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Armenian Roasted Vegetables

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A sucker for roasted vegetables, I couldn’t wait to make this recipe by Olia Hercules and her Mamushka cookbook. Fall and winter has us roasting vegetables regularly. I’ve roasted cabbage before and loved it so the combination of these Armenian Roasted Vegetables was quite intriguing to me.

Ensure you cut your vegetables thick as illustrated in the recipe. I’ve noticed while making recipes from this cookbook they use a lot of dill and yogurt in Eastern European Cooking. Our student from Spain has advised the same. Things I would have never known had I never joined the cookbook club. My mom used to cook with dill she grew in her garden. Dilled baby potatoes are one recipe that stands out from childhood. It’s an herb I adore. Serve these veggies along side a roasted chicken, pork loin or beef roast.

Olia also suggests to change things up, try adding some feta before serving.

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Armenian Roasted Vegetables
Author: 
Recipe type: side, dinner, lunch
 
Ingredients
  • half a small head of cabbage, cut into thick wedges
  • 1-2 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 1 zucchini, thickly sliced
  • 2 celery sticks, thickly sliced
  • 1 small onion, peeled and quartered
  • 1-2 cups cauliflower florets, thickly chopped
  • 1 pepper, cored, seeded and thick slices
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 beefsteak tomato, thickly sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Place all the vegetables except the tomato in a large roasting pan.
  2. Pour the oil over and season well with salt and pepper. Mix everything together with your hands and pop in the oven until the edges of the vegetables start to char, 30 minutes.
  3. Arrange the tomato slices on top, season and place in the oven for another 15 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped dill over, taste for seasoning (adjust if necessary) and serve.

 

Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic Soup

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The first time I made this soup was sometime in 2013. It was a craving soup end of the week kind of day and I had very little vegetables left to play with. There it sat on the third shelf in the refrigerator staring back at me. There was no way around it – it was to be cauliflower soup or nothing. Admittedly I’ve never made cauliflower soup before but I sure love roasted and grilled cauliflower.I turned on the oven, hacked up the cauliflower, tossed in some garlic cloves for good luck, a little oil and off it went into the oven. What happened next was outstanding. I made Roasted Cauliflower soup, and I loved it.

You have to agree, roasting your garlic with the cauliflower is pretty clever, and imparts great flavour. I wanted the soup again, so I took it a step further this time, and tossed in a couple shallots to roast them up to. I do not add cream to this soup but blitz the cauliflower, garlic and shallots like crazy to keep it healthier.

The roasting party in my oven became soup on my stove. I like it when this happens. A few extra minutes to simmer on the stove with thyme and bay leaves, then it gets blitzed, strained and is ready to serve. Those who can not eat dairy will appreciate this soup is dairy free. If you are gluten free do not add croutons. I quickly made some cumin croutons for this soup, but you can use any croutons you have on hand. I made croutons so often I will need to share the recipe. Simple flavours make it delicious.

This should serve 4 pending how big your servings are.

Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic Soup
Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic Soup

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Roasted Cauliflower & Garlic Soup
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup, lunch, dinner, side
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 6 cups cauliflower florets (approximately 1 head)
  • 1 head of garlic,separated and peeled
  • 2 shallots, peeled and cut in half
  • Olive oil
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp pepper
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 5 cups stock (you can use vegetarian)
  • Croutons
  • Hot pepper flakes
Instructions
  1. Put cauliflower, garlic cloves and shallots on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.. Roast in 400 F oven, turning occasionally, until golden on all sides, about 25 minutes.
  2. Remove from oven and pour into a sauce pan over medium heat. Add thyme, bay leaf and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are thoroughly cooked through.
  3. Remove the thyme bay leaf. Using a hand-held blender, or in a food processor, blitz the soup until smooth. I run it through a sieve, return to the pan and warm.
  4. Pour into serving bowls and top with croutons and a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes.

 

 

Pork Chop & Cauliflower Casserole

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It was 1970’s Casserole night in our house tonight…or so it felt when we made this Pork Chop & Cauliflower Casserole.

I went back to work when my oldest was 11 months old…until my youngest was born and then everything changed.  Going back to work with a little one is hard, as any mom can relate and thinking about healthy meals is even harder.  I tried to get organized and meal plan.  I went to the Kraft website and scanned through a lot of their meals as they were quick, simple and my kind of cooking as I tried to figure out life with a toddler.

Pork Chops Casserole is one we tried and enjoyed.  Easy Peasy Ron Weasly…or something like that.  Husband really liked it so it went in the keep file.  In my quest to rid the paper pile clutter it resurfaced last week and went into rotation.

The first time I made it, the recipe told me to use rosemary as “the spice”.  That’s it.  It worked at the time but was rather bland.  Never being one to “follow the rules” I decided I needed more.  More flavour.  More Zing. More something.   So this time I searched through the pantry craving flavour and pulled out what called to me.  Epicure Fajita seasoning and Epicure Cheese, Chives & Bacon Dip.  It was a long shot but why not?  In the end it worked.  Flavour was mild yet noticeable.  Grown up’s loved it, kids ate the pork chops sans anything else.  In my books that’s called keeper.  If you make it find the spices that work for you, BBQ, 5 spice blend, chili, paprika – try it, you never know unless you do.

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Pork Chop & Cauliflower Casserole
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner, Lunch, Pork
Serves: 4-5
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing (any variety will do)
  • 1½ cups milk
  • 3 tbsp flour
  • 1½ cups shredded marble cheese
  • 1 tsp oil (canola or olive oil)
  • 4-5 boneless pork chops
  • 3 cups fresh cut up cauliflower
  • ¼ tsp each seasoning salt & pepper
  • Spices - ½ tsp of your favourite spice
Instructions
  1. Heat 1 tsp oil in nonstick frying pan over medium high heat. Season your pork chops with salt and pepper and add to hot pan. Quick sear/brown them on both sides, remove and put into baking dish.
  2. Prepare stove top stuffing as directed on package, set aside. Layer your cauliflower on top of your pork chops.
  3. Whisk together milk and flour in glass (microwaveable) bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir. Microwave on high an additional 2 minutes. Stir. Mix in your shredded cheese and seasonings (salt, pepper, spices). Adjust as necessary – adding more if required. Pour your cheese sauce on top of cauliflower/pork chops.
  4. Finally spread your stove top stuffing on top.
  5. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until heated through/bubbling. Cauliflower should still be crunchy. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes to settle.