Cauliflower Fried Rice, by Cheryl

The last time I made cauliflower rice I wasn't too impressed. But this was GOOD! There was a lot of flavor and it went really well with our tuna steaks. Yum! 

Ingredients (from here):

2 large eggs, beaten

Salt and pepper

Avocado oil

5-6 scallions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh giner

2 lbs ready to cook cauliflower

4-5 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp sugar (I omitted this)

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

1 tsp rice vinegar

1 tsp toasted Sesame oil

Directions:

1) Cook the eggs over medium heat and then set aside.

2) Add 3 tbsp of oil to the pan over medium heat. Add the scallions, garlic, ginger, and cook, stirring often, about 3-4 minutes. 

3) Add the cauliflower, 4 tbsp soy sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar (if using) and 1/4 tsp salt. Cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Add the peas and carrots and cook until the cauliflower is tender-crisp and vegetables are cooked through. Stir in the rice vinegar, sesame oil, and eggs. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.   

Garlic Ghee Cauliflower Rice w/Spinach, by Cheryl

I'm on my second round of Whole 30 and it's day 8! I'm feeling pretty good, but needed a different take on cauliflower rice. I found this recipe and thought it could be the answer, but it wasn't. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something I'd make again. Maybe I used too much liquid? I wanted it to be crunchier. It went well with the fish I made and we ate it all. Yum?

Ingredients:

3 tbsp ghee (original calls for butter)

3 minced garlic cloves

4 cups cauliflower rice

chili powder 

salt and pepper

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1 lime, juiced

6 ounces baby spinach

Directions:

1) Melt ghee over medium heat.

2) Add garlic and cook and stir for 2 minutes.

3) Stir in the cauliflower rice with seasonings. Cook and stir for two minutes. 

4) Add in vegetable broth and lime juice.

5) Stir in spinach until wilted and when liquid is evaporated. 

6) Remove from heat and taste for seasonings. Adjust accordingly. 

Cauliflower Garlic Fried Rice, by Diane

 

I made this as a side dish to go with my Gyoza Dumpling Meatballs, it came together in a few minutes while the meatballs were in the oven. Pretty good as a side or on its own!

Ingredients:

2 bags cauliflower rice w mixed veggies

4 eggs, whisked

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 shallot, thinly sliced

2 tbsp coconut oil

3 green onions, sliced

3 tbsp coconut aminos 

1 tbsp sesame oil

Salt and white pepper

Onion powder

Directions:

1. Preheat a pan to medium heat, add in coconut oil. When hot, add garlic and shallot slices and fry for 1 minute until crispy. Remove from pan.

2. Add sesame oil in, then pour in eggs. Allow to set for a minute, sprinkle on spices. Break up with the back of a wooden spoon.

3. Add in the cauliflower, green onions, and garlic/shallots. Mix well and add in seasonings to taste. 

“Cheesy” Cauliflower Risotto, by Diane

I have been getting really good at creating all types of “cheesy” sauces on whole 30 by using nutritional yeast. The other night I found a package of riced cauliflower with asparagus and mushrooms in the freezer, and decided to whip this up. I wound up eating it all for dinner and skipping the rest of my food! It tasted like pure comfort food, and I’m definitely making it again soon!


Ingredients:

Riced cauliflower, cooked
Diced asparagus, cooked
Diced mushrooms, cooked
2 tbsp coconut milk, warmed
5 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp arrowroot powder


Directions:

1. Mix the veggies together and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, add all the seasonings. Whisk together until well blended.

3. Add in the warm coconut milk and whisk until blended.

4. Sprinkle the arrowroot powder in the sauce and stir until it thickens, adjusting consistency with coconut milk or powder if needed.

