Sides

I just love a great one-pot dish that makes everyone go "WOW".  I prepare, cook and serve right out of my beautiful braising pan.  You can also use your paella pan which I have two but decided to use this one!  

Thank you to D&D Market (the new Wethersfield, CT store) for the fresh ingredients to make this great recipe.  You will find this recipe on my cooking segment on Mass Appeal - March 11, 2015!

Note:  Using Cauliflower as your rice makes this dish a perfect Paleo side dish or main course!  This is also a stove to table dish without any mess in 30 minutes!

I grew up with my Nana steaming the large pot of artichokes on Sunday's and we would sit around the table before dinner with our bowl and just eat them with lots of laughter and smiles.  My Nana was very smart and she knew if she was making artichokes we would all sit around the table with her and that is all she wanted.  I came up with this recipe to add a different twist to artichokes but I still enjoy them steamed with olive oil and tons of chunky pieces of garlic!

You can also find this recipe in my cookbook:.

**Cindy's Tip!  We all want to get to the heart of the artichoke.  Enjoy each leaf peddle by putting in your mouth then using your teeth to get the delicious flesh in your mouth.  Enjoy each leaf and don't hurry for the heart!  When you arrive to the bottom of your artichoke, there is a little "fuzzy hair"--just remove them and cut around the heart.  Put on your plate, cut it into pieces and just lightly dip and take a bite and enjoy that flavor in your mouth.  Enjoy with your family and friends! **

My family loves popovers and I enjoy making them for them.  We all so the popover dance together.  I had some fresh asparagus and my Lodge Cast Iron pan was on the stove already to sauté them.  Last minute I decided to create a large popover and I was so happy that everyone just loved it.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family did!  xo Cindy

Note:  My pan is 12 inches and this recipe was developed to fit this pan.  I you have the 10 inch pan you will want to alter the recipe.

I just love these chips!  Not to mention the bowl is absolutely beautiful and what a great way to get your kids to eat vegetables!

I love using my mandolin for these chips but you can also use a sharp chefs knife. You may want to rinse the beets and maybe even wear gloves.  

Hubby and I love sweet potato fries with our burgers!  However tonight as was I holding 2 thin sweet potatoes I quickly decided to change it up a little.  I took out my mandoline to make chips!  As a little surprise I even made a Paleo sriracha dipping sauce!  

Check it out!

There is a story to the creation of this recipe.  I always have a head of cauliflower in my refrigerator (I just love it) and on Thanksgiving my friend Donna brought broccoli for her niece and we forgot to steam it up for her!  

During my normal weekly clean up the refrigerator to see what I have left from the week I took the two  out along with a few scallions I had left over and created this dish.  Of course I added all of my favorite Italian herbs and was really happy with this dish!  

I did sprinkle some freshly grated parmesan cheese on top before serving but that's the Italian in me.  You can also add in some melting cheese in the mixture if you desire.  Maybe about 3/4 cup!

I hope you enjoy this Paleo side dish!

We love brussels sprouts in my house! I have so many recipes and trying to get all of them up on my site. These are delicious and you can be extremely creative. You can prepare them following a paleo diet, gluten free diet or anyway that makes you happy! Enjoy…

As I was walking around the grocery store looking for inspirations  spotted a box of burger wheat.  I decided to grab the box and use it a few different way.  We love tobuli and I make kibbeh in the summer.

At the grocery store they had buy one get one free of grape tomatoes so I decided to roast one package with lots of garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.  The combination went great together.

Doesn't eating well make you feel so good!  I know we all like to sneak something bad then you hate how you feel.   So, why do we punish our bodies.  I love cooking my own food and enjoying the flavors.

This has become a favorite and it is so easy to make!  I hope you enjoy this dish too and try my Paleo Scallion Pancakes with this!  So yummy... xo

Risotto is a Northern Italian rice dish that is cooked for a long time stirring often.  A traditional risotto is cooked with a warm broth added slowly to create a creamy consistency.  As a paleo dish, it takes less time to prepare and the cauliflower gives it a perfect risotto feel.

