I got the idea for this from dining out at a James Beard Award Wining chef’s restaurant called FnB in the arts district of Scottsdale Arizona. The chef and co-owner Charleen Badman had Grilled Broccoli with Tangerine Aioli and Pistachios on her menu that I tried. Today when I went to prepare my broccoli I thought about it and came up with something similar with what I had around the house. I learned that there are a lot of different ways to make aioli. It really isn’t just a mayonnaise. Some chefs thicken it up with soaked bread. I used potato as my thickener. Serving size might differ….For me this made two servings.

Ingredients for around two servings

1 large broccoli crown – break down to florets

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (split 2T + 2T)

1/2 cup almonds toasted (mine were whole that I crushed and toasted but you can use sliced)

sea salt – to taste (I used my home made smoked pecan sea salt)

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

ground Aleppo pepper – to taste

1 potato – peeled – cut into 8 pieces

2 1/2 oz sweet roasted whipped garlic – (I buy a Costco bag of garlic split the heads in half, generously olive oil them and roast them covered at 375F for an hour. Squeeze the cloves out and blend them. I portion cup them at 2 1/2 ounces and freeze them)

2 oranges – the juice and zest

1 egg yolk

sea salt – to taste

fresh ground pepper – to taste

Directions

Fill a medium sized sauce pot with water and a palmful of salt to boil. When the water is boiling add the potatoes. When the potatoes are soft (10-15 minutes) take them out to drain. Add the broccoli to the boiling water. They only need about three minutes. Then put the broccoli in an ice bath.

Set oven to 425 degrees F.

Put the potatoes threw a ricer. Mix in the egg yolk, sweet roasted whipped garlic, 2 Tablespoons oil, orange juice and zest. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The broccoli goes on a sheet pan in a single layer. Spray with olive oil. Add salt and peppers to taste. Put the broccoli on the top rack. Turn the broccoli over in 10 minutes…….Maybe 5 or a few more minutes and they are done. If your almonds need toasting put them on a sheet pan and give then a little spray of oil and put them on the bottom rack for less than ten minutes. Take the broccoli out when lightly charred.

Put aioli on bottom of plate. Top with broccoli and almonds.

ENJOY!!!!!!

A Special THANKS!! To FnB Restaurant so I could come up with this!

This week I had cauliflower and carrots so I came up with this. I’ve done a lot of Yotam Ottolenghi recipes and one of the the spice combinations that he uses is smoked paprika with Aleppo pepper together. It’s so simple but taste so good. I added saffron to the mix and a few other things. I used these vegetables as side dishes for dinner. Portion size is difficult to judge because I don’t know if you want a small side or a full plate for a meal. For me this made 7 side dishes.

Ingredients for around 7 servings

1 small cauliflower – break down to florets

2 lb carrots – peel if not organic, slice 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick

1 small red onion – peel, cut in half, slice

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons water (the water helps to bloom the saffron)

pinch saffron – crumble

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1/2+ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (1/2 the salt is to season the vegetables and the other 1/2 is for cooking the carrots. (or to taste…you might want more or less ((I used my homemade lightly smoked pecan sea salt)

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 lemon – just the zest

3 oz dates – remove pits and slice

2 Tablespoons parsley leaves – chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Precook slightly the carrots. You can do this stove top or in the microwave oven. Timing is difficult to tell you exactly because all carrots are different sizes. Mine were very large carrots and I put them in a microwavable bowl with around a cup of water and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt for 7 minutes. I usually have normal supermarket size carrots that would be more like 3 minutes on the stove top or 4 minutes in the microwave.

In a large bowl add the cauliflower, carrots, and onions.

Either stove top in a pan or in a microwaveable bowl add the oil, water, saffron. paprika, Aleppo pepper and bring to boil. This mixture gets poured over the big bowl of vegetables. Mix it up. Spread out in a single layer on sheet pans. Sprinkle lightly to taste with fresh ground black pepper and sea salt.

Use the middle rack and put the overflow on the lower rack. This will need around 25 – 35 minutes. Check at 25 minutes. You want the cauliflower slightly charred. Switch the lower rack vegetables with the middle rack vegetables and check every 5 minutes till done.

When vegetables are finished add the lemon zest, chopped parsley, and dates.

