Roasted Cauliflower Pasta

I got this recipe from Cooking Light (though I modified the amounts). This was my first time using these ingredients with pasta and all in all I thought they made for a flavorful dish.

Ingredients
-3 T butter
-2 T EVOO
-3 medium shallots, peeled and diced
-1 head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets
-3/4 C Spanish olives (these are the green kind)
-5 garlic cloves, minced or sliced
-14 oz (1 box) of penne
-salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste
-3 T fresh basil
-2 oz fresh Romano cheese, shaved
-1/2 C reserved pasta cooking liquid

Steps
1. Place a medium roasting pan in the oven and preheat to 450.
2. Shop your shallots, cauliflower, and garlic.

3. Remove preheated pan from oven and add butter and oil to pan and swirl to coat. Add shallots and cauliflower to pan and toss to coat. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.
4. Start a large pot of water to boil. Start cooking pasta (you want it al dente) once water is boiling. (Note: I used wheat pasta, which takes longer to cook, so this timing worked well for me. However, if you're using white pasta you might want to wait a few minutes to start cooking it.)
5. After cauliflower has baked for 10 minutes add the olives, salt, pepper, red pepper, and garlic, and toss again. Cook for another 7 minutes.

6. Hopefully your pasta is done about the same time as your cauliflower. (If not, no worries...set the portion that gets done first aside. It doesn't matter if it gets cold since you'll recombine everything at the end.) Remove cauliflower from oven. Drain pasta, and reserve 1/2 C pasta cooking liquid.
7. Return pasta to pan over medium heat. Add cooking liquid and cauliflower mixture and toss. Cook for another 2 minutes.
8. Garnish with shredded Romano and basil.

Jicama Slaw

The first time I tried to make this it was a pretty big fail because I accidentally bought yuca instead of jicama. I had never before bought jicama and had no idea what it looked like, so the yuca that had snuck its way into the jicama bin seemed like it would work. It did not.

So this time I looked up what jicama looks like (see picture below) and made sure to get the right thing.
I have to say, this slaw turned out really awesome, was very easy to make, and will now be in direct competition with my other favorite slaw. The dressing is limey and tangy and I think this would be great as a side dish. We served it on top of veggie hot dogs to make Slaw Dogs 2.0.

Ingredients (makes a large batch, so you may want to half)
-2 jicamas
-1/2 head of red cabbage
-1 whole bunch of cilantro
-1/2 red onion
-3 carrots
Dressing
-3-4 limes, juiced (you want about 1/2 C of lime juice)
-2 T honey
-1/4 C rice wine vinegar
-1-2 T EVOO
-pepper and crushed red pepper to taste

Steps
1. Peel your jicama with a sharp peeler (be careful not to slice off the top of your finger and nail like I did).

2. Use a grater to grate your jicama and carrots.
3. Cut onion and cabbage into thin strips.
4. Use a scissors to chop up all your cilantro.
5. Whisk your dressing ingredients together and toss with salad ingredients.

Apple, Brie, & Arugula Quesadillas

My good friend, Lauren, made these for me. This was my first time cooking with arugula. It wilted a lot like spinach, and I really liked the sort of peppery taste it added. Very simple and fast recipe.

Ingredients
~6 oz Brie
-2 handfuls of arugula
-1 Granny Smith apple, sliced thinly
-4 large tortillas
-1 T honey mustard
-1 tsp apple cider (or apple cider vinegar)

Steps.
1. Remove rind from Brie (I found using a vegetable peeler worked really well for this). Cut Brie into bite size pieces. (Tip: stick your Brie in the freezer for a few minutes; this will make it easier to cut before it gets too soft.)
3. Mix mustard and apple cider together, and baste one side of a tortilla.
4. In a nonstick pan, place tortilla mustard side up. Layer cheese, apples, and arugula; top with another tortilla. Let cook for about 3 minutes, or until bottom is brown.

5. Flip tortilla and cook another 3 minutes or until other side is browned.

6. Repeat in order to make another quesadilla.

Taco Soup

Big thanks to Lauren and Dylan for passing on this amazing recipe. It's so simple but so super tasty. Perfect for the colder weather. We've done both ways of preparing and both were great.

Ingredients:
-1 lb. ground beef (we used Morning Star Veggie crumbles)
-4 links Andoullie sausage (optional, but adds a lot of flavor)
-2 cans kidney beans, not drained
-2 cans stewed tomatoes, not drained
-2 (4 oz.) cans chopped mild green chilies, not drained
-1 (29 oz.) can tomato sauce
-2 cups frozen corn (or 2 cans of corn, drained)
-2 pkgs. taco seasoning mix
-1 onion, diced (optional)

Optional toppings: tortilla chips, sour cream, shredded cheese, cilantro

Preparation #1
1. Put all ingredients in a large crock pot and cook on low for about 6 hours. Add onion 30 mins before you serve.

Preparation #2
2. Brown onion and meat (or faux meat) in a large pot. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occaisionally.