Cauliflower casserole

Currently in the oven, an adaptation of this recipe: http://www.theironyou.com/2013/12/cheesy-cauliflower-souffle-low-carb.html

I used 2lbs of packaged cauliflower florets (thank you Grocery Outlet bargains), which I steamed in water

I ground them with an immersion blender and a bit over a cup of buttermilk. Seasoned with salt, pepper, a clove of garlic run through a press, some nutmeg, some paprika, and about a TBS of prepared mustard. (Couldn't find powdered mustard here where I'm dogsitting.) Then I blended in 3 eggs (I don't really need souffle-type texture and I suspect I'll eat most of this as leftovers) and stirred in maybe a cup and a half of grated cheddar.

Currently baking at 400 degrees in a large cast iron skillet which had been pre-heated in oven with some oil in it, which I spread around the pan and up the sides before dumping in the cauliflower mixture. And now we wait!

Verdict: not great. It never quite firmed up, probably because it was about 2" high in the pan I used. The flavors were good together but I'd do something different with the texture if I do it again. Which, to be honest, is unlikely. It's a lot of effort for something kind of boring - why not just eat steamed cauliflower and a cheese omelet instead? 

What not to do: roasted vegetables

I wanted to make something like this soup because I had a whole cauliflower and 3 peeled sweet potatoes sitting in my fridge that needed to be used up, pronto. The soup sounded good.

I roasted the vegetables as directed, not thinking too much. They smelled great. Then I tasted them. Holy crap. Ridiculously salty (and I do enjoy salt.) Unbearably salty. So salty, in fact, that I didn't think it would be a good idea to try to make soup because even if hte other soup ingredients cut the salt a bit, I'd either have to use broth (which would be salty, and thus add more salt) or use water, which might not lend enough flavor.

So instead I microwaved a potato and mashed it up with some of the sweet potato-cauliflower mixture and some sour cream. It's still really salty.

Lesson learned. 2 TBS salt to one cauliflower + 3 large sweet potatoes is too much. I could have guessed that. Bigger lesson, I guess, is to pay attention and trust your gut.

Recipes I Haven't Used (yet): Crushed Chickpea Soup

Want to make this: http://www.sfgate.com/recipes/weeknightdish/article/December-dinners-that-will-get-a-warm-reception-5083283.php

From the link:

Crushed Chickpea Soup

Serves 6
To make this a vegetarian dish, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• -- Pinch cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• -- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 cans (about 14.5 ounces) chickpeas, 2 drained and 1 with bean liquid
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or stock (for stock, see recipe elsewhere in this section)
• 1 can (about 14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley + more for garnish
• -- Lemon juice to taste, if desired
• -- Greek yogurt and pita chips, for serving

Instructions: Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic; cook, stirring often, until the onions soften, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the cumin, paprika, cinnamon and lemon zest, and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes to blend the spices.
Add the chickpeas and liquid from 1 can and the chicken broth; bring to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, and cook for 5 minutes more.
Using a potato masher, lightly crush the chickpeas in the pot. Stir in the parsley, and season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice, if needed.
Garnish with parsley, and serve topped with yogurt and accompanied by pita chips.
Per serving: 338 calories, 16 g protein, 49 g carbohydrates, 10 g fat (1 g saturated), 3 mg cholesterol, 304 mg sodium, 14 g fiber.

(Green) split pea soup

from http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=936650 with modifications

6 cups water + Vegetable Bouillon powder (maybe 2 heaping TBS)
2 cups dried green split peas, rinsed (I used a 1-lb bag, that may be more than 2 cups)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
3 celery ribs with leaves, chopped (celery leaves are bitter and gross and not a substitute for parsley or whatever people may claim.)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried marjoram I used oregano 'cause I didn't have marjoram
1/2 tsp ground cumin
(omitted salt because bouillon is salty)
1/4 tsp pepper


I just dumped all this in a crock pot overnight, no sauteeing first. I heated the crock pot up a bit while I was chopping vegetables, and I boiled a kettle of water to dump over it. I left it on high for maybe half an hour and then turned it to low and let it cook for about 8 or 9 hours.

Verdict: pretty good.

soup (beef? barley? vegetable? ginger? it doesn't have enough of any of those to be named for them, so just "soup")

Nothing fancy, but I was surprised at how much flavor this had, especially since I didn't add much salt and the stock (I used Imagine "beef flavored cooking stock," low sodium, organic - 99 cent bargain at Grocery Outlet) had only 6% of the RDA of sodium per serving.

Saute:
1 onion, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
about 3 not-huge carrots, sliced
1 clove of garlic, sliced
some salt
some pepper

in oil for a while, maybe 10 minutes.

Add 1 quart of (low-sodium) beef stock, plus two more chopped cloves of garlic, plus about 3/4" cube of fresh ginger, grated, plus a handful or two of barley.

Simmer for half an hour or 45 minutes.

I added in some shredded cabbage toward the end of cooking once, and that was nice too. As was throwing in some chopped fresh tomatoes. It's all good. Mostly I'm just amazed at what beef stock does for a soup (I haven't had the same experience with boxed chicken stock.)

Crockpot/chickpea adventures.

In case you were wondering - or more likely, in case I am wondering, at some yet-unknown point in the future - 3.12 lbs of dried chickpeas is too much for a 5-quart slow cooker. It was overly ambitious of me to even try.  I think a bit over 2 lbs - maybe 2.5 - is about the limit.

In happier news, hey, I have *lots* of cooked chickpeas now.

mushroom quiche - again.

This recipe - from Moosewood - modified:

1 (9 inch) pie crust - deep dish, still frozen - and despite it being deep dish, I still had extra filling

1 1/2 cups grated cheese  - about two thirds swiss and the rest aged Havarti
1 medium onion, chopped
oil for frying
1/4 lb sliced mushrooms[I would have perhaps used more mushrooms and fewer onions]
salt and pepper
thyme


Egg Custard Ingredients

4 eggs  - i used three and a half jumbo - I doubled the recipe
1 cup milk, 1/2 cup half and half (or all half & half)
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

freshly grated nutmeg

Sautee onions for a bit, then add mushrooms and thyme and salt and pepper and sautee til soft. Meanwhile, make up custard mixture and grate cheese. Preheat oven to 375*

Dump veggies into crust. Mix cheese with custard mixture, stir, and then dump over veggies while cheese is still evenly dispersed. Bake forty to forty-five minutes.

This also totally works without a crust if you use a good amount of oil spray in the pan - it comes out fine and is solid enough to be sliced.