Cheesy Paprika Cauliflower

 

My mother used to say that she could make a meal out of vegetables, and I was always right there with her. Dad, being a carnivore, wouldn’t go for that, and neither would the late Mr. O-P. Now that I’m on my own I eat what I like, when I like, and today was one of those vegetable days. Green beans amandine, broiled tomatoes, and this cauliflower dish made up my dinner plate. It was colorful, satisfying, and delicious, and, truth be told, eating vegetables always makes me feel a whole lot less guilty about having a buttered-slathered crusty roll alongside. This is a dish that is tastier than it would appear. It is super simple to put together, and is one that I do believe the kids would enjoy.

Cheesy Paprika Cauliflower

Adapted from robinmillercooks.com

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 t. smoked paprika

½ t. garlic powder

¼ - ½ t. seasoned salt

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1-2 scallions, chopped

 Preheat the oven to 350°F.

 Blanch the cauliflower in a large pot of boiling water for 4 minutes. Drain and transfer the florets to a large bowl. Add the olive oil and toss to coat. Add the paprika, garlic powder, seasoned salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the cheese; gently toss to coat the florets evenly.

 Transfer the cauliflower to a shallow baking dish and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 5 minutes, until the cheese melts.

 Top with scallions and serve.

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Slow Cooker Cauliflower Cheese Soup

Christmas is over, and I am more than ready. I’m glad that I started early on my holiday decorating because I cannot wait to take everything down. I don’t want to see another Christmas cookie; I don’t want to eat another slice of ham. I am craving plain old comfort food, in all of its pasteurized processed glory. This easy and delicious cauliflower cheese soup is a wonderful winter warmer with a side salad, half a sandwich, or all on its own. With everyone home for the holidays, why not whip up a batch?

Slow Cooker Cauliflower Cheese Soup

1 lb. frozen cauliflower florets 

5 scallions, sliced

2 whole carrots, finely diced

2 ribs celery, finely diced

½ c. chopped Melissa’s Fire Roasted Red Bell Peppers 

¼ c. chopped fresh parsley

5 c. low sodium chicken broth*

2 cans cream of celery soup

¼ tsp. seasoned salt 

¼ tsp. seasoned pepper 

1½ lb. Velveeta

2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

Place cauliflower, scallions, carrots, peppers, parsley, chicken broth, cream of celery soup, seasoned salt, and seasoned pepper into a 5 to 6-quart slow cooker; stir. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

After 4 hours add the cheese, turn the slow cooker to low, and cook for 15 minutes.

Stir to melt the cheese and incorporate. Taste the soup and season as needed.

 *I use Better Than Bouillon 

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Butter Cauliflower Bowls

As you know, if you read this post with my review of one of the newest books on cooking with cauliflower, I have lately been embracing cauliflower.

I am also a follower of the Damn Delicious blog because her recipes never fail me. Recently I found one for a cauliflower version of Indian Butter Chicken, one of my favorite dishes. I make mine in the slow cooker because it is so easy, and I shared that recipe with you here.

Because it is so cold and windy today I told myself I was going to stay in and experiment in the kitchen. So today I tried this recipe. Wow! It is not just good, it is super good! In fact, I could not believe how good it was. I mean, how many times do you find yourself making yummy sounds while eating a vegetable? When I ate this, I did. It got to be embarrassing.

What a wonderful vegetarian meal. I didn’t miss the chicken at all. If you do, substitute chicken for the cauliflower, or use both. I made a couple of changes in that I used chipotle chili powder to kick up the heat, and served mine with cilantro lime rice, because it adds additional flavor. If you’re interested in that, my recipe is below, if not, just use plain. 

Butter Cauliflower Bowls

from Damn Delicious

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

1 T. freshly grated ginger

2 t. garam masala

1 t. chili powder

1 t. ground cumin

¼ cup tomato paste

1 (15-oz.) can tomato sauce

2 cups vegetable stock

Pinch Kosher salt, to taste

1 head Melissa’s Organic Cauliflower, cut into florets

½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.

Stir in ginger, garam masala, chili powder, cumin and tomato paste until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir in tomato sauce and vegetable stock; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 5-7 minutes.

Stir in cauliflower until tender, about 8-10 minutes.

Stir in heavy cream until heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with rice.

Cilantro Rice

1/2 cup basmati rice, rinsed and drained

1 cup chicken stock

1 T. butter

Pinch of salt

1½ teaspoons fresh lime juice

¼ -1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Place rice, stock, butter, and salt into small saucepan. (I spray mine with Pam to prevent sticking.) Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the rice is tender, about 17 minutes. Stir the lime juice and cilantro into the cooked rice just before serving. If you love cilantro like I do, feel free to add even more!

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If you like cauliflower like I do, then you will enjoy this spectacularly easy and delicious Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon Parsley Dressing. Even the kids will love it!

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Top Ten Posts of 2017

It's time for my year-end wrap-up featuring the 10 most popular posts of 2017. It's an agreeable assortment I think, nicely varied, and it tells me a couple of things. First of all, that you like your ramen (It took the top spot by a HUGE margin) and your veggies, second, that you like tablescapes. I'm going to be working on more of both of those for 2018. You all surprised me with the inclusion of the bunny cakes. I’d like to say that I have more such recipes ahead, but I have pretty much sworn off of baking for 2018.

