Curry Cauliflower Casserole Bake

SEPTEMBER 20TH, 2009

4 stars (out of 5 - super quick & easy, and pretty tasty!)

Ingredients:

1 can cream of mushroom soup*
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
3-4 tsp curry powder
1 cauliflower*

{*Note. You can substitute the cream of mushroom soup with cream of asparagus, broccoli, or celery. You can also use broccoli instead of cauliflower, and can add some cooked chicken to the casserole as well. I had to use broco-flower because they didn't have cauliflower!}


1. I first chopped up the cauliflower into bite-sized chunks, and then steamed it until tender crisp. I think that my oven isn't strong enough to really cook the veggies enough, so if you have a real oven you may be able to skip this step and just add the raw cauliflower to the casserole.



2. While the cauliflower was steaming, I stirred the soup, mayo, lemon juice, and curry powder in a bowl.


3. I then added the steamed cauliflower to a medium casserole dish...


4. ...and stirred in the curry mixture. If you want to add chicken, you would add the cooked chicken here and stir it in.


5. I then put it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350F (or until bubbly).


6. Serve it over a bed of rice:


Overall, I like to make this recipe when I'm lazy and want a warm meal. It was one of the first casseroles that I made when I was in college, and I loved it because it's impossible to screw up!

Steak with Tomato Relish, Asparagus Toss, and Potato Wedges

SEPTEMBER 3RD,2009

Please note that I had to use my old camera, so the pictures were very blurry. For the next few recipes, I will try to post as many pics as I can, but the quality might not be so great.

Steak with Sweet Tomato Relish

4 stars (out of 5 - a great addition to the meat!)

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped ripe tomato
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
1 lean boneless beef sirloin steak
Salt and pepper

1. First I combined the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan and added some pepper. I brought it to a boil and reduced the heat so that it could simmer for about 8 minutes.

2. As this was cooking, I cooked the steak and the meatless beef. Once it was done, I placed the meat on a plate and covered with the relish. Easy!

SB's steak:


My "beef":


Asparagus & Onion Salad

2.5 stars (out of 5 - overpowering vinegar flavour)

Ingredients:

1 bunch of fresh asparagus
1/2- 3/4 cup of sliced green onion (depending on preference)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar*
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basis
Salt and pepper

{Note. I found that vinegar taste overpowered everything, so in the future I would add much less at first and then take it from there. If it needs more kick, add some more, if not leave as it is}.

1. I actually made this first and refrigerated it so that I didn't have to worry about it at all later on. I like dishes like that! First I trimmed the asparagus and cut them in thirds. I then very briefly boiled it until it was tender-crisp (I think it was about 4 minutes).

2. After they were cooked, I rinsed them under cold water to both cool them and stop them from cooking further.

3. I then added all the ingredients and the asparagus to a bowl and stirred. I let it chill in the fridge for a few hours.



Garlic potato wedges

4 stars (out of 5 - pretty tasty, but a bit of work and time)

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes (russet)
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika

1. I first washed to potatoes and then cut each into 8 wedges.

2. I then combined all of the other ingredients into a zip-lock bag and added 1/2 the potato wedges and shook it until they were coated. I repeated this with the second half.

3. I then laid them out on a cookie sheet and sprinkled with any additional ingredients I wanted to amplify (in this case, garlic and salt!).

4. I baked them at 375F for 25 minutes (although it turned out to be longer with my oven). I turned them once and then took them out when they were slightly crispy. Delicious!



The final product... SB's steak:



And my "beef" version:


Overall, this was a fairly simple meal to prepare, as you can stagger the times for everything. I am not so great at multi-talking in the kitchen, so this was perfect for me. The only criticism I had for this meal was the asparagus, as the vinegar taste was overpowering. That could just be my taste though! I'll definitely make the potatoes and steak again!

Greek Chicken with Lemon Potatoes

SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2009

4.5 stars (out of 5 - quick and easy chicken; easy (but not quick) potatoes)

Ingredients:

Lemon Potatoes

3-4 medium potatoes
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp dried oregeno
garlic

1. First, I cut the potatoes into quarters and added them to boiling water for about 8 minutes. I did this to speed up the cooking process, as my convection oven apparently hates cooking potatoes.


2. I then added the potatoes to a greased casserole dish. I used this one because I was not making a big quantity of potatoes; however, if you are making many, remember not to layer them and just use a larger dish.


3. I then added the garlic (to your liking) and the oregano to the potatoes.


4. And then added the water and lemon juice. They should be pretty much covered with the liquid.


5. I then put them in the over for 45 minutes at 400F (until cooked), stirring them occasionally so that they didn't burn. These are excellent served with fish (or anything that goes well with lemon), but my favourite is to serve them with the chicken recipe below and a greek salad.



Greek Chicken

1/2cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 tbsp green onion
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp fresh coriander*
2 chicken breasts (or chick'n), cut into bite-size chunks
Pita bread (optional)

{Note. I reduced this because SB doesn't really like it.}


1. First I cut the chicken breasts into bite size chunks (or had SB do it, as it kinda grosses me out). I headed a frying pan and started the chicken. Just remember that the chicken cooks fairly quickly! If I'm worried about timing, I make the greek dressing and the greek salad (without dressing) first and refrigerate. That way, I can just pull it all out once the chicken is cooked.


2. I then added the mayo and sour cream to a medium sized bowl and stirred.


3. I added the spices. The good thing about this recipe is that you can really taste-as-you go... make it to your own liking!


4. Finally, I added the green onion and coriander.


5. I then added the chicken...


6. ...and stirred everything together, coating the chicken well.


7. I served it with the lemon potatoes and greek salad. This is SB's chicken version:


8. My Chick'n version (with peppers in the salad):



Overall, I love this chicken recipe. It is sooo easy and it's quite good. Just a head's up, the chicken is served kinda cool, as the dressing is cold. I think it's delicious and different, but perhaps some people wouldn't like it. I also like paring it with a greek salad and I think it has a nice presentation. I have done this recipe several times, and you really can't go wrong!