5. Pour over the veggies and enjoy!

Cilantro Lime Shrimp Bowls, by Cheryl

I was looking for a quick Whole30 bowl to make for dinner and I happened to have almost all of these ingredients on hand! They were easy to make, but I felt like they were just okay. Jon actually really liked them, but I was meh. Maybe if I had the cauliflower rice that I thought I had! The flavor of the shrimp was pretty good, not great. I added peppers and onions since I like that in a bowl. I don't think they were bad at all, but I probably won't be rushing to make them again. I think it needed a different sauce that wasn't so mayonnaise like. Then it would be Yum!

Ingredients:

1 lb large shrimp, deveined and peeled
2 tbsp avocado oil, divided
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 lime juice and zest
sea salt and pepper

Sauce:

Compliant mayo
1 tbsp hot sauce

For the rest of the bowls:

4 cups cauliflower rice (I thought I had this and didn't)
1 tbsp avocado oil
sea salt and pepper
shredded cabbage
2 avocados
Optional: lime wedges, jalapeno

Directions:

1) Chop cilantro and juice and zest lime. Set aside. Make the sauce.

2) Heat a skillet with 1 tbsp avocado oil and the cauliflower rice. Cook for about 5 minutes until tender. Season with salt and pepper.

3) Heat a large skillet over medium heat with 1 tbsp oil. Add shrimp to pan and cook undisturbed for two minutes. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat and add 1 tbsp avocado oil, cilantro, and lime juice and zest. Toss to coat shrimp.

4) Put your bowls together, starting with a bed of cauliflower rice, cabbage, shrimp, cilantro, avocado, etc.

Whole 30 Shrimp, Sausage, and Cauliflower Grits, by Diane

Holy cow this is one of the best dishes to come out of my kitchen, and it just so happens to ALSO be Whole 30!! This took me way back to NOLA and my cousin's creole cooking in Houston, TX. The fact that it was Whole 30 but tasted amazing is so awesome, because a lot of people find Whole 30 boring. To them I say TRY THIS!!! Also, this tasted like it cooked for hours but in reality it came together in under 20 min.

Three side notes- first, I thought this came out too spicy (my cousins and the population of NOLA may disagree), so I would taste the final product before adding the cayenne since the recipe already has sausage and red chili flakes. Second, as much as I LOVED this dish the night I made it, I unfortunately didn't care for the leftovers. So, I would adjust this to make it for just the night of. Third, I loved the sauce so much I added in double the chicken broth and made 2 batches of slurry.

Ingredients:

1 package sugar-free smoked sausage or kielbasa (I used Nature's Promise Chicken Chorizo)

1 lb raw shrimp, thawed (I used cooked shrimp to speed this up)

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp onion powder 

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

3/4 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp water

1 tsp arrowroot powder

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1.5 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp ghee (I omitted this and added a bit of EVOO, not sure this is necessary)

Directions:

1. Place cauliflower in a large pot of water and boil for 10-15 min until fork tender.

2. While the cauliflower cooks, heat a large saucepan on medium high heat. Add in the olive oil, shrimp, and sausage and cook for 5 min until the sausage browns a bit. 

3. Add the spices (garlic powder through red pepper flakes) and cook another 2 min.

4. Add the chicken broth and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the chicken broth reduces by half.

5. When the broth is reduced by half, combine the arrowroot powder and water in a small bowl and make a slurry. Add to the pan and stir, mixture should thicken quickly. Set pan aside.

6. Meanwhile, drain the cauliflower and add it back to the pot along with the remaining ingredients. Using an immersion blender, blend until creamy. 

Kimchi Beef Cauliflower Fried "Rice", by Diane

YUM- this was amazing!!! If you love Korean food and kimchi this is the recipe for you! I saw this on @thedefineddish's Instagram, and it was perfect for my whole 30 dinners this week. The original recipe was made with a fried runny egg on top, but I just mixed the rest of the eggs in since I was batch cooking for the week. The other corrections I made were just for flavor since I thought the cauliflower absorbed a good bit of the seasonings and the final result needed more. This recipe was cooked exactly how I cooked things when taking classes in Asia- instead of removing things from the pan as they cooked and setting them aside to add them in at the end, you instead push the cooked ingredients to a side of the pan and keep cooking. I loved the way this turned out- this one is a keeper!!