 

Thanks to all of you who visit my blog, I really appreciate having you here. To see the blog post and recipe associated with each of these pictures (shown in the order of popularity), click on the title below the photo and it will take you directly to the post. Happy viewing, and have a wonderful New Year.

Easy One-Skillet Beef and Broccoli Ramen

Smothered Green Beans

Getting Ready for Fall

Home for the “Owl”idays Tablescape

Cabbage Bunny Tablescape

Scroodles

Coconut Bunny Cakes

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Beer-Steamed Potatoes

Loaded Cauliflower Casserole

Loaded Cauliflower Casserole

I don't know about you, but I am always planning a party. Sometimes I'll be in recuperation from the last, and I'm already planning the next. It's not that I have a lot of them; it's just that I enjoy the planning so much. It's almost like planning for a vacation; sometimes that's a whole lot more fun than the actual vacation (particularly when visiting one's spouse's family, but I digress). I have in mind a party for early summer to celebrate my dad's birthday. My hope is that it will also be a christening of the new enclosed deck and open side area that I'm having built, and is currently scheduled for spring. I'm excited about it. It's going to give me a lot of additional living space, an entirely new spot to decorate, a wonderful place to have my morning coffee (while still in my jammies -- who's to know?), a bohemian relaxation area, and that open side deck that is going to give me a wonderful place to experiment with the grill.

I'm already thinking that brisket from my favorite barbecue place is going to be the main dish, and am currently contemplating the sides. I like to try to come up with something new and different, and I am not at all averse to trying new recipes on company. I spotted this one online, and, lover of vegetables and cauliflower that I am, I had to try it. This dish is wonderful! Not only is it relatively easy to put together and tremendously toothsome, but it can be made a couple of days ahead prior to baking, or can be frozen and saved to bake later.

I didn't steam my cauliflower florets as the recipe called for, I decided to blanch mine for about five minutes instead. After blanching them I drained them and then plunged them into cold water to stop the cooking process. I prefer blanching to steaming because it does not rob the vegetables of all of their nutrients, and often the flavor as well. I saved about 1/2 cup of the blanching water to stir into the cheese mixture.

You must try this. I'm sure your family will love it and that you will agree with me that it is a keeper.

Loaded Cauliflower Casserole
As seen on Realhousemoms.com

2 lbs. cauliflower florets
8 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
8 oz. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, divided
8 oz. block cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons heavy cream
2 bunches green onions, sliced (1 1/2 cups)
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Steam cauliflower florets until tender. Meanwhile, cream together 6 oz. of the shredded cheddar, 6 oz. of the Monterrey Jack, all of the cream cheese, and heavy cream. Stir in sliced green onions, chopped bacon, and garlic; set aside.

Drain any liquid from steamed cauliflower and add to cheese mixture. Stir cauliflower and cheese mixture together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour into a 2-3 quart casserole and sprinkle on remaining cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheeses. Cover dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes; remove foil and continue to bake until cheese is bubbly. 

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This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Happiness is Homemade Monday

Inspiration Monday

Art of Homemaking Monday
Make it Pretty Monday

My Mother's Cauliflower Soup

Just before Christmas last year, a posse of my favorite neighborhood gals and I went out to lunch and on a holiday shopping spree. We decided to make one of our stops at the newly opened Fresh Thyme Farmer's Market to have a look around. A look was all that we got. The place was so crowded that, if we didn't want to go where the crowd pushed us, we were pretty much out of luck. We did not stay.

Yesterday I was back in that area and did stop. While The Fresh Market remains my favorite place to shop, this market was not without merit. The spinach feta croissant that I bought for lunch was surprisingly good. The prices on produce were amazing. Parsley, cilantro, radishes, and scallions, all of which I consume with reckless abandon, were only 49 cents a bunch. Dare I say that I got bunches? Both broccoli and cauliflower were $1.49 a head, so heads rolled (right into my cart).

When I got home and happily unloaded all of my vegetable goodies, thoughts of my mother's cauliflower soup popped into my head. It was good, as I recalled, and I asked my dad if he remembered it. He did with fondness, so I had to rummage for the recipe and give it a try.

I love cauliflower in all forms, but Mr. O-P tends to balk at any vegetable with the exception of corn-on-the-cob and green beans, so it speaks volumes that he liked this soup. Using your own chicken stock makes it rich and wonderful, but for vegetarians, I wouldn't shy away from using homemade mushroom or vegetable stock.

This soup is a great winter warmer, and a delicious way to get vegetables into the mouths of haters, and have them love you for it.

 My Mother's Cauliflower Soup

1 medium head cauliflower,

cleaned and broken into bite-sized bits
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
4-1/2 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock
8 fresh crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a medium stockpot, bring cauliflower, carrots, and celery to a boil in stock. Meanwhile, in a 9-inch saute pan, saute mushrooms and onion in butter until onions are translucent. Add flour, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes. Add one cup of the warm stock to the flour mixture, stirring until thick. Pour mushroom/onion mixture into the cauliflower/carrot/celery broth and stir to combine. Stir in cream, parsley, and pepper to taste. Heat through. Serves 6-8.

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This post is linked to:

Celebrate It Sunday

Silver Pennies Sunday
Merry Monday

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

What’s for Dinner?

Inspiration Monday

Cooking & Crafting Monday

Melt In Your Mouth 
The Scoop