Meatless Monday: Cauliflower Side Dish

I tried this unique side dish the other day when I stumbled across this recipe on Turtles and Tails. The 3 main ingredients that caught my eye were: paprika, coconut oil, and cocoa...on cauliflower! I had to give this one a try...

Cocoa-toasted Cauliflower
(makes 6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower
1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic (powder or fresh)
2 tbsp. melted coconut oil
 
Chop the cauliflower up into bite-sized pieces. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a separate bowl, combine the cocoa powder, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper. Add the coconut oil and mix well, until it forms a thin sauce. Toss with the cauliflower until the cauliflower is well coated. Spread the pieces onto a aluminum foil-lined cookie sheet, then place into oven for 25-30 minutes. Serve with something just as savory!

I think they kid of look like little brains. Funny thing is, cauliflower is good for the brain too!

To be honest, this wasn't as flavor-packed as I thought it was going to be. Next time I will double the amounts of seasoning, but for the sake of honoring the original recipe, I kept the amounts the same. Give it a try this way, or be bold and use extra cocoa and paprika!

You may have been surprised like I was when I first read the ingredients for this recipe- cocoa powder is not commonly used on vegetables. But, it worked quite well with the blandness of the cauliflower, I even made the leftovers extra crispy and ate them like popcorn!

Cocoa powder is rich in good-for-you antioxidants, even more so than the average glass of red wine! It is also good for your heart, helps prevent diabetes (in it's raw form), controls blood pressure, and- you'll especially like this! -helps to treat pms! I guess that's why we all crave it during that time of the month...now you have an excuse to binge on Godiva!

For this recipe, I'd also recommend using an extra rich, high grade cocoa powder to really bring out the flavor as much as possible. Use organic in every way possible, and I also wouldn't recommend substituting a different type of oil for the coconut oil, but if you must, butter would probably work well too, although it wouldn't be as healthy and low-fat.  

Now it's your turn to share your Meatless Monday recipe! Please link up any meat-free dish you'd like below. Link as many as you want! Grab a button and spread the word! Thanks for stopping by :)

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Family Favorite Friday: Sausage, Spinach and Potato Skillet

Today's Family Favorite is a new favorite I recently whipped up. It was such a huge hit I decided to go ahead and give it "fam fave" status since it's still fresh in my mind. The brand of sausage is a great one because not only is it tasty, but also organic at a fair price. The addition of feta to the combo of flavorful chicken sausage, green spinach, and the mildly sweet Yukon Golds (which were also featured on this week's Meatless Monday) makes this a unique dish that you can mix-up with other veggies, such as bell peppers, black olives and fresh tomato, if desired. 


Sausage, Spinach and Potato Skillet
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients


3 links of chicken sausage 
3 cubed Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes
1 cup baby spinach
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil + extra
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
About 1/2 cup crumbled feta for topping


Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a medium-large skillet over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, and paprika to the garlic and onion and fry, stirring, for a few more minutes or until fragrant. You can add extra paprika if you want, but I felt it would be too overpowering. Add the potatoes and mix up with the rest of the skillet's contents and then cover, cooking over medium-low heat. Cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, slice the sausages into sections. Once the potatoes are ready, add the sausage and spinach to the pan and stir. Add more olive oil if it looks dry. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes more. Remove from heat and serve with a sprinkling of feta cheese. We had ours with some sliced avocado drizzled with lemon juice and a smattering of salt and pepper.

brand I used, but you can use any sausage you like, although I recommend using a garlic or other mild blend

It's not the prettiest looking dish, but it sure is tasty! This sausage in particular is very good. Like I said before, I especially like it because it's organic and not too pricey! I found Bilinski's at Shop Rite.


Babies 3-6 months can enjoy some nummy mashed potato mixed with steamed spinach and a little olive oil, and babies over 9 months can have some of the sausage and avocado as well. Avocado and olive oil are good for baby's skin and contain many nutrients to support their growth, such as omega-3s and healthy fats. And we all know iron-packed spinach is good for everyone!


You may not know that potatoes are surprisingly nutritious, and not just the starchy, carb-packed vegetable that they've been labeled as by some. They actually contain a high amount of vitamin c, vitamin b6, potassium, and magnesium.
Potatoes- especially those with darker colors, such as Yukon Gold and Blue -contain high amounts of carotenoids and flavonoids, and they even contain more phytonutrients than broccoli, components that guard against cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and certain cancers! That is something I just learned!


So don't ditch the potato...maybe just lay off the chips and fries!


Have a great weekend!

Meatless Monday: Diablo Potato Salad

Today's Meatless Monday features a potato salad recipe with a twist from one of the Honorable Mentions from therecipe contest I just held. The combination of the mildly sweet Yukon Gold potatoes with a mix of spices give your otherwise classic potato salad a kick. Thanks to Ashley of Healthy Mom for Junk Food Kids!

Diablo Potato Salad

Ingredients

(serves a cook-out!)

3 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes, halved

1 tablespoon Salt

1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika

1/2 tablespoon White pepper

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced chives (or more- I used 3 tablespoons)

Boil the potato halves for about 20 minutes or until tender. When I made this, I couldn't find any baby Yukon Golds at the local supermarket, so I just used regular Yukons cut into halves, then quarters, then halved again. While potatoes are cooking, whisk together all other ingredients. Drain potatoes once they're ready then mix together in a large bowl with the sauce. Serve at room temperature with extra chives if desired.

about to be boiled

whisking...

Final outcome with added chives

This was quite delish! I am a big potato salad fan and this one immediately caught my eye while perusing Ashley's blog one day. I'm glad she submitted it for the contest and that I got to try it! I still have a lot left to eat with lunch for the rest of the week! Lily and Paul liked it too, and I will be book-marking this for future BBQs.

Paprika is such a fun spice I think. It’s sweet and slightly hot and really works well with mayo. I especially like to top egg salad off with a sprinkling of it. You may not know it, but paprika does more than add a spike of flavor to your food. It’s high in vitamin C and has anti-inflammatory, blood-regulating, antibiotic, and digestion-aiding properties. Paprika is also great on poultry and in rice dishes, such as this one that’s a favorite in my family.

For baby:

Mash-up a half or two of the boiled potato and mix it with a little olive oil. The olive oil is very good for developing babies :)

Kids should like this potato salad too; despite it’s name, it is not as firey as you might think, and actually just has a nice bite to it that’s more on the mild side for kids who don’t like spicy foods. My Lily never did seem to mind spiciness as long as it wasn’t mouth-burning hot!

So, this is me trying to get back on track with my blogging. Hopefully I will get back to my 3+ posts a week and then have a new up-and-coming blog of the month next month, as well as my weekly blog hops. If you have someone to nominate for blog-of-the-month, do it now! Preferably a blog with 200 followers or less that’s related to parenting, cooking, arts and crafts, health and/or well-being. Have a good week!