Ingredients:

1 lb. skirt or flap steak (I used chuck tender roasts bc the other cuts were pricey), cut into 1/4 inch cubes
Oil of choice (I used coconut)
1/2 cup finely diced white onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
4 large eggs, whisked
1 cup kimchi roughly chopped (I used closer to 2 bc it needed more flavor after the cauliflower)
1 bunch scallions, chopped, green and white parts
4 cups raw riced cauliflower
2 tbsp. coconut aminos (I used 4)
1 tsp fish sauce (I used 2)

Directions:

1. Heat oil of choice in a large pan over medium high heat (you'll need a large one for when the cauliflower is added). When the oil is hot, add steak, onion, salt, pepper, and chili flakes and cook until beef is golden brown on all sides (abt 8 min).

2. Push the beef mixture aside and pour the eggs into other half of the pan so they can cook omelet style for 2 min. Chop the egg mixture and push it to the side with the beef.

3. Add the kimchi and scallions, cook with sesame oil for 2 minutes, stirring often.

4. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and cook just until the cauliflower is tender, about 4 min.

Roasted Vegetable and White Bean Salad, by Cheryl

As I was plating it... I wanted to show you the pretty veggies!

The finished version. Should have put more herbs on it!

Jon and I recently watched Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat on Netflix. Have you seen it? The chef, Samin Nosrat, travels the world to explore the four basic keys to wonderful cooking and says if you can master these four things then you can master cooking! It was really interesting and I learned a lot from it. I'm really interested in getting her cookbook now since the recipes that she showcased on the series looked really good. One of them being this roasted vegetable and bean salad. The vinaigrette definitely makes the vegetables pop and the beans went wonderfully with it. The only thing I didn't include was the feta cheese since I felt like I didn't really need it. I heated some up the next day with a couple of poached eggs and it was delish! A great way to get some delicious fresh veggies in. Yum!

Ingredients (modified from here):

1 bunch carrots
1 small head cauliflower
1 pound brussel sprouts, halved
2 cups cooked white beans
4 oz French feta cheese
Cilantro leaves, dill, mint leaves
red wine vinaigrette
     - 1/8 cup diced shallot
     - 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
     - 1/4 cup olive oil
     - salt, pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425.

2) Toss Brussel sprouts with salt and olive oil. Place on baking sheet with flat sides down. Do the same with the other vegetables keeping enough space between the veggies so they have enough air to cook. Cook for about 25-30 minutes, checking after about 12 minutes.

3) Reserving the cooking liquid, drain beans and place in large bowl. Dress with 3 tablespoons vinaigrette and season with salt and spices.

4) Layer the salad: cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, carrots on the bottom. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Sprinkle with zatar spices, the spoon beans over vegetables. Sprinkle with large spoonfuls of feta.

5) In another bowl dress the herbs with 1 tablespoon vinaigrette. Place atop the salad and serve immediately.

For the vinaigrette:

1) Let the shallots sit in a bowl or jar for 15 minutes with the red wine vinegar. Then add olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir or shake to combine then taste and adjust as needed.

Sticky Mango Chicken, by Diane

This recipe is from @thekitcheneer Instagram, and intrigued me because so many people on Whole30 loved it! I really love mango in Asian dishes, and it seemed pretty straightforward. This came out really sweet, so I wasn't a huge fan, but I think if you cut down the mango or cut the dates down/out it could work. I added coconut milk to this to try and lighten up the flavor, which helped a bit as well.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. oil
1 tsp sesame oil
3 dates
1/2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
2 tbsp. almond butter
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper


Directions:

1. Saute the chicken with salt and pepper in the oil until cooked through.

2. While the chicken cooks, make the sauce by adding all remaining ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove and blend into a paste.

