De Ma Cuisine

Sides Archive

Wednesday

16

November 2011

0

COMMENTS

Winter Vegetable Salad

Written by , Posted in Dinner, Holiday, Lunch, Main Dishes, Meat, Pork, Salads, Sides, Vegetables

Winter Vegetable Salad
Recipe Type: Side
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Total time: 1 hour 15 mins
Serves: 3
It tastes like fall!
Ingredients
  • 1-2 T olive oil
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
  • 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1 apple, cut in medium chunks
  • 1 onion, cut in medium chunks
  • 1 t chili powder
  • 1/8 to 1/4 t cayenne
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1/2 t smoked paprika
  • 1/2 t sweet paprika
  • Reduced balsamic vinegar (top with)
  • Greek yogurt (for serving)
  • Caramelized onion cheddar cheese (opt.)
  • 1 C spinach
  • pinch nutmeg (for spinach)
Instructions
  1. Toss squash with olive oil and seasonings. Bake at 350F for 30-60 minutes (test at 30 minutes by piercing with a fork to see if it’s done). At 30 minutes in, add apple and onion. Roast until all are soft inside and slightly crispy on the outside.
  2. While squash cooks, bring balsamic vinegar to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened and syrupy.
  3. Cook bacon. Place cooked bacon on paper towel to drain. Crumble when cooled. Remove some or all grease from hot pan, and wilt spinach. Add nutmeg.
  4. Mix all above ingredients. Top with reduced balsamic vinegar and yogurt.

Friday

28

October 2011

13

COMMENTS

Scalloped Rutabagas and a Giveaway

Written by , Posted in Abundant Harvest Organics, Cheese, Contests, Dinner, Sides, Thoughts

I have not always been passionate about food, or healthy eating, or eating fresh, local, in season produce. I am now. If you and I have had a conversation about menus and food, I’ve probably told you about Abundant Harvest Organics. It has become something that is really important to me. We heard about Abundant Harvest Organics from the Shinns, our good friends. They offered us a carrot, and we were hooked. We’ve been subscribers ever since we ate that carrot in 2007. We’re now eating better, healthier, more well balanced meals and are supporting local farmers who are providing us with amazing, fresh, ripe, affordable produce.

In this pre-made, preservative-happy food society that we live in, I think we’re losing a lot by not eating enough fresh fruits and veggies. I would like to challenge you to think outside the box a little, and get into a different kind of box.

About Abundant Harvest Organics

A few excerpts from their website, “Just like many of you, we have been on a journey to live and eat more healthfully. Our desire for affordable, chemically unaltered food led us to develop Abundant Harvest Organics. We have discovered an approach to natural food distribution that will deliver seasonal organic produce at conventional prices fresh from the field.”

Abundant Harvest Organics is an alliance of small family farmers in Central California dedicated to growing superior organic produce and getting it to you in the simplest manner possible and without the use of chemicals or packaging materials.”

“Here is what we do best:

Organic produce only – we don’t substitute! 

Unparalleled taste: varieties are chosen and harvested for taste and nutritional value rather than shelf-life and aesthetics

Superior quality and value, fairly priced significantly below retail value of the same product from your grocer

In Season: our produce is always fresh from the field

Locally grown: investing in our community’s people, its resources, and its physical, as well as economic health

Fresh, fresh, fresh: from the soil to your dinner table!”

The Giveaway!!

You could win a FREE BOX of ABUNDANT HARVEST PRODUCE!!

Before I tell you how you can enter, I must also note: The point of this isn’t just to give you something for free. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for free things and love to enter contests. But, my purpose in this is to introduce you to Abundant Harvest Organics and all that they have to offer. I want you to try it! In my opinion, once you taste it, you’ll be sold. Yesterday, my friend Joanna from Waterfall Creative came over for lunch. We had Stuffed French Toast (in preparation for a guest post I’ll be doing over on her blog) and Honeydew Melon. She tasted the melon, looked up at me almost in shock, and said, “Is this from Abundant Harvest?” It was. She said she’d never had melon so good.

To enter*: Leave a comment on this post.

To enter* a second time: Post about this giveaway on Facebook/Twitter/Google+ or Pin it on Pinterest. Then comment that you’ve done this (and provide a link to it, if possible).

*Please note, you must be able to pick up from one of AHO’s delivery sites (in California) to be eligible to win (sorry to any who will miss out).

Giveaway closes Monday November 7th at noon (PST). (Gift box will be available for pickup the week of November 14th.)

And the winner is…Randy Karman! Thank you to all who entered!! Congratulations, Randy! Please let me know by Thursday November 10th which delivery site you’d like to collect your winning box from!

