Sunday, October 27, 2013

Twice-Cooked Greek Cauliflower Recipe with Feta, Green Onions, and Dill

Twice-Cooked Greek Cauliflower with Feta, Green Onions, and Dill
Jake and I loved this Twice-Cooked Greek Cauliflower with Feta, Green Onions, and Dill.

Cauliflower really is your friend when you're trying eat a diet that's loaded with healthy vegetables.  Through the years I've shared lots of tasty cauliflower recipes, but I'm guessing Twice-Baked Cauliflower, Ham and Cauliflower Casserole Au Gratin, and Pureed Cauliflower with Garlic, Parmesan, and Goat Cheese must be the most popular cauliflower recipes on the blog.  The combination of cauliflower + cheese usually guarantees a winner, so when thoughts of a cauliflower dish with Feta cheese and other Greek flavors popped into my head last spring, I thought it would be easy to come up with a recipe.  But by the time Jake and I had tried four versions of this Twice-Cooked Greek Cauliflower with Feta, Green Onions, and Dill to get the one we both loved, the weather was getting so hot I knew you wouldn't want to turn on your oven.  I've been saving the recipe since May waiting for cooler weather so I could share this for a Meatless Monday dish; hope all the other cauliflower fans out there will like it as much as we did!

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Friday, October 25, 2013

Recipe for Spinach and Mozzarella Egg Bake

Lots of spinach, mozzarella, and green onion and just enough egg to hold it together!

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and this delicious Spinach and Mozzarella Egg Bake is something I'd love for breakfast.  If  you ever buy those big packages of spinach from Costco and end up letting some of it go bad, keep this recipe in mind as a good way to use up the spinach!)

If you look at my recipe category section for Eggs, you'll see that I've come up with a lot of variations for South Beach Diet friendly breakfast casseroles through the years.  I make breakfast casseroles on the weekend, cut into individual servings, and keep in a container in the fridge to eat for breakfast all through the week.  I still have favorite breakfast casseroles that I make regularly, but for a while now I've been making a variation I'm calling an "egg bake."  This is a similar to a breakfast casserole, but with lots of vegetables, meat, or cheese, and just enough egg to barely hold it together.  This particular version with spinach and a generous amount of low-fat mozzarella is something I've made at least six times in the last couple of months, so I think it's officially a favorite.  I love the idea of starting out the day with a big serving of spinach, and this is so delicious you won't even think about eating something that's good for you!

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Slow Cooker Chickpea Stew Recipe with Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, and Pesto

Slow Cooker Chickpea Stew with Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, and Pesto
Chickpeas, Turkey Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, and Pesto make a delicious slow cooker stew!

When I first started blogging I probably thought everyone loved Chickpeas (also called Garbanzo Beans) as much as I do, but now I realize some of you aren't all that enthused about these ultra-nutritious beans.  If you're one of those people who's not especially a chickpea fan, I hope you'll trust me when I  promise that this Slow Cooker Chickpea Stew with Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, and Pesto is truly amazing.  Hanging out in the slow cooker with the spicy turkey Italian sausage and tomatoes makes the chickpeas creamy and full of flavor.  And the seasonings in this recipe are perfect, with the addition of a small amount of the pesto at the end a flavor-boosting way to finish the dish.  If you try it I bet you will like it, but if I can't convince you that this combination with chickpeas is really, really good, I hope you'll try this recipe with another type of beans!

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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Ten Easy and Amazing Vegetarian Recipes Using Butternut Squash

Ten Easy and Amazing Vegetarian Recipes Using Butternut Squash
Here are Ten Easy and Amazing Vegetarian Recipes Using Butternut Squash, and many are vegan!

My name is Kalyn and I am a butternut squash addict!  I inherited this butternut squash infatuation from my Grandma Denny; every fall Grandma would hack apart giant butternut squashes from her garden, scrape out the seeds, and wrap pieces in foil and bake them in the oven.  When it was done we'd eat the squash mashed up with lots of butter, salt, and pepper.  Now I'm more likely to cut the squash in cubes and roast it with olive oil, but pretty much any way you cook it, I love the savory flavor of butternut squash.  Whether you're already a confirmed fan of this most popular of winter squashes or trying it for the first time, you can't go wrong with one of these Ten Easy and Amazing Vegetarian Recipes Using Butternut Squash.  (And if you have more good recipe ideas for butternut, let us know about them in the comments.)

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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Recipe for Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Brown Rice, Mushrooms, and Feta

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Brown Rice, Mushrooms, and Feta
You won't miss the meat in these Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Brown Rice, Mushrooms, and Feta!

Recently on the Kalyn's Kitchen Facebook page a reader asked whether I had a stuffed pepper recipe that was vegetarian.  That inquiry started the idea of vegetarian stuffed peppers swirling around in my mind, and this week when I got together with Jake for a day of cooking, we came up with these Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Brown Rice, Mushrooms, and Feta. The peppers are stuffed with a mixture of sauteed onion, chopped peppers and chopped mushrooms that's seasoned with Greek Seasoning and then combined with crumbled Feta.  We loved everything about this recipe, and if  you can't eat six peppers at once, take some out of the oven a little sooner and freeze for a quick dinner later.

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Friday, October 18, 2013

Slow Cooker Recipe for Mediterranean Beef Stew with Rosemary and Balsamic Vinegar

Slow Cooker Mediterranean Beef Stew with Rosemary and Balsamic Vinegar
A tummy-warming beef stew for the adults to eat while kids are eating candy!

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and this recipe is one I'd love to make on the weekend so I'd have leftovers to eat for lunch of a quick dinner during the week.  If you're not a slow cooker fan, there are directions at the end for making this on the stove.)

On Halloween night you know the kids aren't going to want to eat anything but candy, so why not make this slow cooker beef stew with lots of adult flavors to keep the grown-ups happy?  You can start this mid morning and by dinner time it will be ready to go.  If you'll be gone all day, just do the advance prep the night before, refrigerate the ingredients in a plastic container, and put the cold ingredients in the slow cooker and let it cook all day while you're out.  I'd love this with a dollop of sour cream on top, but no matter how you eat it, this stew is loaded with flavor.  (There are also stove-top instructions if you don't have a slow cooker.)

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Monday, October 14, 2013

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula
Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Arugula is a quick but amazing dinner with some of my favorite flavors.

(Updated with better photos and step-by-step instructions, October 2013.)  There's nothing I like much more than Italian Sausage, unless it's arugula, so a dish that combines them has to be one of my personal favorites. And did I mention there's garlic, a touch of lemon, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese?  Arugula is definitely an acquired taste, but I love the peppery flavor of the greens that go so nicely with the spicy Italian sausage, lemon, and Parmesan.  I made this recently with Jake to update the photos, and we gobbled it up, even though we'd already tested several other recipes that day and weren't really hungry.   (It's a tough job, but someone has got to try out the recipes!)  Enjoy!

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