3. Combine the sauce with the drained chicken, and serve over riced cauliflower.

Crack Cauliflower, by Diane

I haven't been cooking new things lately, so this is my first post of the new year (better late than never!!). I had this dish at a restaurant recently and it was so good I knew I had to try and recreate it. It came together really easily, and its addictive- hence the name! I think this crack sauce could go on anything from other roasted veggies to chicken, and I have half of it stored in a jar in the fridge for next week's new idea (or tomorrow, because I may be out of this stuff soon!). I'm posting the appropriate amount of ingredients to make sauce for the cauliflower, double it if you want extra- which you will...


Ingredients:

2 heads cauliflower, any color
EVOO
10 dates
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup veggie broth
20 mint leaves
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp black pepper
1 clove garlic
pinch red pepper flakes or cayenne
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup chopped pistachios (I ran out of these so in the photo I used sunflower seeds for a crunch!)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Soak the dates in a bowl of hot water for about 5-10 minutes until softened. Set aside.

3. Chop cauliflower into bite size pieces (you want them to absorb the sauce) and toss with EVOO. Place on greased cooking sheets and bake for 20 minutes, flipping once. You want them browned on both sides.

4. While the cauliflower roasts, make the sauce by adding the dates and all remaining ingredients except pistachios into a food processor and blend until creamy. Taste and adjust ingredients as you like.

5. Toss the roasted cauliflower with the sauce and pistachios until blended. DEVOUR.

Old Bay Shrimp Boil, by Cheryl

We have a great farmer's market on Saturday mornings about a mile away from us. I'm really going to miss it when we leave because one stand has the BEST peaches every summer! They got me to love peaches when I was never really a fan. Anyway, there's a sausage guy there that has maybe 15 different kinds of flavored sausages. He had an old bay flavored kind that I ended up buying and per his recommendation I decided to make a sausage and shrimp boil. So this was good, not great. I found it to be very one dimensional and although I do love old bay, it just didn't do much for me as it being the only spice in the recipe. The recipe itself has great reviews, and it wasn't bad at all, but it's just not something I would make again. That being said, it was tasty and tender and reminded me of Maryland. Yum!

Ingredients (makes 4 servings) Recipe from here:

1/4 cup old bay seasoning
2 quarts water
6 ounces beer
4 medium red potatoes, quartered
1 large vidalia onion, cut in wedges
4 ears frozen corn on the cob (I used 3 large ones and cut them in half)
2 lbs shrimp (I used only 1 lb)
I added some cauliflower as well and it soaked up a lot of flavor!

Directions:

1) Bring Old Bay, water, and beer to a boil.

2) Add potatoes and onions, cook for 8 minutes.

3) Add sausage, cook for 5 minutes.

4) Add corn, cook for 7 minutes.

5) Add shrimp, cook for 4 more minutes.

6) Drain cooking liquid. Pour contents of pot into several large bowls or pails. Sprinkle with a litle Old Bay.

Cauliflower Sauce, by Cheryl

So I'm not sure about this. The reviews for this recipe were great so I decided to give it a try. My thought was that it would be a creamy Alfredo-like sauce that would be a healthy option to put over our whole wheat pasta while getting a veggie in there, but it didn't quite turn out that way. Now I will say that I added cheese to my sauce and while the original recipe said that I could do that to enhance flavor, I'm pretty sure that's what made it clump up beyond repair. The taste was there.. it was flavorful and I'm glad I added the Gruyere cheese to it. But it was basically like pasta with clumpy cauliflower and cheese. I think I'll try it again without mixing the cheese in since it was sauce-like before I did that (and maybe just added shredded Gruyere or Parmesan on top). We'll see. Yum?!

Ingredients:

8 large cloves garlic, minced (I used 4)
2 tablespoons butter
5-6 cups cauliflower florets (I used almost one whole)
6-7 cups broth (this seemed like WAY too much.. didn't use it all)
1 tsp salt (plus more to taste... we needed more)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1) Saute the minced garlic with the butter until fragrant. Set aside.

2) Cook the cauliflower until fork tender (either by boiling or by steaming - I steamed).

