Food Lush

Mac & Cheese Style Cauliflower

Editor's note: For our last week at Food Lush, I've asked the writers to share both a favorite post by another writer, from over the last three years, and a favorite post of their own. You'll see these posts linked to at the top of their new post for the week. Enjoy a stroll down Lush memory lane!

by Sarah Anne

I'm so sad to be saying good by after such a short time with Food Lush, but I am forever grateful to have been included in this amazing bunch of women who love food as much as I do. I haven't been around long, but before I was a writer, I was a reader brought over by Caitlin (Thanks Caitlin!). So I will link you to a post of hers that gave me the guts to try something I'd always wanted to - Fresh Strawberry Jam!  As far as my own post, I think my very first post on Lentils is my favourite. 

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Onward and upward as they say, folks. I don't have any huge "my last post" kind of post, but I do have a favourite recipe that I rediscovered this week. It's definitely one that I think you'll love. Mac & cheese style cauliflower.  

Now, hold on, don't go anywhere just because I said cauliflower.  I know. It's kind of a misused vegetable. Bland when steamed. Used as 'rice' for the raw food and paleo crowd. Whipped up into faux mashed potatoes. Poor thing. I'll admit this recipe is kind of similar in that it is an attempt to lighten up a homey, cheesy dish.  But do me a favour and give it a shot. I promise, it's a dish worth adding to your rotation. 

Source

I definitely always increase the garlic in this recipe (and all recipes, let's be honest here) and sometimes I'll add a little dijon to the sauce.  I'm sure this recipe would be flexible enough to add bacon for those that like that sort of thing, green onions, maybe even peas?  For some reason, I always feel like peas go with mac and cheese, and since I like to mess with recipes so this is no different. Try it out and jazz up the flavours a bit! What kind of flavour combos can you think up. I love recipes that are simple in flavour and technique that lend themselves to a bit of play.

The other bonus to this recipe? It can be made pretty inexpensively depending on the cheese you buy. It can be doubled for more leftovers too. Maybe it is a way to get kids (and adults!) to eat their veggies rather than that blue box that advertises cauliflower in its pasta? Far healthier and in my mind, way tastier!

I serve this with a green salad most often and call it dinner. Oh, and don't forget to try a little sriracha on top, because who doesn't like sriracha? 

Are you a cauliflower fan? Have you tried any other 'faux' recipes using cauliflower? Perhaps a recipe like this?  

Chana Masala and Indian Spiced Vegetables

Editor's note: For our last week at Food Lush, I've asked the writers to share both a favorite post by another writer, from over the last three years, and a favorite post of their own. You'll see these posts linked to at the top of their new post for the week. Enjoy a stroll down Lush memory lane!

Jess M.

I have been a faithful Food Lush reader from the start, having been a Style Lush reader for a long time. So, when it comes to choosing a favorite post, it's just so hard! I love how reading Food Lush has always seemed like sitting around with friends and talking about what we're all making for dinner or what great kitchen gadget someone found. So, I have to list the two Food Lush Gift Guides, 2011 and 2012, as my favorite posts. Even today when I looked back at them I was newly interested in things on the lists. They have given me plenty of ideas for my own Christmas list and ideas for others. I also really enjoyed this post about owl-themed kitchen things. I bought the mugs right after reading that post!

As for my favorite of my own posts, it has to be the one where I talked about my cookbook collection. I am so attached to certain cookbooks and I try and give a lot of thought to which ones I buy, so it was fun to show my cookbook-nerd side and share these with my friends.

And I know that this is Food Lush, but I cannot let it go without mentioning just how many things I bought for myself after they were mentioned on Style Lush: this coat, a bunch of these shirts, and BB Cream to name a few.

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When we try to eat healthy it always involves a lot of beans. And when we discovered Indian food from a local restaurant we were instantly in love. Beans! Vegetables! Spiciness! Many vegetarian dishes! Unforuntaly the Indian restaurant in our town isn't convenient to us at all. We almost never happen to be near it to just pop in and bring home carryout. And when we discovered that our son would eat Chana Masala, I knew I had to find a way for us to have this dish more often. I didn't have to look very far because Smitten Kitchen has a great and easy recipe.

