I needed a new idea for green beans and one of my go to chefs that I look up is Richard Blais. He is a cookbook author, restauranteur, and former Top Chef Competitor. I’ve been to his restaurant Juniper and Ivy and it was amazing. I’ve also tried the Crack Shack Restaurant in Las Vegas and it was very tasty too!

This recipe is very simple and easy. It has a flavor combination that I never thought of…..garlic, HORSERADISH, and sun-dried tomatoes with green beans. I made only a few changes. I doubled the amount of sun-dried tomatoes because I thought it needed more. I increased the amount of chili flakes because I used Aleppo chili flakes that are milder but with a better taste. I also thought that savory was a better tasting herb than parsley for green beans so I finished with savory. It’s always difficult to determine portion size because some people want a tiny portion and some want a larger portion. To me this looks like 8 dinner side servings.

Ingredients for around 8 servings

2 lb green beans – cleaned and trimmed

1/4 cup garlic – ground to paste

1/4 cup prepared horseradish

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil – cut into strips

4 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon red Aleppo pepper flakes

2 Tablespoons savory leaves

Sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

Directions

Boil green beans 5-7 minutes or until tender.

In a separate pan cook remaining ingredients till fragrant and then toss in green beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finish with savory.

A Special THANKS!!! To chef Richard Blais for sharing his really GREAT recipe so I could come up with what I got here! Who knew garlic, horseradish, and sun-dried tomatoes what such a great combination on green beans!

Broccoli & Cauliflower was on sale at Safeway so I had to do something with broccoli and cauliflower. I’ve done plenty of similar recipes so I had an idea on how things should be. Eden Grinshpan’s recipe for Whole Roasted Broccoli with Herbed Yogurt, Dukkah & Chile was the inspiration for this recipe today. I was all set off to do her recipe….but with adding cauliflower. Then I had to change the yogurt because my husband won’t eat straight yogurt. Then I needed less salt in the recipe. I also really didn’t want to use a serrano pepper here………Serrano peppers do add a delicious spicy heat to salsas…..but for this I wanted something milder with flavor so I used the traditional urfa pepper instead. From what I read Eden Grinshpan is a very decorated chef, cookbook author, restauranteur, and television host, and more. She also has been the host of Top Chef Canada for several years now. Chefs get much finer ingredients than what you and I buy from our local grocery. So for those reasons sometimes their recipes come out different when we make them…….. Serving size is always difficult to judge because all broccoli crowns and cauliflowers are different in size. Also some people want large servings and other people want small servings. My broccoli crowns and my cauliflower were all small so I only got 6 servings.

Ingredients for around 6 servings

2 broccoli crowns – break down into florets

1 cauliflower – break down into florets

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

sea salt – to taste

4 oz feta cheese – crumbled (preferably a good quality that isn’t too tangy or too salty) – whipped feta

1/2 cup greek yogurt – whipped feta

1 Tablespoon tahini – whipped feta

1/2 cup parsley leaves – chopped – whipped feta

1/2 cup scallions (or chives) – chopped – whipped feta

1 Tablespoon tarragon – chopped – whipped feta

1/2 lemon – just the juice – whipped feta

1 garlic clove – round to paste – whipped feta

sea salt – to taste – whipped feta

1/2 cup pistachios – crushed but with some lumps – dukkah

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds – use a spice mill or mortar – dukkah

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds – use a spice mill or mortar – dukkah

1/2 teaspoon cardamon seeds – use a spice mill or mortar – dukkah

sea salt – to taste – dukkah

optional – dried urfa pepper to finish

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Either boil the broccoli for three minutes and then use an ice bath…Or…Microwave with stems up a microwaveable bowl in a single layer with the stems going towards the top of the bowl. Add about a cup of water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave 4 minutes.

When cool enough to handle the broccoli florets go on a small sheet tray and the cauliflower florets go on a small sheet tray. They get sprayed generously with oil and get sprinkled lightly or to taste with sea salt. They both go on the middle rack of your preheated 425F oven till charred. Timing may differ…In my oven the broccoli were done in 20 minutes and the cauliflower took 30 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking you have time to make the whipped feta. Whip together the feta, yogurt, parsley, scallions, tarragon, lemon juice, garlic. (decide if yours needs any salt…Season to taste.

Once the vegetables are out of the oven turn the oven down to 350F. The crushed spices (cumin, coriander, cardamon, (sesame seeds if not toasted) and lumpy crushed pistachios (sea salt to taste) go on a sheet pan in the oven for around 5 minutes or until fragrant.

Serve as desired…..Everything on the side.

Or with Whipped herbed feta either over or under the vegetables. Then sprinkle with dukkah. Optional add urfa pepper.

A Special THANKS!!!! To Chef Eden Grinshpan and Food52.com to inspire what I came up with.