Recipe: Quinoa and Broccoli Casserole

Quinoa and Broccoli Casserole
Alton Brown
5 stars

We've been watching old episodes of Good Eats and just watched the one about Ancient Grains. This recipe looked so good that we made it just a few days after watching the show! It doesn't "look" delectable, but it is -- especially if you like broccoli cheese casseroles which it essentially is. As Alton Brown mentions, you could technically eat this every day and be good because it has many nutrients including complete protein from the quinoa.

Ingredients: quinoa, broccoli florets, sharp Cheddar cheese, button or cremini mushrooms, onion, chicken stock, half-and-half, egg, mayo, unsalted butter, dry mustard, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, Kosher salt, black pepper, ground white pepper

Tips:

• Used vegetable stock
• Used more broccoli than was called for (over a pound) and could actually add more broccoli as long as it fits in the Pyrex dish
• Definitely put a sheet pan on a rack under this dish in the oven in case it overflows as it was filled to the brim

Recipe: Kahlua Coffee Chocolate Layer Cake

Kahlua Coffee Chocolate Layer Cake

Live, Love & Sugar

4.8 stars

Instead of making this as a layer cake, I decided to make it as a Bundt Cake... something I hadn't made in years. I mean, I don't even own a bundt pan and had to borrow one from a friend!

This cake turned out really great -- super MOIST, and while I wish I personally could taste more of the Kahlua, friends and family said that they could taste it. It does use 1/2 a cup of Kahlua!

I did not make the Kahlua Coffee frosting; instead we topped it with a chocolate ganache.

Ingredients: all purpose flour, sugar, natural unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, milk, vegetable oil, Kahlua, vanilla extract, hot coffee

Tips:

• If making this as a Bundt cake, it will need to bake for 87 minutes

Tiramisu

Tiramisu

savorysimple.net/tiramisu

5 stars

I'd never made Tiramisu before -- and it was surprisingly very easy! Authentic Tiramisu uses raw eggs, but this recipe has directions for cooking the yolks over a double boiler (note that it took almost 25 min to get the eggs up to temp vs. 10-15 min noted in the recipe) -- this was the "hardest" part.

For our guests, we eliminated the alcohol and used decaf coffee.

DELICIOUS!!!!

Ingredients: ladyfingers, strong coffee or espresso, rum or brandy or amaretto, egg yolks, mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, granulated sugar, Kosher salt, bittersweet chocolate, Dutch-processes cocoa powder for dusting

Recipe: Spinach Salad with Warm Maple Dressing

Spinach Salad with Warm Maple Dressing

Food & Wine Magazine, Dec 2022/Jan 2023, p. 49

5 stars

The photo above doesn't show the apples because we ran out of apples when I took this photo the second time we made this. Great salad to serve at a dinner party with lots of textures.

Salad Ingredients: spinach, Honeycrisp apples, blueberries, feta cheese, sliced almonds, Kosher salt, black pepper

Warm Maple Dressing Ingredients: avocado oil, balsamic vinegar, pure maple syrup, Dijon mustard, honey, smoked paprika, Kosher salt, black pepper

Tips:

• Use half of the balsamic vinegar (tasted too vinegar-y)
• Used crushed marcona almonds and mixed greens since we had them on hand
• Apples do turn brown because of the dressing so put on top when serving

Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad with Broccoli

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad with Broccoli

HalfBakedHarvest.com
4.8 stars

Delicious! Tastes like it would be unhealthy but it's much better for you than getting a dish like this in a restaurant. We had this hearty salad along with a Japanese/purple baked potato.

Ingredients: quinoa, chicken, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, blue cheese, avocado, green onion

Buffalo Dressing Ingredients: hot sauce, olive oil, seasoned salt

Tips:

• Used Impossible Chicken Patties for the chicken (cooked in the air fryer so they were crispy!)
• Go light/easy on the seasoned salt

Recipe: Rajas Con Crema

Rajas Con Crema (or Papas Con Rajas)

Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2023, p. 20
4.6 stars

Easy weekday dish with pretty nice flavor. Since there isn't any protein in it, we served it with black beans on the side -- plus chips and margaritas!

