Nutty-Cruciferous Vegetable Cheese Casserole

6-8 garlic cloves

½c sunflower kernels

⅓c butter cut in 'pats'

½ med. head cauliflower - sliced-cubed

2 med. carrots - scrubbed-chopped

1 med. green cabbage - 1" cubes

1 med. purple onion - chopped

1½c chopped celery and tops

1 poblano pepper - sliced

6-8 green onions - sliced

1T Rosemary Seasoning

1t-1T Lemon Pepper

1¾c vegetable-beef bone broth *

3T flour

1T sugar

¼c half & half

4 slices American cheese

½-¾ grated Italian Kasseri cheese

In a saucepan, combine the garlic, sunflower kernels and a little of the butter.  Heat and stir until the butter melts and begins to sizzle.  Remove from the heat.  Put the next group of vegetables into a small-medium black roasting pan.  Pour the butter, garlic, sunflower kernels over them.  Season and top with the rest of the butter pats.  Bake, covered in a 350° oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, to create the cheese sauce, combine the broth and flour in a 2qt. saucepan and whisk well.

Add remaining ingredients, whisking to keep the mixture smooth.  Bring to a low 'bubble.'



Pour over the vegetables and stir with a wooden spoon to combine the vegetable water in the bottom of the pan with the sauce, until everything is well coated.  Cover and return to a 300° oven for 20 minutes.  Uncover and cook at 400° - with or without Italian flavored panko breadcrumbs - for an additional 15 minutes, stirring halfway through. . .Lin

Savory Bacon and Cheese Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower

3-4T butter

seasoned salt

red and black pepper

Put the cauliflower in an ovenproof casserole with about ½c water.  Butter and season as shown.  Cover then bake or microwave until it's just partially tender.

¼c cooked-crumbled bacon

¼c gorgonzola or bleu cheese

Italian breadcrumbs - optional

Chop the cauliflower up a bit, sprinkle with the bacon, crumbled cheese (breadcrumbs?) and heat again to finish the cooking and melt the cheese.  Today this was my late breakfast and it was wonderful! . . . Lin

A Quick Steamed Vegetable Casserole

4 long, skinny carrots - scrubbed

12oz. frozen petite green beans

12oz. frozen petite green peas

fresh broccoli florets

3-4T butter

fresh ground black pepper

fresh ground garlic sea salt

Cut the carrots in oblique chunks for an interesting visual and textural difference.  The best end results for this dish will be obtained by individually steaming each vegetable before combining.  I put the first two together since they had similar cooking times, but not similar enough.  I should have followed my instincts.  Frozen beans tend to be a bit tough, so fresh is always best if you can find them.

Steam each, chill in cold water in the steamer basket - except the peas.  As soon as they're cold, tap the basket on a folded towel to absorb the water.  Put in an ovenware baking dish.  Lightly salt and pepper each layer.  Finish with the peas, drained - but still hot.

Add the butter and a little more seasonings, cover a few minutes to melt the butter.  Toss to coat everything with seasoned butter.  Serve as is, with grilled fish, chicken or beef.  You could also add chopped almonds or cashews, and a little peanut or almond butter, coconut cream and curry for a vegetarian casserole. . .Lin

Spiralized Vegetable Casserole

1 lg. turnip

¼ purple onion

2 sm. zucchini
2 sm. red potatoes

1 med. sweet potato

2T Tuscan olive oil

½-1t lemon pepper

2 sm. frozen tomatoes

*1t Italian seasonings

*⅔c marinara sauce

2 lg. cloves garlic

1t sugar

Spiralize the first group of vegetables.  Toss them in a big bowl with the oil and lemon pepper.  **Spread on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet.  Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.  Gently stir the vegetables to recoat them with the oil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

**This step could be eliminated, by increasing the baking time below, but roasting adds a lot of flavor.

Partially thaw the tomatoes.  After an hour or so, the skins will slip right off.  When they're at the popsicle stage, dice and combine them with the remaining four ingredients in a medium size pan. *(I switched to these two, instead of the ajvar and curry shown in the first photo.)  Simmer over low-medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Put the vegetable-noodles back in the big bowl, toss with the sauce, then put into a covered casserole.  Return to the oven--with the heat now reduced to 350°--to heat for 10 minutes  **(or if not pre-roasted, bake for 30-45 minutes until the vegetables are all crisp-tender.)  Garnish with toasted pine nuts, chopped pecans or cashews, grated parmesan cheese or fresh chopped herbs.

