casserole

From Cooking Light but edited to make it a more filling meal for active folks like us. To make it lighter you can reduce the amount of beef and/or cheese. To make it non-dairy just use Veggie Shreds for the cheese. You can leave off the breadcrumbs if anyone is gluten intolerant or can't have carbs.

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
1 large yellow onion, minced
4 garlic cloves or equivalent garlic powder
1 tsp sriracha or ground red pepper to taste
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, ideally a garlicky or herby one
1/2 cup grated garlic and herb cheddar
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/3 cup bread crumbs

Steam the cauliflower 5 minutes or until it's crisp-tender. Drain and place in a large casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheddar.

Saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat for a couple minutes until it begins to soften. Then add the beef, stirring to crumble, and raise the heat to medium-high. Keep stirring and cooking the beef until it is all browned. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper while the beef cooks.

When the beef is done, stir in the tomato sauce and heat through. Pour the meat mixture over the cauliflower and stir to combine, gently so the cauliflower doesn't crumble.

Sprinkle the parmesan and bread crumbs over the top of the casserole. Broil for 4 minutes or until golden, and serve.

Strawberry and Spinach Salad with Candied Walnuts

My favorite salad and pretty much the only one I ever bother to make.

Ingredients (for 1 serving, multiply out for the number of servings you want):
1 cup Baby spinach
1/2 cup Sliced strawberries
1/4 cup Walnuts
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp organic sugar or light brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
Dash cinnamon
1/2 tbsp olive oil or walnut oil
1 tsp vinegar, either red wine or balsamic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sweetener, such as sugar or Ideal or Splenda
1/2 tbsp minced shallot

To prepare walnuts, melt the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Stir in the walnuts and sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the coating seems crispy/crumbly, or until it begins to smell a little like popcorn or generally "toasty." If it begins to brown, REMOVE FROM THE PAN at once or it will burn.

To prepare dressing, just whisk the oil, salt, sweetener, and vinegar together until smooth. Stir in the shallots.

Place the spinach on individual plates or in a salad bowl and top with the strawberries, then the walnuts. Allow people to pour the vinaigrette on themselves, since the liquid will make the walnuts not crisp anymore if it sits on them too long. Delish!

For extra fanciness, you can cook the walnuts with maple syrup, and/or use maple syrup as the sweetener in the vinaigrette. It's extremely delicious. Honey works, too, for the dressing but not for the walnuts.

Herbed Oven Roast with Gravy

Here's a super simple fall favorite: an herbed roast. The herbs are all "to taste" but I will put how much we use.

Ingredients:
1 eye round roast
Salt, I use 1/3 tsp
Ground rosemary, I use 1 tsp
Garlic powder, I use 1 tsp
Ancho chili pepper powder, or paprika, I use 1 tsp
Ground black pepper, I use 1/4 tsp
Ground coriander, I use 1/4 tsp

Preheat the oven to 400.

Trim the majority of the fat off the roast, then place fat-side-up in a skillet or baking pan. Sprinkle the roast with half of the herbs and spices. Turn the roast over, fat-side-down, and sprinkle with remaining spices.

Place pan in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325 and turn the roast over, fat-side-up. Bake for an additional 1 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer indicates the correct internal temperature has been reached - this will depend on the roast size.

When it's done, remove it to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes. When it's rested, slice it, being careful to collect all the juice that runs out and pour into the pan.

Stir about 2 tbsp flour into the juice until it forms a paste, then place over medium heat on the stove and stir constantly until it begins to thicken. Slowly add milk, broth or water to the paste until it's the thickness you prefer. How much you need will depend on how thick you like your gravy and how much juice your roast yields. Season the gravy with more salt or bouillon, to taste, and if you have Penzey's Bavarian seasoning mix, add a few dashes.