Ingredients: corn or flour tortillas, Yukon Gold potatoes, poblano chiles, white onion, chicken bouillon paste, crema mexicana or heavy cream and sour cream, lime wedges, garlic, jalapenos, butter, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Used Better Than Bouillon vegetable paste
• Used heavy cream and sour cream

Recipe: Ravioli and Mushroom Skillet

Ravioli and Mushroom Skillet

Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2023, p. 22

4.7 stars

Easy recipe for a weeknight meal, but being a dish that has heavy cream in it, it was a bit rich and well, heavy.

Ingredients: fresh or frozen cheese raviolis, mushrooms, heavy cream, grated parmesan, store-bought fried onions, shallot, garlic, white wine, thyme, lemon zest, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper

Tips:

• Cooked ravioli first (boiled) as we were afraid it wouldn't cook thoroughly in the pan
• Added red pepper

Recipe: Roasted Beet-Citrus Sorghum Bowls

Roasted Beet-Citrus Sorghum Bowls

Better Homes & Gardens, Oct 2020, p.124

4.8 stars

Another super delicious bowl recipe! As we were having this for dinner, I thought to myself -- this would be at least $15 at a restaurant. Great texture and flavor.

Ingredients: beets, sorghum, chickpeas, baby arugula, cucumber, avocado, lemon, orange, mayonnaise, sour cream, feta, garlic, olive oil, thyme

Tips:

• Used farro instead of sorghum
• Thawed frozen beets we had already and roasted them
• Put the roasted garlic in the dressing
• Add pepper to the dressing

Recipe: Salad Ramen

Salad Ramen

Bon Appetit Magazine, Jun/Jul 2020, p. 27

4.6 stars

EASY, tasty weeknight meal. The only reason I gave this 4.6 stars and not higher was because the sauce was more on the acidic side -- need to reduce the lime juice. It also needed another flavor like sriracha.

Ingredients: ramen noodles, seasoned rice vinegar, red pepper flakes/Aleppo-style, toasted sesame oil, extra-virgin olive oil, lime juice, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, Kosher salt

Vegetable Ingredients (not limited to the following shredded/shaved): radishes, carrots, scallions, cabbage, lettuce, zucchini, cucumbers

Tips:

• Add seared tofu
• Add sriracha at the table to taste
• Serve with spring rolls or gyoza

Recipe: Roasted Cauliflower Tacos with Chipotle Romesco

Roasted Cauliflower Tacos with Chipotle Romesco

MinimalistBaker.com

4.9 stars

This was YUMMY and so easy to make! I almost gave this 5 stars. There's so much flavor and texture in these tacos -- beats almost any other vegetarian taco I've had!

Cauliflower Ingredients: cauliflower, oil, ground cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, sea salt

Sauce Ingredients: fire-roasted tomatoes, almonds, chipotle in adobo, garlic, lime, smoked paprika, cumin, sea salt, maple syrup, olive oil

For Serving: tortillas, cilantro, red cabbage, pepitas, avocado, lime

Tips:

• Used roasted almonds instead of raw almonds to save time
• Didn't add in the 1-2 raw garlic cloves into the sauce
• Preferred flour tortillas to corn tortillas
• Used the pepitas from a Chick-fil-a salad (had extra packets) that I had in the pantry
• If using just 1 head of cauliflower, make half the sauce as there was a lot of sauce left over

Recipe: Quinoa Meatballs with Tomato Sauce and Tuscan Kale

Quinoa Meatballs with Tomato Sauce and Tuscan Kale

Food & Wine Magazine, Feb 2017, p. 91

4.8 stars

Super healthy and tasty -- you don't even really miss the "meat" in these meatless meatballs. Note: This did take a bit of time to make so it's not a quick weekday dinner meal

Pilaf Ingredients: quinoa, onion, basil, parsley, scallion, dill, dry white wine, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt

Quinoa Meatball Ingredients: eggs, semolina, whole milk, fine dried breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, Parmigiano-Reggiano, extra-virgin olive oil, baking spray, Kosher salt, pepper

Tomato Sauce Ingredients: canned whole tomatoes, kale, onion, garlic, dry white wine, oregano, red pepper, basil, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper

Tips

• Left out scallion and dill
• Used cornmeal instead of semolina

Recipe: Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna

Spinach and Ricotta Lasagna

Bon Appetit Magazine, Mar 2023
5 stars

A delicious and easy meatless lasagna recipe. Loved this so much! It tastes rich because of the heavy cream and cream cheese. FYI - It's so interesting how this lasagna doesn't use any mozzarella, and it doesn't need it!