ENJOY!!!!

I came across a recipe for a single vegetable Indian Dish. I purposely made it different by using a mix of vegetables, also by roasting the vegetables instead of boiling them. I also ACCIDENTALLY made it different by leaving a few things out….I thought it tasted done…. Well it’s delicious anyway. Portion size is always difficult to tell. For me this is 6 side servings.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

2 small broccoli crowns (the stemless broccoli tops that Safeway sells) – break down to florets

3 carrots – peeled if not organic and cut on diagonal half inch thick

1 onion – rough chop with pieces big enough that you want to eat

1/4 cabbage – rough cut

1 red bell pepper – stem & seeds removed, cut in strips

1 Tablespoon olive oil (this is to spray on the vegetables I don’t think that I used much more than a tablespoon)

2 Tablespoons coconut oil

1 Tablespoon brown mustard seeds

1 branch curry leaves (around 12 leaves Asiana Market sells them…I buy them and keep them in my freezer)

2 shallots – fine chopped

3 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 serrano chili – fine chop

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Set the oven to 425 degrees F

The broccoli cooks faster than the other vegetables. The broccoli either gets it’s own pan or goes on an end of a baking sheet so you can remove it when it’s done.

The vegetables go on baking sheets and get LIGHTLY sprayed with olive oil. Note that the broccoli will cook faster than the other vegetables. In my oven the broccoli was perfect in 20 minutes. The remaining vegetables took another 15 minutes. The timing might differ slightly because of size of vegetable or oven difference.

While the vegetables are cooking you can make the delicious sauce.

In a small fry pan on medium heat add the coconut oil, curry leaves and the mustard seeds. Keep cooking until you hear the seeds popping. Now add the shallots, garlic, and chili. Cook until shallots look transparent. Now add the cumin, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Turn off heat. Pick out the curry leaves. Pour onto vegetables when done.

Enjoy!!!

Over a year ago I did something like this before but this one is slightly different. Somehow poppy seeds, black garlic mixed with kalamata olives can be magical together with the right ingredients and taste great on vegetables. I simply roasted the vegetables with a light spray of oil and salt and pepper and took them out of the oven when done. The rest mixes up in minutes. Serving size is always difficult to judge. I got 6 side servings out of this. You might get less if your side servings are bigger.

Servings for around 6 servings

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (2 Tablespoons lightly sprayed on vegetables and 1 Tablespoon reserved for condiment)

1 small cauliflower – cut into florets

1 red onion – cut into slices

8oz spinach

4 1/2 oz good quality Feta Cheese cut into small cubes (I like the Israeli Feta from Trader Joes and my 2nd favorite is the Greek Feta from Costco)

1 Tablespoon urfa pepper (this is to coat the feta cheese)

2 Tablespoons poppy seeds – put threw a spice grinder

7oz kalamata olives – pits removed – chopped

1 + 1/2 Tablespoons black garlic

1 Tablespoon date syrup (you can substitute honey but you can easily find date syrup at Walmart)

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

sea salt – to taste

ground black pepper – to taste

optional 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, parsley, or scallions to finish

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

On sheet tray(s) spread out the cauliflower florets on one side and the onions on the other side incase they don’t get done at the same time. Spray them lightly with olive oil. Season them lightly with a little salt and pepper to taste. Put them in the middle rack of the oven and take them out when lightly charred. Mine took 20 minutes but timing may differ due to the way ovens work and the size and age of the vegetables.

In a small bowl mix the feta cubes with the urfa pepper. Keep to the side until ready to use.

In another pan add the spinach. Sprinkle lightly with oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cover pan and put this in 5 minutes before you want to serve on the lower rack while the other vegetables are cooking. I like mine like 1/2 cooked. You can do longer if you want or do them on the stove top.

Assemble and serve. I put the spinach on the bottom mixed the onions and cauliflower together. Spooned on condiment. Then added the peppered feta and topped that with cilantro.

This went FORKING GREAT with the Moroccan Style Turkey Meatballs with harissa that I just made.

Enjoy!

