Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Feta, Capers, Red Bell Pepper, and Green Onion (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

My tastebuds were blown away by this Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Feta, Capers, Red Bell Pepper, and Green Onion!

There's a pretty steady stream of good food coming out of my kitchen, which means a recipe really has to be special to completely blow me away.  And even though it started out as an experiment when I found two smallish heads of cauliflower in the crisper drawer that needed to be used, this Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Feta, Capers, Red Bell Pepper, and Green Onion really did blow my mind. So, so delicious!  I'm calling it a salad, because it's good eaten at room temperature or even cold, but I actually tossed the cauliflower with the dressing before I roasted it. When it was cooked, I mixed the hot cauliflower with a very generous amount of crumbled Feta, then stirred in capers, red bell pepper and a little chopped green onion after the roasted cauliflower cooled for a few minutes.   Unless  you're a complete cauliflower hater (you know who you are) you simply must try this one!

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Twenty-Five Healthy Mexican Food Dinners for Cinco de Mayo

Twenty-Five Ideas for Healthy Mexican Food for Your Cinco de Mayo Dinner!

I've been having fun this week celebrating the Nine Year Anniversary of Kalyn's Kitchen!  I've also been attending The Snap Conference in Salt Lake the last few days, so not much cooking has been going on around here.  But recently I was updating the recipe archives page for Easter and Cinco de Mayo Recipes and realized that even though I've never made a big deal of Cinco de Mayo on the blog, I do have a lot of favorite Mexican Food recipes that are perfect for the holiday.  So just to get you in the mood for Cinco de Mayo, or to scratch that Mexican food itch, here are Twenty-Five Healthy Mexican Food Dinners for Cinco de Mayo.  (I promise I won't tell if you decide to make one of them right away; enjoy!)

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Kalyn's Kitchen Turns Nine Years Old (plus Some Things I'd Like to Know and 9 Favorite Recipes from Readers)

Kalyn's Kitchen is Nine Years Old!

Nine years ago I wrote my first unsophisticated little post on Kalyn's Kitchen, and now each year when this anniversary date comes around, I realize again how I never dreamed all the ways this little blog would change my life. I'll always be grateful to my brother Rand for starting me down the path to a second career as a full-time blogger, and to the fellow food bloggers who have shared their knowledge and helped me expand my skills.  I also want to send thanks to my long-time web designer Jennette who keeps my blogs running smoothly and makes me look good despite my limited technological knowledge!

One thing I've enjoyed greatly over the past nine years is how blogging has brought so many interesting, thoughtful, and creative people into my life.  Nowdays Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest make it easier to connect with readers and fellow bloggers than in the early days, but things can also get lost in the noise of social media and I always appreciate people who make the extra effort to leave a comment on the blog or send me an e-mail.  And blogging wouldn't be much fun at all if no one was reading and interacting, so let me say a big thank you to all my readers, family members, and friends for your support through the years!

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Spicy Roasted Shrimp with Garlic, Sumac, and Aleppo Pepper (Low-Carb, Can Be Paleo)

Spicy Roasted Shrimp with Garlic, Sumac, and Aleppo Pepper cook in less than 10 minutes!

At my house it's unseasonably cool and gloomy today, and on a day like this I would happily turn on the oven for these Spicy Roasted Shrimp with Garlic, Sumac, and Aleppo Pepper.  But soon enough it will be too hot to think about roasting anything, so if you like shrimp I urge you to hurry and try this ultra-easy and quick recipe before the hot weather gets here!  Despite the Aleppo Pepper in the recipe this is only slightly spicy, and the Sumac adds a delicious citrusy note that's great with the shrimp.  You can eat this with a squeeze of lemon for a Paleo version, or try the Sour Cream and Tahini Sauce that's shown in the background.  I made this twice in a week and the shrimp disappeared quickly both times; hope you enjoy!

