OhYaGood

Whole Food Lover + Recipe Hacker

Mexican Corn

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Well it’s about time. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to keep posting. I was feeling a bit defeated and focused more attention on community driven projects. I’m still doing those things but with summer, I’ve got a teeny bit more time to do my stuff. Think tv shows, sprinklers and some mandatory quiet time so I can do what I need to do.

This recipe comes from my favorite cookbook, Food Lab with some alterations to make it not only dairy-free but with short cuts. I first had Mexican Street Corn aka Elote in Sedona, Arizone this spring at a wonderful restaurant of the same name. I think I ate an entire pound of it. It’s a fairly simple dish and according to my family, the cheese wasn’t necessary. Hope you like it as much as I do.

Mexican Corn
 
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Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 bag of trader joes, frozen roasted sweet corn (about 3 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons of oil, i used avocado
  • 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
  • ½ cup of green onions, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup of cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
  • 2 tablespoons of trader joes diced jarred sweet and spicy jalapenos
  • salt
  • chili powder
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the frozen corn and spread evenly. Let simmer for a few minutes before stirring. Cook for another two minutes or until evenly heated through.
  2. Mix the mayo, green onions, cilantro, lime juice, garlic and jalapeno together with the cooked corn. Add salt and chili powder to taste. Serve room temperature or hot.

 

Sesame Carrot Noodles

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If you shop at Costco, you are no stranger to the ginormous 10lb bag of carrots that are available in their produce section. So often I would reach for them then think “there’s NO way we could get thru all of these” and put them back. Well, on Monday, I gave into the challenge and to my surprise, we’ve actually eaten a good portion of them. However, it was time for a new variation besides raw sticks. So I came up with this delicious “noodle” dish using my spiralizer. It tastes so much like a Japanese seaweed salad with out the jelly like texture. I’ll be honest, my kids weren’t sold but my husband and I slurped them up.

 

Sesame Carrot Noodles
 
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Recipe type: Side
Cuisine: Asian
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
  • 7-8 large carrots or 4 cups of spiraled carrot noodles
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1 T sesame oil
  • 1 tsp garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ⅛ tsp pepper
  • ¼ cup rice vinegar
  • ⅛ cup + 1 T light oil like avocado, olive or vegetable, divided
  • ⅛ cup coconut aminos
  • ½ T red onion, finely diced
  • black or white sesame seeds
Instructions
  1. Spiralize the large part (about 1½ in in circumference) of the carrots to make into noodles
  2. Toss the noodles into a large skillet over medium heat with the Tablespoon of oil for about 5 minutes or until carrots are slightly softened
  3. Whisk together remaining ingredients except for onions and seeds for the dressing and pour over noodles
  4. Garnish with red onion and sesame seeds

Celery and Grapefruit Salad

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Celery_Grapefruit_Salad_loHappy 2017! Naturally, my first post of the year is a salad. Even though I’m not a big new years resolution kind of gal, I certainly can appreciate the need to eat better after too many cookies. Seriously, I made my peppermint cookies at least a half dozen times over the course of a month. Could. Not. Stop.

This time of year is tricky when it comes to seasonal produce or lack there of but one thing I seem to always have on hand is celery, my soup staple and dip boat. This salad is chalk full of the refreshing and crunchy vegetable and even includes the greens so don’t pitch ’em. You could easily use some fancy oils like hazelnut or walnut for more complex flavors but the salad is good as is and who wants to go buy an $8 bottle of oil that will likely go rancid before using it all. Practicality wins in my book!

Celery and Grapefruit Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 3 celery sticks
  • ½ chopped fennel bulb
  • 1 grapefruit, peeled and sliced to your liking
  • 2 T roughly chopped celery leaves
  • 1 scallion, thinly sliced crosswise
  • 3 T hazelnuts or walnuts, roasted and chopped
  • ½ teaspoon minced garlic
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ⅛ cup lemon juice
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Roast hazelnuts or walnut at 350 F until brown (about 5 minutes) cool completely before roughly chopping
  2. Mix together grapefruit, celery, fennel, celery leaves and green onion into a medium sized bowl
  3. Whisk together minced garlic, oil and lemon juice and drizzle into the salad
  4. Toss and garnish with chopped hazelnuts and salt and pepper

 