Chana Masala and Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes from Smitten Kitchen

Both dishes use overlapping spices, so when you measure them out for one, measure out for the other. They both also start with sauteeing some onion, so I just start them at the same time. Both reheat very well and when we put away the leftovers we often just combine it all into one big delicious bowl.

(Photos: me)

Melt Aways: My Favorite Cookie

Editor's note: For our last week at Food Lush, I've asked the writers to share both a favorite post by another writer, from over the last three years, and a favorite post of their own. You'll see these posts linked to at the top of their new post for the week. Enjoy a stroll down Lush memory lane!

by Elsha

There are SO many posts I refer to regularly, but I especially love this cauliflower pizza crust from Carrie (even my kids like it!) From my own posts, I'll have to link to this one about cleaning your stovetop, because everyone should know this.

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For my last post here at Food Lush I've decided to leave you with the recipe for my very favorite cookies: melt aways. I've posted many cookie recipes in my time here, but I've held out on posting this one because my mom is a little more protective of this recipe than the others. But I just can't leave you without it, because these cookies are seriously the best.

(Sorry, my only picture is from our Christmas baking extravaganza. They're the ones with the green frosting.)

Melt Aways:

Beat until well mixed:

1/2 lb butter (don't substitute)

3/4 cups cornstarch

Add:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup flour

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

For the frosting beat 3 oz cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 cup powdered sugar.

These are simple to make and they literally melt in your mouth (hence the name.) Don't leave the frosting off though, or you won't get the whole effect. The only tricky part is making sure you don't over-soften your butter. The dough should border on being crumbly. If it's really gooey or sticky you can refrigerate it to firm it up some. The recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies and if I'm not careful I can eat them all by myself.

Now, who wants to come over so I can make these for you?

Pepperoni Dip

Editor's note: For our last week at Food Lush, I've asked the writers to share both a favorite post by another writer, from over the last three years, and a favorite post of their own. You'll see these posts linked to at the top of their new post for the week. Enjoy a stroll down Lush memory lane!

by Tara

I think it would be impossible to pick a favorite post. I've been a fan of the Lush sites since long before I wrote for Food Lush. Since before Food Lush was around and I still got recipes from Style Lush! I think of myself as an adventurous cook, and that means that the Recipe Round-ups were probably the most-used of the posts over the years. My favorite post I wrote was my first: World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. I was so honored to become a part of the Lush team, and I shared the best recipe I had. I hope you enjoy those cookies as much as I always do! I might make some tomorrow! 

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With Super Bowl Sunday fast approaching, I know what we're all thinking about: food, commercials and what Beyonce's going to wear! (Wait. You mean some people watch the football game? Weird.) Anyway! Here's a crowd-pleasing recipe for an appetizer dip. Easy and delicious!

Pepperoni Dip

Ingredients:
-1 can cream of celery soup
-2 8-oz bricks of cream cheese
-1 package of pepperoni
-crackers and/or bread torn into dippable chunks

Directions:
1. Add soup and cream cheese to smallish slow cooker.*
2. Cut pepperonis in half and add to cooker.
3. Let warm, stirring occasionally, until creamy and easy to dip stuff into.

*I'm positive this can be made in a regular pot on the stove, or even in the microwave, but in a slow cooker is easiest because then you can keep it warm after it's done (and also just dump everything in and then leave it while you do other things).

Not The Prettiest, But Easily My Favorite Lentil Stew

Editor's note: For our last week at Style Lush, I've asked the writers to share both a favorite post by another writer, from over the last three years, and a favorite post of their own. You'll see these posts linked to at the top of their new post for the week. Enjoy a stroll down Lush memory lane!

By Jessica

(Post I've selected from the archives from another writer: The Old Flame by Katie--it has a picture of setting lemon oils on fire, plus cocktail! Post of mine from the archives: Writer(s) Helping Writer: Vegetarian Meals--I often refer back to this post as an easy repository of some fave veggie meals)

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Tonight, I cooked my favorite lenti stew for dinner and as it was bubbling rather furiously away on the stove an odd thought occured to me "This looks like the bog of eternal stench". Now, I've made this particular recipe many times over, I love it and am always excited to eat it and NEVER has that thought occured to me until tonight. I'm not sure if that thought has ever occured to me while I've cooked anything I am happily willing to consume over and over again and yet, here we are. My son asked me why I was trying to force him to eat mud. 