Serve with grilled chicken or fish, or alone, for a vegan main dish. . .Lin

Corn And Company

4 ears of corn - steamed

3/4# of skinny green beans

3/4# fresh Brussels sprouts

1/2 med. onion - chopped

2-3 lg. cloves of garlic - minced

1/4c butter

1/2c fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1-2 fresh tomatoes - chopped

fresh ground salt and black pepper
~ nuts or seeds - optional

Cut the corn off the cobs after steaming.  Keep the cobs around to chew on before throwing them away, the tiny parts and pieces left behind are so good!  Steam the fresh or frozen green beans with the quartered Brussels sprouts.  Once they're almost tender, drain* and combine with the corn in a 2-3qt. casserole dish.  Add the next 4 ingredients, combine and let stand so the heat from the vegetables will melt the butter.  Toss once more then cover and bake at 300° until the garlic and onion scent permeate the house.

After about 20 minutes.  Check the onions to be sure they're done enough for your taste.  Add tomatoes and seasonings.  You could also toss in a handful of cashews or smoked almonds if you're trying to cut down on or eliminate meat from your diet.  Combine again, cover and let stand a few minutes before serving. . .The picture was taken the day after this was prepared.  Leftovers are always wonderful, but aren't very photogenic :-) . . . Lin

*(save the liquid in a container - freeze - and add to it, until you have enough for soup base)

"Tired Vegetable" Casserole

This can be made with whatever almost questionable, vegetables you may have lurking in your refrigerator crisper.  My dad used to call these 'tired vegetables' :-)  Today, this is what I found:

2 lg. carrots

water to cover sliced carrots

1/2 med. head of green cabbage

1 bunch of broccoli

1/2 med. red onion

2-3T coconut oil

1-2T seasoning of the day

fresh ground garlic sea salt

   sour cream

   plain Greek yogurt

chopped nuts or seeds

Slice the carrots into a big pan - just one layer deep.  Barely cover them with water and simmer, covered about 5 minutes to give them a head start.  Carrots are very dense and take longer to cook than most vegetables.  Layer the vegetables as shown.  Chopped cabbage, broccoli florets broken into bite-sized pieces, sliced red onion, top with coconut oil and sprinkle with whatever seasoning strikes your fancy!  Chili Lime Seasoning was my choice today, but Curry Powder or Tandoori would also be wonderful.

Cover and simmer on low long enough to melt the coconut oil and steam the vegetables.  Maybe 10 minutes.  Uncover, stir gently, continue to cook on low, uncovered until all the water evaporates.  Stir in the sour cream and yogurt, cover and heat just until the sauce that's created warms, don't let it bubble.  (My broccoli was overdone today.  It should be bright green when served.  Next time I'll only steam-cook the florets 5 minutes or so.)  Serve topped with chopped pecans, almonds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds.  Yum! . . . Lin

Penny - my Food Hound, and Oliver - my laid-back Puggle!  As a footnote, when I'm preparing anything in the kitchen, my sweet dogs are always right there.  You have to be careful what you give them, chocolate, grapes and raisins for instance should absolutely NOT be given to dogs!  However, apples, carrots, lettuce cores, broccoli stems, cabbage leaves are given to mine regularly.  Keeps them healthy, and they love it!  Try it with your pups. . .Google "safe fruit and vegetables for dogs."