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Quinoa Side Dish with Mushrooms, Green Onions, and Parmesan (Gluten-Free, Meatless)

Mushrooms, scallions, a tiny hint of soy sauce, and Parmesan make this quinoa side dish sing with flavor.

I know some people still aren't familiar with Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), a trendy type of seed from South America that's eaten as a grain.  It's become popular partly because it's gluten-free, high in protein, and very nutritious, but it's also delicious when it's prepared well.   I started to really like quinoa when I made the Quinoa Side Dish with Pine Nuts, Green Onions, and Cilantro, and this Quinoa Side Dish with Mushrooms, Green Onions, and Parmesan is definitely a riff on that recipe.  But for this version I tripled the Umami factor with mushrooms, Parmesan, and just a hint of soy sauce added to the vegetable stock for a new quinoa side dish that's was really a wow for me.  If you haven't tried Quinoa yet, maybe this will be the recipe that gets you to try it!

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Slow Cooker Frittata with Broccoli, Ham, and Swiss (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

An easy-to-make and delicious slow cooker frittata for brunch or lunch!

It feels like Easter has been on the back burner at my house, but I do have the excuse of having very cute houseguests for five days, an internet outage for a day, and a couple of days recovering from food poisoning!  Of course there are plenty of Easter menu ideas if you check the Easter Recipes, but I wanted to get this Slow Cooker Frittata with Broccoli, Ham, and Swiss posted just in case you're looking for a new idea for brunch, or have a surplus of eggs in the fridge after Easter.  This is my fourth time making a frittata in the slow cooker, and I'm a total convert to this method.   This time I added some texture by using thin strips of ham and cheese layered on top of the broccoli, and this one was eaten up pretty quickly at my house!

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Green Goddess Salad Dressing (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

Green Goddess is one of my favorite salad dressings, and also a sign of spring!

(For Phase One Fridays I feature Phase One Recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and Green Goddess Salad Dressing is a flavor combination I've loved for years.  It's also something that feels like a sign of spring, because I love to make it with the earliest chives, scallions, and parsley that peeks up in the garden.  If you're never tried making this, you're in for a treat!)

Have you tasted Green Goddess Salad Dressing? Green Goddess was hugely popular when I was a kid, and for me, it's one of those blast-from-the-past things that I've loved for so long I don't remember when I first tried it. There are definite similarities to Ranch Dressing, but Green Goddess is creamier and more herbal, with generous amounts of chives, tarragon, and parsley. It wasn't until I read about Green Goddess dressing on Hedonia that I knew that the dressing originated in San Francisco, created by a chef at the Palace Restaurant in 1923 for an actor who was starring in a play called "The Green Goddess." When I saw that post I'd been talking with my sister Sandee for months about re-creating our favorite salad dressing memory, and after I wrote about Green Goddess Dressing for BlogHer.com I finally made the dressing. I used the Green Goddess recipe from Hedonia, which Sean adapted from the original recipe from The Palace Restaurant. Of course, I loved this dressing, which I'm thinking is a pretty good reason to be sure I get some tarragon into the freezer so I can make it this winter!

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Twenty Favorite Asparagus Recipes from Kalyn's Kitchen (plus many more recipes from my friends)

Lots of asparagus recipe ideas to feed your asparagus addiction; happy Spring!

I don't know if anyone notices the schedule on the blog like I do, but I've had a couple of unplanned days off from both my blogs due to a bout with food poisoning that was definitely not fun.  I got it from a restaurant, and my sister Pam and her baby grandson were also sick from our dinner together. So there hasn't been much cooking or blogging going on around here and I'm still not totally up to par, but it's nice to be back!  I don't feel much like cooking yet, so I thought I'd share some of my Favorite Asparagus Recipes; some of these are things I make over and over every year, hope you enjoy!

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Spinach and Kale Salad with Greek Flavors and Feta-Lemon Vinaigrette (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

Eat your greens with all the flavors that make Greek salad so popular in this Meatless Monday dinner salad!