This all sounds like such a rousing endorsement of a my favorite lentil stew, doesn't it? But, I do love it. The main flavor profile is supplied by carmelized leeks and the addition of the honey créme frâiche (or maple sour cream in our house) is just, oh, it's so very very good.

(photo of carmelizing leeks, not so "bog of eternal stench-like")

I find that I don't tweak this recipe as much as I do most recipes I try, although I use frozen leeks from Trader Joes and I add quite a bit more than the pinch of cayenne pepper that the recipe calls for, plus tonight I added a hint of smoked paprika as well and it just rounded out all the flavors nicely. The only other change I've made swapping maple syrup for the honey as it's what I had on hand the first time I made it and I liked it so much, it just stuck.

I hope you'll try it and enjoy it as much as I do. It feels right to send you off with something warm and comforting in your tummies. 

DIY Toddler Food: Fruit Leather

By Hillary

I hate spending money on individually-portioned snack food because I feel like I'm paying more for the wrapping than the food (and I end up feeling guilty about the pile of garbage I'm left with.) I especially hate spending money on snack food that is easy enough to make myself (don't even get me started on my husband who buys bags of popped popcorn that costs ten times more than buying kernels and popping it himself.)

All of this is to say that I cringe when I buy fruit leather for my kid so I tried to make my own.

Choose your fruit! I used four pears (skin on,) two apples (peeled,) and five carrots (not a fruit but I'm desperate to get my kid to eat vegetables and will try anything.)

Chop it all up and put in a pot over medium heat.

Add your spice / sweetener! I added the juice of a lemon and a couple tablespoons of apple juice (so the fruit wouldn't burn to the bottom of the pan before its juices were released.) You can add sugar, honey, cinammon, whatever you want.

Cook until your fruit and veg are soft and then puree until smooth.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread the puree evenly over top.

My oven's lowest temperature is 175F on the convection setting so that's what I went with. It took about eight hours for my leather to be fully cooked. You want the top to be matte and not sticky.

Slice it up and store in the fridge.

Will I make it again? Probably. It tastes great. I like that I know exactly what went into it. It took a lot of time to make but it was mostly unattended so it wasn't time-consuming. Overall I'd call my fruit leather experiment a success.

(Photo from my overused Instagram account)

Creamy white chili

by Elsha

It continues to be fridgedly cold here, so I'm always on the lookout for recipes to warm us up. This one fit the bill nicely. This chili recipe comes from The Taste of Home Cookbook which is one of my favorites. It was spicy and satisifying, we'll definitely be making it again.

{photo credit: tasteofhome.com}

Here's the recipe:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 

1 medium onion, chopped

1-1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cans (15-1/2 oz each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (14-1/2 oz) chicken broth

2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

First, saute the chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil until the chicken is cooked through. Add the beans, broth, chilies, and seasoning. Bring to a boil. Next, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and cream. Serve immediately.

I actually made this using canned chicken to save time, and because I only had frozen chicken breasts, but that worked great. I sauteed in olive oil, because that's my habit. Also, apparently I did not do a great job of reading the recipe through while I was making it, because I realized AFTER I added two cans of chopped green chilies that it called for two 4 oz cans and I had added two 7 oz cans. Whoops! Also, spicy! 

New Spin on Broccoli and Chicken

By Ariel

Last week my routine was interrupted by a slight case of Appendicitis.  By slight case I mean my husband went into our town's Fast ER one night and lost his appendix by morning.  FUN!  In any case, he's doing well and my heart rate is back to normal.  Far from diet food, I wanted something warm, filling, and easy on the rest of his internal organs. I had ll the ingredients on hand for a casserole, so I stuck with the basic idea of chicken and broccoli and came up with something tasty.  Unfortunately I completely forgot to take a picture, but when you've seen one broccoli casserole you've seen them all, right?

Ranchy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

1 lb ground chicken (or breast, cut into chunks)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 cup Munster cheese
1 cup Mozerella cheese
3 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups cauliflower
1 cup mayo
1/8 cup (or more to taste) diced onion
2.5 cups brown rice, cooked
2 Tbs Ranch
Pepper to taste
10 Ritz crackers, crumbled

Cook the ground chicken in a medium skillet with the minced garlic until fully cooked.  While that's cooking, combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the cooked chicken and mix thoroughly.  Transfer to a casserole dish and top with the Ritz crackers.  Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, or until the casserole and cheese starts to get bubbly.