3) Puree the cauliflower, milk, 1 cup broth, and garlic in a food processor. Mix with pasta.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza, by Cheryl

I've been wanting to make this for a while. Well, really anything with cauliflower as a base, be it pizza or breadsticks. The taste of this was very good. It looks like pizza, it smells like pizza, BUT it doesn't fill you up like pizza, as Jon and I quickly noticed when an hour later we were standing in front of the fridge wondering what else we should eat. I wouldn't make this again for dinner and if I made it for lunch it would need to be accompanied with something else. It would make a great snack! Yum!

Ingredients (recipe from here):

2 pounds cauliflower florets, riced

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup goat cheese (I used a four cheese mix)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

pinch of salt

Directions: 

1) Preheat oven to 400.

2) Pulse batches of cauliflower in a food processor until riced. I learned the hard way and tried to stuff it all in there and I had to take out some florets in order for it to continue processing.

3) Bring some water to a boil and cook the cauliflower for 4-5 minutes. Strain, then transfer to a thin dishtowel or cheese cloth. Wrap the cauliflower up, squeeze, and drain as much water as you can to get all of the water out. Squeeze it out! You want it dry.

4) In a large bowl mix the cauliflower, egg, goat cheese, and spices. Use your hands if you need to!

5) Press the dough out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Keep the dough about 1/3 inch thick. 

6) Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown. 

7) Load on your toppings (sauce, cheese, veggies, etc.) and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. 

Cauliflower Ranch Dip, by Diane

I had some extra cauliflower leftover from my amazing cauliflower biscuits last week, so I looked up what I could use it for and found this recipe. I love Julie Morris (she makes tons of superfood cookbooks and this was from her newest snack cookbook), and so I was very hopeful about this recipe. It was perfect for week 2 of my sugar detox, as actual ranch has lots of sugar and dairy in addition to unhealthy oils and preservatives. This dip came out with the tang of ranch dressing, surprisingly(I was highly skeptical looking at the ingredient list), but that's where the similarities end. It was, however, a good dip to go with veggies as a snack. Not sure I'd make this again but it's always nice to try out new recipes!


Ingredients:

1½ cups steamed cauliflower florets (I used a frozen bag you can steam for easiness)
½ cup unflavored almond milk
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (I skipped this)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Shot of hot sauce, to taste
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced (skipped this too)


Directions: Blend all ingredients until completely smooth.

Cauliflower Biscuits with Bacon and Jalapeño, by Diane

Oh my god. I can't say enough to express how good these things are. I already ate two within 20 minutes of pulling them out of the oven and they are supposed to be for the week's lunches. I have put them in the fridge but am already thinking of eating them all more and making another batch for the week....

These were easy to put together and aside from the bacon aspect are really healthy. They are also gluten-free (I used brown rice flour bc that's what I had on hand, but the recipe calls for almond flour). I also had some nutritional yeast leftover from another recipe, and at the last minute added that in- thank GOODNESS I did because now they are more like cheddar bacon jalapeño biscuits and who doesn't love that combo? Last comment- I skipped all this measuring cup nonsense for shaping them and just made them into compact balls. I also used frozen cauliflower instead of fresh. Both way easier!

I did have one criticism of the recipe name, as the use of the word biscuit is misleading. They are more like baked balls of deliciousness, but since that doesn't make a good recipe title I stuck with the original, found here.


Ingredients:

• 7 slices bacon
• 1 jalapeño, chopped finely
• 2 bags frozen cauliflower florets, cooked and chopped finely
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
•  1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 2 eggs 
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional, for cheesy flavor- or just regular cheese!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Chop 7 slices of bacon thinly and add to a large saucepan over medium high heat.

3. Add in jalapeño, cook until soft and bacon is browned.

4. Drain the grease and add the bacon and jalapeño back into the pan along with the spices and cauliflower. Mix well and add to a large bowl.

5. Add the flour and eggs to the bowl, and mix thoroughly.

6. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, form the cauliflower mixture into balls (about 2 inches in diameter) and place on the paper.

