Spiced Carrot Salad

How about something super simple and healthy for the week after Thanksgiving?  Maybe give your body some much needed relief?

Ok, I've got you covered with this spiced carrot salad.

Spiced Carrot Salad

Adapted From Plenty

Ingredients

1 lb carrots

1/3 cup olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 small can chopped green chilies

1/4 tsp ginger

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp preserved lemon*

salt

1 1/2 cup parsley leaves, chopped

1. Cut carrots into 1/2 inch disks and cook in salted boiling water, covered, until tender.  Approximately 10 minutes, you don't want them to be mushy. Drain in a colander while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan and cook onions until browned and softened. Add carrots and all remaining ingredients, reserving some parsley for garnishing. Season with salt and stir well.
3. Salad can be served hot or at room temperature. Garnish with reserved parsley.

*Don't go nuts in search of the preserved lemon.  I happened to have some and was excited to find a recipe that utilized preserved lemon.  Just give a squirt of some juice or perhaps a little zest to get some citrus flavor in the mix.

Vegetables without a cream sauce? No carbohydrates? Your tummy with thank you.

This was a perfect jazzy vegetable side dish. Yum!

Pumpkin Recipe Round Up

In case you are still deciding how to add some pumpkin spice to your Thanksgiving table this year, here are a few of my favorites.

Top row: Pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pumpkin blondies, double chocolate pumpkin spice cookies, pumpkin potato gratin

Middle row: pumpkin mac and cheese, pumpkin shortbread

Bottom row: sopapilla pumpkin bars, pumpkin chocolate chip bars, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin brownies with apple butter

Happy Thanksgiving!

Potato and Goat Cheese Tart

I have a new amazing cookbook in my possession, Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi.  I highly recommend you take a look at it.  Although it's filled with complicated recipes with ingredients you might not recognize, it is a beautiful collection of delicious vegetarian meals that I can't wait to try.

This potato goat cheese tart has you dirtying half a dozen pots and pans, gives you a mild panic attack midway through, but is worth every second you spent putting it together. You will be in awe that you crafted such a gorgeous and tasty dinner. I know I was.

Potato and Goat Cheese Tart
From Plenty
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (I used grape)
2 tbsp olive oil, plus a bit more for drizzling over tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 lb new potatoes
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp butter
3 oregano sprigs (I used dried oregano)
5 oz goat cheese
1 puff pastry sheet

1. Preheat oven to 275.  Halve the tomatoes and place on a sheet pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and  season with salt and pepper. Let dry in oven for about 45 minutes.
2. Boil potatoes in salted water for about 25 minutes.  Drain and let cool.  Trim off the rounded tops and bottoms of the potatoes and slice any larger ones so they are all about 1 inch thick.
3. Saute the onion with the oil and some salt for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.
Ok, now all the vegetables are done! On to assembly!
4, Preheat oven to 400. Brush a 9 inch cake pan with oil. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
5. In a small pan cook sugar and butter on high heat, stirring constantly, to get a semi-dark caramel. Pour the caramel into the cake pan and try your best to spread it around.  This part was a disaster for me, but don't worry about spreading it perfectly.  It will work out in the end.
6. Arrange potatoes cut side down in an even layer on top of the caramel.  Mix tomatoes and onions and press that mixture in between your potatoes.  Season with oregano, salt, and pepper. Glob goat cheese on top of vegetables as evenly as you can.
7.  Lay pastry sheet on top of vegetables.  Carefully tucking in the edges around the potatoes inside the pan. Cook 25 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 and cook 15 minutes longer.
8. Remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes. Invert tart onto a plate. Serve hot or warm,

YES! I couldn't believe it when it came out of the pan. Incredible!

 I cannot say enough about how delicious and interesting this was. So SO good!  Set aside some time to cook this tart up, I promise it is worth the trouble.

Pineapple Pork Sandwiches

Pulled pork is one of those slow cooker dinners that last and lasts. I always make way more than I need for dinner.  It's on top of pizza the next night, then it's time for taco Tuesday, and then mixed into macaroni and cheese later in the week.

Pineapple Pork Sandwiches

Adapted from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds pork loin

2 cloves minced garlic

1 onion, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup soy sauce
1 can pineapple rings
sandwich buns

1. Dump pork, garlic, onion, jalapeno, pineapple juice, and soy sauce in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 450.  Shred cooked pork.  Place on a foil-lined baking sheet (don't dump the liquid on the baking sheet) and crisp in the oven for about 15 minutes. Drizzle pork with a little extra juice from the slow cooker.
3. Brown pineapple rings in a small nonstick pan for a few minutes on each side. Place pork and pineapple atop sandwich buns.

Enjoy a little tropical bbq flavor as the nights get colder.

Shrimp With Garlic Bread Sauce

I busted out the food processor for this one guys! I know, I was feeling brazen this evening. It was definitely worth the trouble.

There is really nothing challenging about this recipe, but who the heck wants to clean that food processor? AmIright? All those damn parts! Ugh.

Shrimp with Garlic Bread Sauce
From Pinch of Yum

Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 slice crusty white bread about 1 inch thick
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 cup almonds
2 cups vegetable broth
2 lbs shrimp

1. Heat oil in a large skillet (you will cook the shrimp in here later) to toast the slice of bread.  Place bread in a food processor and pulse to crumbs. Add garlic, parsley, almonds, and a few tablespoons of broth. Pulse until a paste forms.
2. Pour broth into pan and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in the bread paste and mix until it looks like a cream sauce. Add the shrimp and cook until no longer pink, 5 minutes or so.
3. Serve this with something green as well as some nice crusty bread to sop up the sauce.

This is for a cold rainy night when you are thinking we don't really need nutrients, right?

Sliders

Hollllly shit these sliders guys! These are everything you ever dreamed you could eat a White Castle, but made right on your very home so you know it's actually beef.

Sliders
From Better Recipes

Ingredients
2 lb ground beef, 80/20 ratio
3/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp salt
12 small dinner rolls
American cheese slices, if desired
assorted slider toppings of your choice: ketchup, pickles, etc

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Mix ground beef, onion, bread crumbs, and salt in a bowl. Press into a 13x9 inch pan. Use the tines of a fork to poke a bunch of holes in the meat.
2. Bake for 30 minutes.  Beef will pull away from the pan and there will be lots of fluid in the pan. Place cheese slices on beef, if using and cook a few more minutes until it melts.
3. Cut meat into squares the size of the buns you are using.  Use a slotted spatula to remove sliders from the pan and place on buns.
4. Eat way more than necessary.

*I halved the recipe in an 8x8 pan for 2 of us with some leftovers and it worked out nicely.

You need these. Either as your next dinner or your next game day snack.  However you decide to enjoy them, just don't wait!

Double Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies

So I came upon these awesome pumpkin spice chips by Tollhouse during pumpkin mania at the supermarket.

Before we go any further can I just comment on the fact that pumpkin madness began before fall started and the supermarket has already deemed the season over before the end of October! What is this nonsense!? Pumpkin flavors have a least another month to go in my meal rotation.  I have a feeling no one is starting their Christmas baking yet, despite the stores encouragement.

Double Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Ingredients
1 package Betty Crocker chocolate chunk cookie mix
1 cup pumpkin spice chips
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
2 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Drop dough by the tablespoon-ful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes.  Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing.

Here is a little bonus idea for you crazy kids out there: take some pumpkin gelato and sandwich it between 2 cookies!

Hellooooo fall chip-wich!