If you didn’t win, but still want to get started with Abundant Harvest Organics, you can visit their website for more details. And, don’t forget to stay tuned for the new cooking show A Cooking Show with Rachel O. Featuring Abundant Harvest Organics produce being cooked by me. Should be fun!

In case you’re like me and don’t know what to do with Rutabagas (well, I do now), here’s a recipe that I made up!

Scalloped Rutabagas

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Yield: 2

Ingredients

  • 1 rutabaga, sliced about 1/4″ thick
  • 1/2 C Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 C cheese (or more, if you like things cheesy) (cheddar and parmesan), divided
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, diced
  • 1/4 to 1/3 C milk
  • 1-2 T flour
  • pinch cayenne
  • 1 t fresh thyme
  • 1 t fresh parsley
  • 1 t spicy brown mustard
  • 1 t olive oil

Instructions

  1. Whisk yogurt, milk, cheese (reserving a bit for topping later), garlic, onion, spices and mustard in a bowl.
  2. Grease a smallish baking dish (I think I used an 8×8 Pyrex) with oil. Place a layer of rutabaga, sprinkle with flour, top with cheese sauce. Repeat until all ingredients are gone (except set aside cheese).
  3. Bake covered at 350F for 60 minutes (or until rutabagas are no longer crisp). Uncover, sprinkle with remaining cheese, bake for 20 minutes more.
  4. Serve and enjoy! (I served them with Roast Beef and Wilted Greens.)

If you’re an AHO subscriber, don’t forget to use the Menu Featuring Abundant Harvest Organics Ingredients!

This giveaway was sponsored by Abundant Harvest Organics. Thank you, AHO for being willing to donate this box of produce!

Note: I do not work for Abundant Harvest, but have occasionally received complimentary produce for my help with various things. They have not asked me to post menus or promote them on my blog. If I post about them, it’s because I love their produce and the organization and want as many people as possible to know about them and use their produce with ease.

This giveaway was sponsored by Abundant Harvest Organics. Thank you, AHO for being willing to donate this box of produce!

Note: I do not work for Abundant Harvest, but have occasionally received complimentary produce for my help with various things. They have not asked me to post menus or promote them on my blog. 

Update: Sadly, Abundant Harvest is no longer in business. It was fun while it lasted. They had the best organic produce. (July 24, 2019)

Friday

14

October 2011

0

COMMENTS

Burned Butter Pasta

Written by , Posted in Dinner, Main Dishes, Pasta, Sides

Burned Butter Pasta
Recipe Type: Main, Entree, Pasta, Side
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Serves: 2-4
Try burning some butter. Then add it to pasta. It will be a good idea.
Ingredients
  • 1/3 lb pasta (I used Rotini)
  • 4-6 T salted butter
  • 4-6 sage leaves, chopped (opt.)
Instructions
  1. Cook pasta.
  2. Brown some butter (like really brown it – it will be bubbly and brown and smell rich, nutty, amazing!). Then add some sage leaves.
  3. Mix pasta and burned butter together.

 

Wednesday

28

September 2011

0

COMMENTS

Tater-Not Casserole

Written by , Posted in Dinner, Meat, Pork, Potatoes, Potlucks, Sides, Vegetables

We went to a wonderful potluck dinner Sunday night. I was introduced to our host’s daughter as “Rachel. She’s a food blogger.” Can I just say how cool that made me feel?!

I wonder, is it just me, or does food taste better at a potluck (especially if there’s fried or BBQ’s chicken)? At our meal, there was: BBQ’d chicken, 2 kinds of sausage, green bean casserole, my newly invented Tater-Not Casserole, and for dessert one of the best fruit crisps I’ve ever had (my husband agreed – he said he hoped I didn’t mind, but he liked it better than mine. I didn’t, because I did too.)

I don’t know if this was wise, but I decided to not try out a new recipe for this event, but to come up with a new dish and serve it to people we hardly knew (and hoped would be invited to hang out with again). I’d written down a few ideas, I’d researched what was in Tater-Tot Casserole, so knew in general the elements I needed (potato, creamy, vegetable, maybe meat), but I hadn’t really planned it out. Dinner was at 5, and at 3:40 I figured I should get started (um, 30 minutes ago, but it was a nice day, so we went for a walk with the dog). Fast forward through all 5 burners on at once, potato on every kitchen surface, piles of cheese, all pans dirty, husband taking photos, husband doing dishes (heart), bechamel not thickening, forgetting about the balsamic, not burning the bacon… to a completed dish, with zero minutes to spare before we had to be out the door.

