Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin

Potatoes au gratin, one of my favorite dishes of all time.  In my opinion there are few things more delicious then potatoes, or anything for that matter, covered with cheese and baked until brown and bubbly.  With Thanksgiving looming I have been searching high and low for recipes that are Primal / Paleo friendly but don't make you feel like you're missing out on anything, then I found this!

Now I have openly admitted what a carb-obsessed, potato loving freak I was before going Primal.  So when I tell you that I am 100% convinced that this will satisfy my craving for potatoes this holiday season that's a big deal!  The options with this dish are endless, you can make it as I did below or you could skip the sour cream and cheddar and go for heavy cream and gruyere with a dash of nutmeg.  It goes without saying that this is going to become a permanent fixture in my weekly rotation until I find my favorite flavor combination.  Served as a side alongside a tender roasted pork tenderloin, this Spaghetti Squash Au Gartin is a hearty full flavor side dish your entire family will love.

Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin
Serves 6

1 medium spaghetti squash
2 tablespoons butter
1 small yellow onion, cut in half and very thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more if you like it spicy
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
½ cup sour cream
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and remove the seeds.  Place in a covered dish with a ¼ inch of water and microwave for 10 -12 minutes.  In a medium sized skillet over medium heat, add the butter, onions, red pepper and thyme and cook until the onions are slightly brown in color.  Salt and pepper to taste. 

Using a fork, scrape the insides of the squash and transfer to a small bowl.  Combine the squash, onions, sour cream and half the cheese together and mix well.  Transfer the mixture to a buttered baking dish and top with remaining cheese.

Place into a 375º for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown on top.

Cauli-Rice

A while back I showed you how to turn an ordinary head of cauliflower into delicious, creamy mashed potatoes. But the thing with cauli-taters is, no matter how much butter, cream, garlic or salt and pepper you add, they still end up tasting like cauliflower. Now that might not be an issue for some people, like me, that happen to love the stuff but what do you do for the haters out there? My suggestion, turn it into rice!

No matter how many times I make this, I am always amazed at how much it doesn’t taste like cauliflower. And the process couldn’t be simpler.

What you end up with is a light and fluffy side dish so much like rice you will hardly miss it’s starchy, carb laden twin. It can be served as a side dish along side a delicious Balsamic Glazed Tenderloin or as the base in an amazing Thai Shrimp Curry. It’s extremely versatile; it’s super healthy and tastes great!

Cauli-Rice
Serves 4

1 large head of cauliflower

Remove the stem from the cauliflower and cut into florets. Take out your food processor and throw on the shredding blade, then pulse the florets (5 or 6 at a time) into little rice like granules. Toss in bowl with a tight fitting lid and microwave for 6 minutes.

Cauli-Taters (cauliflower mashed 'potatoes')

So I’m not going to even TRY and tell you that these taste just like potatoes and you won’t even know the difference…cause they don’t and trust me you will! But if you are trying to cut back on your carb intake and would like something that’s creamy like potatoes then give these guys a try. And when you’re doing the dishes and continually sticking your fork back in the pot you won’t have all that guilt like before. Ok, maybe that’s just me but whatever.

Cauli-Taters
Serves 4

1 head cauliflower cut into florets
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup half and half
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Steam the cauliflower florets until fork tender. I pop mine in the microwave in a covered dish with ¼ cup of water for 10 minutes. Transfer the steamed cauliflower to a food processor (or you can mash by hand) and add remaining ingredients except half and half. Pulse until all ingredients are coarsely chopped (you may have to do this in batches). Once everything is uniform in size, turn your processor on full blast and stream in the half and half. When you reach your desired consistency add salt and pepper to taste and more butter if desired.

Serve this in place of mashed potatoes along side your some of your favorite dishes.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Garlic

So apparently I am in the minority when I say that brussels sprouts are in my top 5 of all time favorite vegetables. In fact I could make an entire meal of them, or just vegetables alone. It seems that people have either a love or hate relationship with their veggies. As a kid, I couldn’t stand them…I down right despised almost every kind there is. However after a brief stint in a relationship with a vegetarian I learned to have a new appreciation for the more colorful part of the plate.

For me, the change occurred once I started eating fresh veggies. As a kid I grew up on the frozen kind, reheated in the microwave then tossed with a tablespoon of butter. They had the texture of rubber and didn’t taste much better. When I had my first apartment I experimented with the canned variety and the sodium levels made them inedible for me. Then somewhere along the way I became more and more interested in food, cooking shows were suddenly all I watched and I was increasingly intrigued by the different types of vegetables they used as well as the ways they prepared them. So I started experimenting, and I discovered that the things I loathed as a child were more times then not, the star of the plate. Spaghetti squash, eggplants, roasted peppers…things I never dreamed of eating as a child were now items I couldn’t get enough of.

The main complaint I hear about brussels sprouts is that they are bitter. And seeing as though they are little mini cabbages there is little you can do to get rid of that all together. But I challenge you, if you cook them in a little bacon fat with some garlic, salt and pepper and finish them off with some fresh lemon juice you just might learn to love these little guys. No promises though, I have been able to turn the boy onto many a vegetable these guys still didn’t make the cut. But no worries, it just means I got to eat the entire bowl!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Garlic
Serves 3 - 4

25 fresh brussels sprouts (check your local produce stands)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 strips of bacon, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ grated parmesan or gruyere cheese

Wash and trim the brussels sprouts, removing the stem from the bottom and any loose leaves. Cut in half length wise and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the bacon and sauté until golden brown. Remove the bacon bits from the pan with the slotted spoon and reserve 1 tablespoon of the fat.

Lower the heat to medium and add the brussels sprouts to the pan in a single layer, cut side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover for 5 minutes. Test one of the sprouts after 5 minutes to make sure they are just tender, if not cover and cook for an additional 2 – 3 minutes.

Remove the lid and crank the heat back up to medium high. Toss in the garlic and cook until the bottoms of the sprouts are deep brown and caramelized. Toss the sprouts around to get some color on the top side as well then cut the heat. Add the lemon juice to the pan and toss to make sure everything is evenly coated. Salt and pepper to taste, then transfer to a large plate or bowl. Sprinkle with cheese and bacon bits and enjoy!

* This dish can easily be made vegetarian by omiting the bacon and cooking the sprouts in extra virgin olive oil

Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Cauliflower

After looking over some of my other posts I noticed that I tend to overlook the side dish component of many meals.  Truthfully I'm pretty basic when it comes to what I serve along side many of my dishes.  In my mind mashed potatoes go with everything, even pasta (kidding...well, sort of) but usually I'm just throwing some steamed veggies on the side or having a nice green salad.  But sometimes you get sick of the same old thing every other week and have to switch it up.  Cauliflower is one of those ingredients that is so versatile in the kitchen.  Steamed, Mashed or Roasted each takes on a different level of flavor and even if someone if your family (cough, cough The Boy) swears up and down that he hates it and won't eat it even he will be going back for seconds.  So whether your cooking up some chicken breasts or roasting a savory pork tenderloin with gravy this Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Cauliflower recipe is a delicious, healthy and pretty addition to your plate.

Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower, separated into florets
2 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons, extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon, chopped fresh parsley

Preheat your oven to 450° degrees.  In a large baking dish combine the cauliflower, garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper.  Toss gently with your hands until all the florets are equally covered with the garlic, oil, salt and pepper.  Cover with aluminium foil and toss into your preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and discard aluminum foil.  Now crank on the broiler setting.  Toss the florets then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, parsley and breadcrumbs.  Toss the dish back into the oven and broil for 3 to 5 minutes until the breadcrumbs and cheese are golden brown.