Category: Salads and Sides

Slow Cooker Creamy Scalloped Potatoes and Parsnips

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An easy side dish featuring ingredients you probably have on hand, this lighter version adds extra fibre from the potato skins and a hint of sweetness from the parsnips. Using heart-healthy olive oil and nondairy milk keeps the excessive richness of most scalloped potato dishes to a minimum.

potatoes

Creamy Scalloped Potatoes and Parsnips

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard
2 cups unsweetened nondairy milk
Paprika and freshly ground pepper6 medium red-skinned potatoes, cleaned and cut in 1/4-inch thin slices
2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut in 1/4-inch thin slices

Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions. Cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, flour, thyme, salt, and mustard. Cook for an additional minute. Add the nondairy milk, a little at a time, whisking constantly until smooth. Reduce to low heat and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Meanwhile, layer half of the potatoes in the crock. Top with half of the parsnips. Once the sauce has thickened, pour about a third of the sauce over the potatoes and parsnips. Layer the remaining potatoes and parsnips. Top with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with paprika and pepper.

Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours, until potatoes and parsnips are tender. Let cool 15 to 20 minutes without the lid on before serving to thicken up the sauce.

Roasted Cabbage with Cider Simmered Leeks

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Roasting the cabbage brings out its inherent sweetness, rounded out by a hint of smokiness coming from the crusty edges. The leek mixture is simmered in apple cider; a perfect complement that you’ll want to use it in your repertoire again and again for its delicious flavor.

Roasted Cabbage with Cider Simmered Leeks

1 medium head cabbage
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper
3 leeks, thinly sliced (just the whites and about half of the greens), and well-washed
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup apple cider
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Remove the tough outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut into wedges about 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick, cutting out the core when necessary. Arrange on the baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons  of the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 30 minutes until brown and crispy, then flip and bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes until cabbage is tender and crispy on the edges.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the leeks and carrots. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the apple cider and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to cook until the cider has thickened and nearly absorbed, about 10 minutes longer.

When the cabbage is finished roasting, transfer it to a serving dish. Top with the leeks and carrots. Let stand about 20 minutes before serving for the leek mixture to meld into the cabbage. Serve warm.

The Best Rice Cooker Brown Rice

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Let’s be honest with ourselves: although we might be good cooks or know our way around the kitchen, sometimes we just can’t master something we really, really want.

For me, it was good rice.

Sounds silly, doesn’t it? Who can’t make a pot of good rice? Every time I made it, it would be too mushy (though I don’t mind it that way), or too dry (and I had to add more liquid), or too something. But never as good as I would eat a restaurant. Continue reading →