Cauliflower Alfredo

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 cup water

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic

Milk

Salt and pepper

1 tbs butter

1 tbs olive oil

Put cauliflower, water and broth in a saucepan and simmer on low heat until very tender. Carefully puree cauliflower and the liquid in a blender. Add butter and enough milk to give you the consistency you want.

Sauté garlic in olive oil for minute or so; be careful to not let it brown. Add the puree and bring to a simmer. Add cheese and season to taste.

I served it with shell pasta and green peas- delicious! 

Zucchini Ribbons With Shrimp Cooked in Lemon Oil

Zucchini Ribbons in Tomato Puree with Shrimp cooked in Lemon Oil

Spiral slice zucchini. If you don’t have a spiral slicer you can use a vegetable peeler or V-slicer to make “noodles”. You can blanch quickly in hot water if you want them less al dente. I use the hot tomato puree to “cook” the zucchini.

For the lemon oil you can gently sauté a slice of lemon peel in some olive oil before you add the shrimp or you can add lemon zest to the oil for a minute before you add the shrimp. If you use a slice of lemon peel, avoid as much of the white pith as possible as it is bitter. Season the shrimp with salt and sauté in the lemon oil.

The tomato puree seen here is from yellow tomatoes I grew last year. I peeled, seeded, and pureed them, added some lemon juice and salt and into the freezer they went. For the sauce I sautéed a minced clove of garlic in olive oil and added one quart freezer bag of puree which I simmered until it reduced by half and  was nice and thick. You can use canned pureed tomato or fresh.

To plate, ladle some sauce onto the plate and top with zucchini and shrimp. Season with salt and fresh lemon zest to taste. 

Quick and Easy Italian Wedding Soup

 This was quick and easy- if you have time to make the stock and meatballs from scratch go for it I made this on the fly. If you have some left over pasta, warm it up and add it before serving so it doesn't get mushy.

1 32 oz carton chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine (optional- if you omit the wine substitute more broth)
1 large bunch kale chopped
2 carrots peeled and diced
1/2 onion peeled and diced
2 ribs celery diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
Olive Oil
1 bay leaf
For the meatballs I used frozen turkey meatballs but you can use any kind you want. Thaw them according to the package.

In a TBS or so of olive oil, saute the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic until the onion is soft. Add broth, wine, balsamic, and bay leaf and simmer until the carrots are soft. Add the meatballs and kale. When the meatballs are warm through and the kale wilted you can add pre-cooked pasta. Serve with a salad and crusty bread. I grate fresh parm into it at the table. Serves 4

Sweet Potato Angel Hair with Lentil Ragout and Kale Oil

 For the “pasta”: I used a spiral cutter on a sweet potato. If you have one (and I highly recommend it), one sweet potato makes two servings. My sweet potato was raw- the hot sauce cooked it to al dente. You could use zucchini (raw or blanched) and make it into linguini with a vegetable peeler, or use rounds of baked eggplant, shirataki noodles would be great, or regular pasta.

Lentil Ragout

For two servings rinse ½ cup of lentils and check for pebbles. Add to a sauce pan with ½ cup red wine, ½ cup stock. Vegetable stock, chicken, or if you really want to make it meaty- beef broth. Keep extra stock or broth handy because the wine will cook off quickly. Add a bay leaf, a whole clove of garlic, 1 tbs tomato paste,  a sprig of rosemary. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until the lentils are done to your taste adding broth as needed. Remove bay leaf, garlic, and rosemary. Add one can of chopped tomatoes in juice, salt and lots of cracked black pepper. I added some roasted garlic for depth. Use an immersion blender to puree or a blender (with extreme caution). You decide what texture you want. Pour over your pasta. If you are using raw “pasta” toss it with the lentils to cook. Garnish with kale oil.

Kale oil

In a blender combine two big handfuls of kale and some sprigs of whatever herbs you have on hand. I used basil and parsley but if you don’t have any herbs on hand the kale is great by itself.  Add a clove of garlic, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of salt and start low adding olive oil until it’s mixed then puree the heck out of it, adding oil until it has a nice liquid consistency. Adjust seasoning to taste. It’s like a pesto oil made with kale.

Sweet Potato Soup with Crispy Kale

 Makes 2 Servings

1 large sweet potato

2 links of Andouille cut into small dice (or chorizo, or any smoked sausage)

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (+ extra to thin soup if necessary)

1 medium shallot or ½ small onion or 1 clove garlic

Salt, red pepper flake, tabasco sauce

1 sprig fresh thyme (optional)

3 Tbs olive oil

1 head of kale

Goat cheese (or queso blanco)

Preheat oven to 275

Peel and cube sweet potato. The smaller the cubes the faster they cook.

Mince shallot (or substitute).In a medium sauce pan, sauté in 1 TBS olive oil for a minute, add cubed potato. Sauté for a few minutes until you can smell the sweet potato then add stock- about half an inch over the top of the potatoes- about three cups. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover. Cook until the sweet potato is just tender. When the potato is tender enough to puree, (it won’t taste cooked at this point but that’s ok) puree with an immersion blender or in a regular blender (with caution- it’s hot!). Return to pan and add the sausage, a dash of tabasco (or more) and thyme sprig. Worcestershire sauce is nice too. Cover and simmer on low. You could add some chipotle or cayenne or whatever floats your boat. If it’s too thick you can thin it with stock. Too thin- remove the cover for the last 10 minutes.

Wash and dry kale, remove stems and cut into 1” pieces. Toss in 2 TBS olive oil, sprinkle with salt, spread onto sheet pan and bake at 275 for 10 minutes while soup simmers. Turn kale over and bake for another 10 minutes.

When the kale is done, season soup with salt to taste, remove thyme sprig from soup and ladle into bowls. Top with cheese of choice (Greek yogurt or sour cream works great too) and crispy kale. Serve remaining crispy kale on the side. (Because you can never ever get enough crispy kale and the garnish on the soup will wilt.)