I was reading about Amish Onion Patties and found out that they are a scrumptious fried food that I have never had. I heard that they taste like onion rings. I figured out a baked version of and seasoned them a bit more. GOSH they are a BIG HIT because they are forking tasty and not so heavy. They have a crisp exterior and are light almost like an fluffy onion pancake inside. They are tasty the way they are but also would be great with any dip, dressing, or ketchup that you can think of….I think that they would be great as mini sandwiches too. This recipe makes around 16 patties. You need to eat at least two so that might be 8 small portions. I am certain that some will eat more than two patties so serving size is difficult to judge. I’ll guesstimate 6 servings.

Ingredients for around 6 portions

2 1/2 cups onions – sliced thin on mandolin and chopped (I used 1+ almost1/2 large onions)

1/3 cup scallions – sliced thin

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 Tablespoon corn meal

3/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon granulated onion

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 eggs – beaten

1/4 cup water

canola non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F and spray two sheet trays with non stick spray.

In a large bowl add the onions, scallions, baking powder, cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, granulated onion, pepper, Mix well.

In a small bowl mix together the eggs and water. Now add that to the big bowl and mix well.

I used a teaspoon and heaped it up with batter and placed them on the baking sheets like this.

My oven was preheated to 400 degrees F. One sheet pan went on the middle rack and the other sheet pan on the lower rack. In my oven I thought that the onions patties looked perfect to me at 30 minutes. Ovens can differ some so you might need slightly more or slightly less time.

My dogs thought that the Baked Onion Patties smelled good. They don’t know that onions are toxic to dogs. I’ll have to give them something else.

Enjoy!!!

WOW! I hit gold when I tried this recipe. I never heard of or had a pickled vegetable that was grilled and mixed with the perfect chermoula sauce before. Charmoula is always a tasty sauce that is often served with fish. It usually is a lot of herbs with parsley and a lemon taste……….This one is taste completely different with the addition of tahini but was perfect for this recipe. This combination is magical. Usually there is a little story about who came up with the Food & Wine recipes but for this one I had to do the digging myself. I looked up Johnny Clark & Beverly Kim and found out that they won a James Beard best chef award and also have a Michelin Star Restaurant in Chicago. There wasn’t much I had to change in this recipe. A few ingredients I did have to swap out but what I used were very similar. I also didn’t have carrot greens to add to the chermoula. The only part of the recipe that I had to change (maybe because I didn’t have carrot greens?) was the amount of herbs that go into the chermoula…..For me the larger amount of herbs needs to be in the chermoula and the smaller amount is for finishing……..(they had the herbs the other way around)…..I also finished slightly different…The original recipe has you using two tablespoons of chermoula to mix oil and your finishing herbs for finishing. Do what you what it’s all good.

This recipe makes around four servings.

1 Tablespoon black peppercorns

3 cups white vinegar

1 3/4 cups water

2 Tablespoons kosher salt plus extra for seasoning

1 lb carrots (regular size carrots – cut in half and cut each half in half longways (I did not do this but if you are lucky enough to have carrot greens you can add them to the chermoula)

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 1/2 cups lightly packed parsley leaves

1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro (tender stems ok)

1 Thai chile – rough chopped

1 garlic clove

2 cubes or one ounce ice

1/4 cup tahini

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

freshly ground pepper to taste

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1/3 cup roasted almonds

Directions

In a medium sauce pan toast the black peppercorns over medium high heat till fragrant (about 3 minutes). Add the vinegar, 1 1/2 cups water and two Tablespoons of kosher salted bring to boil. Remove from heat and pour over the carrots. Let sit on counter till cooled to room temperature. Pickle a few hours in the refrigerator or up to over-night.

Next. Toast the cumin seeds on medium high heat swirling the pan till fragrant (about 2 minutes). Blend the seeds, a cup of parsley leaves, (carrot tops if you have them), cilantro leaves, chile, garlic, 1/4 cup water, lemon juice. Add ice and tahini and blend some more. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Get either your grill ready or use a grill pan in a preheated 420 degree F oven with an oiled grill pan.

Drain off and dry your carrots. (you can discard the brine or reuse it) Toss the carrots with a tablespoon of oil. Grill carrots till tender crisp. Transfer to a plate.

Spread the chermoula on a plate or platter. Top with carrots. finish with parsley and roasted almonds.

A Special THANKS!!! To Johnny Clark and Beverly Kim and Food and Wine Magazine for sharing such a FORKING Amazing recipe! So I could do what I got here!!!