This got the hubby seal of approval, he went back for seconds and took leftovers for lunch the next day. This is a great traditional comfort food with some minor adjustments. 

What are you favorite comfort foods?

I'm Crazy for Vegetarian Chili

by Sarah Anne

This post was originally supposed to be about an amazing banana bread recipe I found, because I know you need another one. However! In searching for a good vegetarian chili recipe high in protein, low in fat, I came across a recipe from The Kitchn, and had to share. I promise I'll share the healthier banana bread another time, because I've already made it twice. Read: I can't stop eating it. Anyway!

I'm absolutely one of those people that cannot leave well enough alone. I always tweak recipes, add something here, substitute something there, and as a result I never make the same recipe twice. Often times, I just "wing it" and make my version of whatever dish I'm feeling like in that moment. Soups, chili, casseroles, and salads are all pretty forgiving. I've been getting better about it lately, but when I decided to have chili last night for dinner, I realized that I didn't have a "go-to" recipe. After looking at several that looked delicious, (how does any chili recipe NOT look delicious?) I knew I had a winner.

This recipe uses no faux meat, no yams, no funky ingredients but relies on beans for protein content. On top of that, the secret ingredient - espresso powder, gives it a dark, rich flavour that you might think you'd miss without the beef. The method is easy to follow, and really is a bit of a chop and dump kind of thing. It does take a bit of time to prepare, only because the flavours need to simmer and marry, but it will be worth it I promise. 

Of course, I made a few tweaks. I definitely used less than 1/4 cup of olive oil, more like 1/8th, or two tablespoons. I added 6-8 chopped mushrooms and two roughly chopped carrots in after the onions had sauteed for a couple minutes on their own.  I also increased the chili powder, cumin, and garlic, as often I feel like recipes tend to be under-spiced for my own palate. I like things bold! Abrasive! I used three 19oz cans of beans, one chickpea, one kidney beans, and one mixed. I didn't have chipotle chili powder on hand, so I just used chipotle puree, and added a few tablespoons in with the tomato step, along with a bit of smoked paprika and cayenne.  I told you, we like things muy caliente around these parts.  

Side note: If you don't have/use chipotle puree, you should. Take a can of chipotles in adobo and give it a whizz, or as Jamie Oliver says - whazz, in a food processor or high-powered blender. Store in the fridge and add to everything and anything. It lasts forever and is SO versatile! Think aioli, salad dressing, marinades, soups, etc!

If you care about nutritional and caloric stats, I did plug the recipe into a calculator. For seven servings, they are a bit over 300 calories each (337), with 14 grams of protein and a whopping 13 grams of fiber. A bonus for the vegetarians out there, you're getting some vitamin D from the added mushrooms as they are the only plant source of vitamin D. Nifty eh?

The other thing about this recipe with my additions? There's no way on God's green earth it serves only four people I estimate more like 6-8 servings. It's so fiber rich and filling, you won't need a massive bowl to be satisfied. I did top my bowl with a bit of sour cream and diced avocado and made these muffins to have on the side. All in all an easy, rich, satisfying and healthy meal that was cheap to boot!

This will from now on, be my 'go-to' recipe for chili. I think it's versatile, thick, rich and saucy and just what I was looking for. I hope you'll give it a try and let me know what you think!

Do you have a favourite chili recipe, or a recipe that you seem to go back to over and over for something? What do you like in your chili and what do you look for when searching for a recipe? 

Estimating portion sizes

by Elsha

Now that I'm finally getting back into my healthier eating habits (10 days of vacation was basically 10 days of fast food) I'm remembering how important portion sizes are. I try to be aware of my portions, but measuring everything is a giant pain. Fortunately, I found this handy (ha!) little guide to estimating portion sizes using your hands! 

According to the website the portions are based on average-sized female hands. I'm a big fan of seeing portions represented like this because I can translate that onto my plate. Tell me a serving of meat is 3-4 oz and I have no idea what that means. Tell me a serving of meat is about the size of my palm and I'm all set! 

What do you do to keep track of your portion sizes?