Roasted Roots

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roasted_roots_loYou say potato, I say rutabaga. I like rutabagas. I just tried cooking them for the first time this week and I'm a fan. It's reminds me of a turnip, except better flavor. I added them to my chicken vegetable soup earlier this week (YUM!), then I just roasted them with their sweeter cousin, the carrot. I think this recipe turned out great and it's very versatile. The addition of onions is key because they get this lovely charred flavor. The crudo at Burch Steakhouse here in Minneapolis is served with a charred onion reduction and it's been stuck in my brain ever since. This recipe could be a great side dish to bring to the holiday gatherings.
Roasted Roots
 
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Recipe type: Vegetable
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
  • 1 large rutabaga, diced about 1-inch square
  • 5 medium-sized carrots, diced similar size to the rutabaga
  • ¼ red onion, roughly sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons oil (I used avocado)
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°
  2. Toss vegetables in oil and herbs
  3. Roast for 45 minutes or until browned edges, stirring at the halfway point

Roasted Potatoes

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roasted_potatoes_loWelp. School has begun. We've all maintained our sanity and I'm LOVING my free time. By free I mean, it's chock full of the things I've been wanting to get done. House stuff like cleaning and organizing, appointments like the dentist (Yipeee!) and of course blogging. I have a long list of recipes I want to tackle so bare with me in the next few months. They might not feel very seasonal but whatever. I'm sure you'll still dig what I come up with. So, If you've been to my house in the last, oh, 6 months or I've made you dinner, you've probably gotten a taste of my roasted potatoes. I call them mine because I never read a recipe to make them, I just starting doing them and adding stuff and wah-la! I love how easy they are and how they go over so well with guests, even the wee young ones. The huge bonus, leftovers with eggs in the morning or whenever really. I've done this same recipe without the lemon zest on sweet potatoes and it turns out just as good. They go with just about everything too!
Roasted Potatoes
 
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Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 3 lbs of yukon gold or red pototoes, diced
  • ⅛ cup avocado oil (or olive oil)
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or parsley (I prefer lemon thyme), 2 teaspoons if you're using dried herbs
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • optional: 3 teaspoons garlic, minced (about 2 cloves)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F
  2. Dice potatoes to 1 inch squares or smaller and make sure they dry after washing them
  3. Toss the potatoes with the remaining ingredients in a bowl
  4. Spread the potatoes onto a cookie sheet making sure they are spread out evenly
  5. Roast in the oven for about 45 mins, stirring once to brown evenly

Watermelon Salad

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watermelon_salad

It’s summer in full swing which means loads of fresh produce with little effort, right?! That’s been my motto anyways. I feel way more like a prep cook just slicing and dicing. I also have a wedding I’m bridesmaiding in a matter of days so all baking and sweet dishes are going to have to wait till after. Let’s just say I’ve been scheming an ice cream dessert for quite a while I hope to attack. Oh and that breakfast cookie I teased everyone with on instagram.

Watermelon has been so incredible these last few weeks and my family has already eaten three whole ones. The girls devour it. I’m an overachiever myself. This salad has made it especially wonderful. It’s a play on an appetizer a friend of mine introduced me to years ago that included buffalo mozzarella. That would also make a great addition to the salad if you can eat cheese. That or feta or ricotta salata.

Watermelon Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cubed watermelon
  • 1 cup halved tomatoes, cherry or grape
  • ¾ cup diced seedless cucumber
  • small bunch of mint, finely diced
  • small bunch of basil, finely diced
  • (optional) balsamic vinegar
  • (optional) honey
Instructions
  1. Prep first 5 ingredients and mix into a bowl
  2. Whisk balsamic and honey together or use a already prepared glaze to drizzle over the salad

 

Roasted Broccoli

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Roasted_Broccoli

I’ve been making this about every other day this last week. We finally joined costco and I have to say my favorite thing to buy are the large bags of already cut up fruits and veggies. So behold roasted broccoli. I can’t say it’s super kid friendly since only one of my kids will even touch it but that could be because the other kid won’t let hardly anything green touch her lips. This super easy recipe is derived from Nom Nom Paleo’s roasted green bean recipe. Derived… or maybe virtually the same but replacing the beans with broccoli. I use Red Boat fish sauce which is sugar-free and has wonderful flavor making it Whole30 complaint too.