7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until biscuits have started to brown.

Thai Fried (Cauliflower) "Rice", by Diane

In my search for recipes without grains, I have come across a lot of cauliflower "rice" recipes. Apparently, if you process raw cauliflower it cooks up and tastes just like rice, making it a great substitution. I was always skeptical of this until I had a delicious stew at my local favorite organic market last weekend and realized after I finished it that it had contained cauliflower and not rice as my friends and I had thought. The fact that we were all duped by this made me excited to get started on a recipe using this cool substitution!

One of the first recipes I came across is cauliflower fried rice. It seemed easy enough, but I wanted to steer clear from using exclusively soy sauce as chinese restaurants do (I'm trying to avoid soy, sodium, and gluten!) so I created a thai red curry sauce to pair with it instead. The end result- Thai Fried Cauliflower Rice- was SO good and tasted like it came from a restaurant! The best part, while it was filling and healthy, I would have never known it wasn't rice. I will say that the end result did have a hint of cauliflower taste, which was fine by me because I would have used it in this recipe anyway if it wasn't already the star ingredient. Definitely predicted to be on repeat across 2015!

One last note- the coconut oil really brought out the flavors of the sauteed ingredients even before adding the sauce in, you could definitely skip the sauce and be satisfied!!


Ingredients:

2 medium heads cauliflower
2 steam bags of oriental stir fry vegetables (or you can buy all the ingredients seperately, this is what I had on hand and worked perfectly!)
3 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1 package baby bella mushrooms, sliced (any other kind works well too)
1/2 lemongrass stalk, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch scallions, sliced, green and white parts
1/2-1 whole jalepeno, seeds and ribs removed, sliced thinly
1 lb thin sliced chicken breasts
1 lime, cut in half
1 tsp ginger (in spice form)
Pink Himalayan sea salt and pepper
1 15 oz can lite coconut milk
4 tbsp red curry paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp chicken broth
6 eggs, whisked together
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

Directions:

1. Steam the bags of vegetables separately and set aside.

2. Chop cauliflower heads into large chunks, place in food processor in batches until it processes down to the size of rice grains. Place in a large bowl and set aside.

3. In a large saucepan heated on medium high, add 1.5 tbsp of coconut oil and heat until melted. Add mushrooms, lemongrass, garlic, scallions, jalepeno, and steamed veggies. Cook until the mushrooms have softened. Place in a very large bowl and set aside.

4. In the same saucepan, add 1.5 tbsp of coconut oil and the cauliflower rice. Cover and steam, occasionally stirring until all the rice is cooked and softened. Add to the bowl with the veggie mixture and set aside.

5. Sprinkle the chicken breasts on one side with lime juice from 1/4 lime, 1/4 tsp ginger, salt and pepper. In the same saucepan, add remaining 1/2 tbsp coconut oil and heat until very hot. Add in chicken breasts, making sure there is enough room (you'll likely need to do 2 batches) and placing the chicken seasoned side down. Season the top side and flip over until cooked through and browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

6. In the same saucepan, add coconut milk, red curry paste, and brown sugar, whisking together until combined. Add in remaining 1/2 tsp ginger and salt to taste. Bring heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the chicken thinly and add it back into the pan with the sauce. Combine sauce and chicken with veggie mixture.

7. In the same saucepan, add chicken broth and eggs and scramble until you have fluffy eggs. Make sure to dice them finely with the spatula while they are cooking.

8. Add the eggs and soy sauce to the rest of the ingredients and toss together. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Gobi Makhani, by Diane

One of my fave Indian dishes is makhani, which is a buttery tomato gravy. I found a version online that was vegan and light (makhani is loaded with fat and calories!), and converted the veggie/protein ingredients to other favorites in Indian dishes. I then adjusted the cooking so that I could do it in a crockpot, and the whole thing took no more than 10 minutes! In the future, I would suggest cooking the sauce according to the directions, as I think the toasting of the spices and charring of the onions and garlic would have given this already flavorful crockpot version even more flavor, but this came out FANTASTIC and it will definitely be made again! Any possible veggie or protein can go in this sauce, but I am posting my combo because it is amazing!