I remember my Nana would make a cup of coffee and grab her stool and sit at a stove for an hour while preparing risotto!

 **Cindy's Tip!--Take the liquid from the porcini mushrooms and strain to use in soups.  You can also add a little to your risotto to gain a richer flavor!**

You can also find this recipe in my cookbook:

This is a great recipe to use leftover roasted cauliflower or you can cut up a fresh one and cook. I am including the leftover version below. 

OMG this is amazing!  Enjoy xo

Cindy's Note:  I love chickpeas! 

This is a perfect side with any dish or add as many vegetables you want to make it a meal.  You can either add your favorite flavor profile; Italian, Asian, Indian, Mexican, etc...   

I love to make a big batch and scoop out servings during the week. Just warm and enjoy (or eat cold)

In our modern age you can now find riced cauliflower in the freezer section and ready to go.  Or you can pick up a head of cauliflower and rice yourself.  

I love that I can get riced cauliflower at Trader Joes in the freezer section. It takes minutes just to warm it up. If you don't have a store that carries it in your area just take a head of cauliflower and rice by sending it through the shredding disk from your food processor. To cook it add butter or coconut oil to a pan and once hot add in the cauliflower and cook for about 7 minutes. 

We just love summer vegetables.  At our summer lake house we love to grill and entertain.  My husband and I just love salmon and my Cauliflower Rice Succotash was the perfect accompany for our dinner.  Everything was cooked on the grill and we ate outside.

Perfect summer dinner with friends.

Cindy's Note:  I made this dish on the grill.  You can also prepare in your own kitchen stove top. Feel free to boil the corn.

If you are curious to learn the health benefits of broccoli then read this article from my friend at Well-Being Secrets!

Enjoy

This recipe was inspired by Alex Guarnaschelli while i was watching the food network during the Thanksgiving weekend.  I just love cauliflower and have an herb garden which includes parsley therefore this recipe was created!  I also always have canned coconut milk on hand for my smoothies.  

During her segment she suggested the cauliflower be marinated for at least 2 hours.  I marinated for exactly 2 hours.  She said it could be marinated overnight and I don't think that's a great idea because I marinated one overnight at first and the coconut over powered the other favors so this recipe is my #2 cauliflower.

I was home alone for a few days after Thanksgiving and made this for me.  It lasted me several meals and I enjoyed every bite.  My parsley pesto is more like a dressing then a pesto.

Enjoy!

This is my holiday fake out! My family loves this dish but don't realize its cauliflower.  I add in lots of garlic and being Italian we enjoy freshly grated parmesan cheese.  You can certainly omit if you wish!

You may also find this recipe in my cookbook: .

I haven't made beans in so long and it seemed to be the perfect side for my BGE Sweet and Spicy Ribs.

Now that I know using canned beans and adding your own ingredients takes on a whole new meaning of baked beans not to mention all you need is 30 minutes.  I made these for my company and never let them know they were semi-homemade and everyone just loved them.  

I used 2 tablespoons of the rub I made with the Ribs.  If you are not making the ribs then here is an easy recipe for the spices.

Ingredients for Spices!

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

I just realized that there are a lot of sweet potato recipes on my blog.  I do love sweet potatoes.

This recipes was inspired by a recent trip to Bolder.  My friend Monica and I went out to lunch and they had these hugs sweet potato fritters on the counter with a marshmallow topping.   We each ate one but OMG they were filling and the topping was really sweet.

I decide to make my healthy (Paleo) version.  My husband just loved these and asked me to save 2 for breakfast with his eggs in the morning.  I even gave one to Jake - of course he just loved it too!  

Enjoy!  These are super yummy

PS
I just used one large sweet potato and made about 8 fitters.  Just a FYI