It had broccoli on the bottom, which was covered with cheese sauce (or bechamel, if you want to pretend you know what you’re talking about like I do), topped with a combination of hash browns and mashed potatoes that had been mixed with the rest of the bechamel, which was topped with bacon, caramelized onions and garlic, that was topped with reduced balsamic vinegar (that thankfully didn’t burn in the frenzy). I had tasted most layers individually, but not the finished product. I just figured that almost anything is better with bacon, so if it was bad, maybe no one would know. Judging from the two scoops that were left in the 9×13 dish, it was surprisingly edible.

This recipe is for Kristy W., who requested my version of Tater-Tot Casserole.

Tater-Not Casserole
 
Recipe Type: Dinner, Side Dish
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 50 mins
Serves: 8-10
Kristy asked for my version of a Tater-Tot Casserole. I’ve never made it before, so I did some research and came up with my own version, sans Tater-Tots.
Ingredients
  • 8 medium red potatoes, grated
  • 1 1/2 C mashed potatoes (I used leftovers that I had in the freezer)
  • 4 C broccoli, cut in chunks
  • 2 C sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 C Greek yogurt
  • 2 C 1% milk
  • salt, pepper
  • 1 T chili powder
  • 1 t smoked paprika
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1 T agave
  • 2 T flour
  • 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 T
  • 2 strips bacon, chopped
  • 1/4 to 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
Instructions
  1. Grate potatoes. Rinse and wring out water (using a clean tea towel – beware, this will leave potato all over the towel, use something else if you don’t want this to happen!). Heat 1/4 C oil in large pan. Add potato and cook covered, stirring occasionally and scraping crispy bits off the bottom, about 15 minutes. Add mashed potatoes and heat through.
  2. While potatoes cook: Cook bacon. When it’s almost done, add onion and agave. Cook 5 min, then add garlic.
  3. Also while potatoes cook: Steam broccoli (1 C water in bottom of pan, broccoli in steamer basket, cover and cook about 5-10 min – until broccoli is tender).
  4. Another thing to do while potatoes cook: heat 2 T oil, add 2 T flour; whisk and cook 30-60 seconds. Slowly add milk, whisking as you do. Add chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Once it’s thickened, add yogurt. Turn off heat and whisk in cheese.
  5. And the last thing to do while the potatoes cook: Bring balsamic vinegar to a boil. Do not let it burn! Just simmer until it’s thickened and syrupy.
  6. Taste the bechamel (cheese sauce) and add salt and pepper to taste if needed.
  7. Assemble: grease a 9×13 pan. Add broccoli and toss with 1 C bechamel, mix the remaining bechamel into potato mixture and spoon over broccoli layer. Top it with onion and bacon mixture and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
 
Notes

To make this simpler, leftovers can be used: broccoli, hashbrowns, mashed potatoes, even the bechamel can be made ahead of time and reheated. Balsamic can be made in large batches and stored in the fridge. Bacon can be cooked and crumbled and frozen. If you use leftovers, assemble like above and heat in the oven until it reaches at least 160F.
Oh, you could also use Tater-Tots if you wanted to make really simple. 🙂

 

Thursday

4

August 2011

0

COMMENTS

Walnut Kale and Balsamic Dip

Written by , Posted in Appetizers, Bread, Cheese, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, Main Dishes, Nuts, One Dish Dinners, Quick and Easy, Sauces, Sides, Snacks, Vegetables, Vegetarian

 

Dinner Tonight – French Bread with Oil, Vinegar and Walnuts
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
Dinner tonight was fresh baked French Bread, with, I don’t even know what to call the side, not a sauce, just a mixture of yummy foods that go well together. Quick, easy, delicious.
Ingredients
  • 5 T olive oil
  • 1/4 to 1/2 C red onion
  • 2 T balsamic vinegar
  • to taste salt
  • to taste pepper
  • sprinkle nutmeg
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 1/4 C chopped walnuts
  • 1/4 to 1/2 C chopped kale (chard, spinach, dandelion or any greens that you have on hand)
  • 1/4 C parmesan cheese
  • 1 loaf French Bread, fresh from the oven (or fresh from the store, warmed in the oven)
Instructions
  1. Saute the onion in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes, over medium-low heat, until the onion is softening, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add garlic, walnuts and kale, cook about 3 minutes more.
  3. Serve warm, with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top (lots of it!), and scoop the mixture with hot from the oven French bread.
Notes
This would be awesome with bacon crumbled into it. (July 22, 2010)

Cooking Light’s French Bread Recipe