Ingredients: lasagna noodles, 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes, frozen spinach, whole-milk ricotta, cream cheese, heavy cream,  Parmesan, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, red pepper flakes, Kosher salt, ground pepper

Tips:

• The grocery store was out of frozen spinach so we cooked down some fresh spinach
• Added in basil and oregano
• The ingredients/contents filled up our Pyrex dish completely so don't add anything to this dish!
• Place the Pyrex on a sheet tray as it almost bubbled over
• It looks watery but the noodles will soak up the liquid
• Had to bake it for an hour, not 45 min.

Recipe: Sheet-Pan Orange Tofu and Broccoli

Sheet-Pan Orange Tofu and Broccoli

Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2023, p. 49

Interesting

Overall this dish was fine. I didn't rate any stars because of the different components. If we make this dish again:

• Tofu: We'd never cooked tofu like this before -- baking tofu with cornstarch on it to make it seem like it was fried tofu. Maybe there was too much cornstarch because not all of it browned. If we make this again, we need to double the recipe.
• Broccoli: Eh, not the best roasted broccoli recipe as it was boring and not enough. I would make another version of broccoli (even steam it) and make double.
• Sauce: Delicious -- tangy and spicy and tasted like a bit healthier version than orange chicken sauce. Make 1/2 next time and note that it's gloopy after putting it in the fridge.

Ingredients: tofu, broccoli, orange, scallions, garlic, soy sauce, honey, unseasoned rice vinegar, sriracha, sesame oil, cornstarch, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper; serve with rice and toasted sesame seeds

Recipe: Udon with Stir-fried Peppers and Onions

Udon with Stir-fried Peppers and Onions

Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2023, p. 25
4.5 stars

This dish was good, but not amazing compared to other ramen and udon-based Asian dishes we've made. It was SPICY so see tips below.

Ingredients: udon or ramen, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, onion, scallions, garlic, ginger, sambal oelek, sriracha, soy sauce, unseasoned rice vinegar, honey, vegetable oil, Kosher salt, toasted sesame seeds

Tips:

• Reduce sambal oelek to 1.5 Tbsp instead of 2 Tbsp
• Reduce sriracha to 0.5 Tbsp instead of 1 Tbsp (more can always be added at the table)
• Added firm tofu and also edamame to the dish for added protein

Recipe: Chipotle Cauliflower Tacos

Chipotle Cauliflower Tacos

Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2023, p. 24
4.7 stars

Super duper easy weeknight recipe! Lots of flavor and overall healthy! 

Ingredients: corn tortillas, cauliflower, adobo sauce, cilantro, sour cream, limes, ground cumin, red onion, jalapeno, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Pickled the onions
• Served with black beans mixed with quinoa and some spices (like cumin) on the side to add protein to the meal

Recipe: Lentil Veloute with Cabbage and Toasted Brioche

Lentil Veloute with Cabbage and Toasted Brioche

Food & Wine Magazine, Oct 2019, p. 85

4.7 stars

(I couldn't find this recipe online so have not linked it here.)

I had set aside this recipe back from 2019, thinking we might make this super interesting recipe one day.... 

We had some cabbage left over from another dish so decided to give this a try. I was mostly intrigued because of the coffee whipped cream that tops this soup. 

This soup was delicious and something I'd expect to find at a high end restaurant. The recipe is from the restaurant Lauza in southern France.

In short, there is a lentil veloute where a cabbage and mushroom mix is added along with a topping of coffee whipped cream. A lot of components and levels of flavor and textures which I love.

Lentil Veloute Ingredients: green lentils, yellow onions, garlic, heavy cream, parsley springs, thyme springs, bay leaves, olive oil, unsalted butter, Kosher salt, black pepper, water

Cabbage and Mushrooms Ingredients: bacon, green cabbage, shiitake, unsalted butter, Kosher salt, black pepper

Coffee Whipped Cream Ingredients: heavy cream, brewed coffee, Kosher salt

Additional Ingredients: brioche slices, extra-virgin olive oil, microgreens for garnish (optional)

Tips:

• Cooked the lentils for 30 minutes instead of 45
• Next time, add 8 cups of water instead of 10 so it's less watery
• We wanted some lentil texture so only blended half of the lentils
• Topped with bacon instead of mixing in with the cabbage and mushrooms so the bacon stayed crispy
• The coffee whipped cream took quite a while to whip because of the coffee liquid
• Add salt to taste -- the 2.5 teaspoons is a lot