A note on this photo- I decided I wanted cauliflower to be the main ingredient so I bought two heads. I saw purple cauliflower next to the white and decided to buy one of each. There is no flavor difference, but the purple version is more nutritionally charged than it's white counterpart thanks to anthocyanins, which are cancer-fighting, blood lipid and sugar-stablilzing, weight loss compounds. So those weird purple blobs in the photo are this type of cauliflower, which simply made it more nutritious and colorful!

A photo of the crockpot fully loaded- with the gorgeous purple cauliflower on top!

 Another first for me in this recipe was making a vegan sauce with cashew flour/powder, which I see a lot as a substitute for dairy (i.e. in fettuccine alfredo). I didn't get the substitute as I could not imagine that cashews could even come close to a milk or cream, but lo and behold it really did! The cashew powder (which I simply created using my nutribullet milling attachment and a handful of whole roasted cashews) when added to a liquid instantly develops into a creamy, thick, rich sauce. And it adds an amazing flavor that is subtle but really good. Although this sauce was vegan and therefore contained no butter and no cream, the coconut milk and cashew powder really made it come close- and in my opinion added two more complex flavors to round out the gravy. I will absolutely use these two in the future to create a lowfat and nutritious vegan sauce!

And finally, a note on the spices. Many of these such as coriander and fenugreek can be found in both whole/leaves and powder forms. For this recipe, my local whole foods only had the opposite of what was listed (fenugreek powder instead of leaves, and whole coriander instead of ground). A great rule of thumb for this and any other similar spice situation is 1 tbsp whole/leaves = 1 tsp powder. I simply used this conversion and all went well! 

Recipe from: http://www.veganricha.com/2013/06/gobi-musallam-whole-roasted-cauliflower.html


Ingredients:

For the makhani sauce:

2 teaspoons oil (omit this if you are doing a crockpot version!)
1/2 medium red onion chopped  
1 inch ginger chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic chopped  
1 dry red chili or chili flakes to taste
3 medium tomatoes chopped (I used one can of tomato sauce and it worked really well)
1 teaspoon garam masala  
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder  
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder  
1 Tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves  
3/4 cup coconut milk (from can)  
1/4 cup ground cashew or 1/3 cup soaked cashews
3/4 teaspoon salt  
1/4 teaspoon raw sugar or 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup


Veggies/Proteins:

2 cauliflower heads, chopped
1 small bag frozen peas
4 large carrots, chopped (I had a bag of shredded carrots leftover so I used those but next time would use whole)
1 can chickpeas, drained

Directions for the sauce are on the original website. For this crockpot version, throw all ingredients into the crockpot (sauce ingredients last!) and cook on low for 4 hours, stir and cook on high for 30 minutes.

Rosemary Chili Roasted Cauliflower, by Diane

This recipe is 1 of 4 that I made this week to simulate a trip to the Whole Foods buffet (along with Garlic Rubbed Cabbage Steaks, Spicy Jicama Salad, and Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup with Roasted Portobello Topping). There is always something enticing about the foods on that buffet, and really all they are is just someone's creative twist on roasted or cooked veggies. So, I made a buffet of my own that I could pick and choose from for my lunches and snacks this week- all vegan, all hot, all anti-inflammatory- so it would seem more exciting to stick to the diet I know works best for me. The result- easy and delicious!


This cauliflower recipe could not have been more simple- or addictive. You can custom blend your own spices, or even add things like cheese if you like. It's great for a snack or a side dish!


Ingredients:

 Cooking spray/Misto EVOO
1 head cauliflower
1 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp sea salt


Directions:

1. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and preheat oven to 350.

2. Cut cauliflower into bite size pieces, and place in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and toss until all pieces are coated.

3. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and roast until softened and browned, about 20-30 minutes.