It's not hard to tell how much I love the Greek Salad flavor combination of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives, and Feta, and recipe ideas with those ingredients are always popping into my head.  This Spinach and Kale Salad with Greek Flavors and Feta-Lemon Vinaigrette was inspired by my love of those traditional Greek ingredients combined with the need to use up two big containers of baby kale and spinach that somehow ended up in the fridge at the same time.  But what really moved this salad into the wow category for me was the idea of dressing the greens with a tangy Feta-Lemon Vinaigrette so all those flavors were well-distributed in the salad.  I could eat this over and over for a Meatless Monday lunch or dinner salad; hope you enjoy!

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Artichoke, Kale, and Ricotta Pie with Eggs and Parmesan (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

This delicious Artichoke, Kale, and Ricotta Pie would make an elegant dish for any time of day.

(For Phase One Fridays I feature Phase One Recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and this Artichoke, Kale, and Ricotta Pie is a dish that would be perfect for Easter brunch. I'd love this with any variety of kale to start out the day with a healthy dose of greens.)

How do you feel about kale?  Truthfully it's something I hadn't eaten much until a few years ago when I started growing Red Russian Kale in my garden.  That sweeter and less bitter red kale turned me into a kale convert, and for years I grew both Red Russian Kale and regular dark curly kale.  Growing kale is so much fun; I loved snipping a few leaves off the kale and cooking with them.  I tried this recipe when I also had half a container of ricotta in the fridge left from something yummy, and when I searched for recipes to use ricotta and kale, I found this interesting recipe for Artichoke, Kale, and Ricotta Pie from The Kitchn. 

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Casserole with Brown Rice, Ground Turkey, Green Pepper, Mushrooms, and Feta (Gluten-Free)

A delicious casserole with brown rice, ground turkey, green pepper, mushrooms, and Feta.

I realize that it's almost time to stop thinking about casseroles and start thinking about salads, but before it gets too hot to turn on the oven, can I urge you to try this delicious Casserole with Brown Rice, Ground Turkey, Green Pepper, Mushrooms, and Feta?  I worked on this for a few weeks to get a version I thought was just amazing, and I gave it a long name so you could see all the delicious ingredients tucked into this casserole with a lot of ground turkey, green pepper, mushrooms, and Feta and just a little bit of brown rice.  I tried it out on several people who all said it was a keeper; hope you enjoy!

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Growing Green Onions, and Things I'm Thinking About on Tuesday (4-8-2014)

I was amazed at how quickly the green onions grew in water!

If you're following me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you might have noticed the amazing results documented above in my experiment with growing green onions in water, but I still thought it would be fun to share the photos of how quickly they grew.  This really couldn't be easier, just cut off the root ends of the green onions (leaving enough to stick up above the jar or glass you're growing them in), fill with water and let them grow!  I replaced the water every 3-4 days.  

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Mediterranean Spaghetti Squash Sauteed with Vegetables and Feta (Low-Carb, Gluten-Free)

Roasted spaghetti squash combines perfectly with mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, and Feta!

I think most bloggers would agree that one very fun thing about writing a blog is getting nice e-mails and comments from readers.  And sometimes those very nice readers will send you recipes that you love and plan to make over and over, which makes the nice e-mails even better.  This amazing recipe for Mediterranean Spaghetti Squash Sauteed with Vegetables and Feta came from a nice reader named Joyce.  She described the recipe to me and said if it sounded like something I'd like to try she would take a stab at writing up the recipe, and oh boy, did I ever want to try it.  Jake and I made this late in the afternoon on a long cooking day, making only a few minimal changes to Joyce's recipe, and before the night was over I had polished off all my share of the leftovers!  Even if you're not wild about spaghetti squash, if you like the other flavors here I'm willing to bet you'll like it as much as we did.

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Slow Cooker Chicken-Andouille Stew (Gluten-Free)

A creamy slow cooker stew featuring chicken, chicken Andouille sausage, roasted red peppers, and onions.

