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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