Roasted Broccoli
 
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Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 lb of broccoli florets, trim stems and make the same size
  • 1 tablespoon oil, coconut or olive work great
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • a squeeze of one lemon wedge
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400ª F
  2. Spread your bone dry broccoli evenly onto an oven safe dish, cookie sheet works fine
  3. Drizzle the broccoli with olive oil and fish sauce
  4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until broccoli has a slight char, stirring once halfway
  5. Squeeze with lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste

 

Wilted Spinach Salad

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Wilted_Spinach_SaladAnyone else wishing for snow to cover all the grayness? I’m fighting the lack of sunlight and brown, dead ground with some green-action in the kitchen. Seriously, I bought poundssss of spinach this week. It’s a miracle cure.

I had never eaten a wilted spinach salad till working at an italian restaurant in my early 20s. I was instantly in love. While back in Iowa over Thanksgiving, my Mom served almost the exact same salad I remember from the restaurant so I asked her to share her recipe so I could dissect it and of course, make it my own. It’s really the perfect salad during these cold-ish December days.

Wilted Spinach Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • 4 slices of thick bacon
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • ⅓ cup champagne or white wine vineagar
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons mayo
  • 6-7 cups spinach
  • ½ pine nuts (optional)
Instructions
  1. Render bacon until cooked to your liking (I prefer the oven for 10 minutes at 400ªF on a foil lined baking sheet)
  2. Use one tablespoon of the bacon grease to oil a frying pan and set to medium heat
  3. Sauté onions until softened, about 10 minutes
  4. Add vinegar and honey and bring to a simmer
  5. Add bacon, cut into small strips
  6. Add mustard and stir until dissolved
  7. Remove from heat and add mayo, stir until dissolved
  8. Drizzle the mixture over 2 cups of spinach for each serving and garnish with pine nuts

 

Vegan Mushroom Gravy

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Vegan_GravyI had pretty much given up on gravy. My first attempt at making it was unappealing and after becoming lactose intolerant, potatoes were never the same so I gave it up. It was until recently I started to miss it. My husband and I had made a pre-Thanksgiving meal a few Sundays ago just for fun and I did all the fixings gluten and dairy free with ease, including the potatoes (I’ll post the recipe someday). I longed for a gravy to go with these heaping mashers so I did some digging for vegan gravy recipes. The few I found called for the fake butter that contain soy and lots of other things I can’t pronounce. So, I challenged myself to come up with my own creation. Five simple ingredients is all it took. The gravy goes great on any cut of meat, potatoes, squash, root mash, you name it. A perfect Thanksgiving addition.

Note the mashed sweet potatoes need to be made ahead or purchase the frozen variety from Trader Joes.

Vegan Mushroom Gravy
 
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Recipe type: Sauce
Cuisine: American
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • ½ T coconut oil
  • 3 cups sliced button mushrooms
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
  • 2 Tablespoons of fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme or sage
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a large skillet
  2. Sauté the lightly salted mushrooms until softened on medium heat, about 8 minutes
  3. Add the broth, sweet potatoes and herbs
  4. Let simmer for about 10 minutes
  5. Transfer to a deep bowl and use an immersion blender to blend mushrooms and thicken the gravy
  6. Salt and pepper liberally

 

Brussels Sprouts with Grapes

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Brussels Sprouts with GrapesFood and the internet are such an amazing marriage. I remember even a few years ago it was hard finding dairy-free recipes or any kind of whole food recipe besides what I could dig up on the almighty epicurious. Look how far it’s come! Buzzfeed’s Tasty videos for one, are knocking it out of the park. Even the ones I have no desire to try, I become memorized by. I love it all.

You know what else the internet just taught me? It’s brusselS sprouts. I didn’t know brussel was plural. How have I gone this long without knowing that? I’ve worked in restaurants with brusselSSSS sprouts on their menu for god sakes. Ah thank you internet, for all you do.

This is side dish is so damn good. They are shredded and roasted to a slightly charred salty chip. The best. Let me add that I buy them shredded in a bag because why the heck wouldn’t you.

Brussels Sprouts with Grapes
 
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Recipe type: SIde Dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 10oz (or 1½ cups) Trader Joes shredded brussels bag
  • ½ Tablespoon oil
  • 1 cup sliced red grapes
  • ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
  • salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F
  2. Pour the oil into the bag of brussels and toss
  3. Arrange them onto a baking sheet large enough to spread them into one layer, salt and pepper them and put them in the oven
  4. After 15 minutes, add grapes and walnuts and stir
  5. Roast for another 5-10 minutes, or until brussels are slightly charred