When I shared my recipe for Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice Soup, I told you about the Amylu Chicken Andouille Sausage I'd discovered at Costco, and this Slow Cooker Chicken-Andouille Stew is another recipe using Amylu's delicious gluten-free sausage in the slow cooker.   I had this sausage on the brain when I spotted a slow cooker recipe for chicken and sausage from Bakeaholic Mama on Pinterest, and I adapted that recipe, making it into a stew and adding roasted red pepper, oregano, Creole Seasoning, and reducing the chicken stock for added flavor in the sauce.  I loved the way this turned out, and enjoyed it over low-glycemic Uncle Ben's Rice to soak up the flavorful sauce, but for a lower carb meal you could eat it as a stew without the rice; enjoy!

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Recipe for Tuscan Baked Eggs with Tomatoes, Red Onion, Garlic, Parmesan, and Herbs

Tuscan Baked Eggs with Tomatoes, Red Onion, Garlic, Parmesan, and Herbs

(For Phase One Fridays I feature Phase One Recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and these Tuscan Baked Eggs with Tomatoes, Red Onion, Garlic, Parmesan, and Herbs are a great way to start out the day.  If you don't have any chives yet, thinly sliced green onions make a great topping.)

This is a dish with eggs, tomatoes, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs. Doesn't that sound like a combination that would have to taste good? Of course, I love eggs, and they're something I cook several times every week. I've made a lot of baked egg dishes in the form of breakfast casseroles or egg muffins, but eggs baked on a bed of tomato sauce was a new idea for me. I confess, the desire to cook this was partly inspired by the two little casserole dishes I found at the thrift store, and they turned out to be perfect for individual servings. But even if you cooked it in a bigger dish to share with a few people, this would make an interesting and impressive dish next time you're making brunch and want something that's a little unusual.

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Roasted Turnips with Balsamic Vinegar and Thyme (Paleo, Low-Carb)

Turnips don't get much respect, but these Roasted Turnips with Balsamic Vinegar and Thyme are delicious!

(Updated with better photos and step-by-step instructions, April 2014.)  Kale has had it's place in the food spotlight, and now cauliflower seems to be the new trendy vegetable, but turnips don't get much respect.   I grew up eating raw turnips as a snack (thanks mom!) but I'd never cooked turnips until 2007.  Then one day I thought to myself, "I wonder how roasted turnips with a bit of balsamic vinegar would taste?" I wasn't sure where the idea came from (although I found Roasted Kohlrabi on A Veggie Venture, which might have inspired it.)  I peeled some turnips, tossed them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and decided they were very good indeed.  When I decided to update this recipe with better photos, I added a little dried thyme to the turnips (and a little Feta cheese sprinkled over the top would also be a nice addition.)   I cooked the turnips in my countertop toaster oven, which makes them a good option when you don't want to turn on the oven.  If you've never thought of turnips as a side dish option, I hope you'll give them a try.

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South Beach Diet Phase One Recipes Round-Up for March 2014 (Low-Glycemic Recipes)

Kalyn's favorite Phase One Recipes from March 2014 were Pressure Cooker Mexican Beans with Avocado-Poblano Salsa, Cauliflower with Garlic and Lemon, Cheesy Baked Cauliflower Tots, Ground Turkey Low-Carb Enchilada Casserole with Red and Green Chiles, and Sriracha Beef Cabbage Bowl.

I really did enjoy my years teaching elementary school, but on April Fool's Day I'm glad I'm not at school with a whole room full of fourth graders trying to trick me.  Other than that, I love the first day of April, because when it's April there's no denying that it's spring!  That's true even if the Utah weather is dumping snow on us like it did over the weekend; it won't be long before we're growing veggies and herbs and enjoying the sun.  This time of year can be challenging in the eating department though; some days are still pure comfort food, but other days a simple salad seems like it would be plenty.  Luckily there's something for everyone in this month's South Beach Diet Phase One Low-Glycemic Recipes Round-Up; hope you will find something fun to try. 

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