Savory Muffins with Spinach, Roasted Peppers and Feta Recipe

Savory muffins with spinach, feta and roasted peppers

If you read my last post, you know that we haven’t gone out for Mother’s Day in several years and this Sunday will be no different.  Truth be told, I couldn’t be happier for several already mentioned reasons.  I am, however, definitely not cooking on Sunday, but instead leaving that to the men for this one and only day.  But if I were cooking, I would make these fabulous savory muffins and serve them with a very veggie frittata.  Can you tell I am pushing a low-glycemic agenda this week?

dry mix

Have you ever had too much sugar and carbs at brunch that the entire rest of the day you just felt “off?”  Done it, hate it.  I always have a hard time bouncing back after starting the day with chocolate chip French toast, a blueberry crumb muffin, fruit salad and a mimosa.  No, friends, that is not a balanced meal.  Instead, I make a concerted effort to balance out the token coffee cake with plenty of protein and hearty, savory fare.

wet ingredients

If my husband brings in bagels, I make sure there’s wild smoked salmon and sliced cucumbers and tomatoes.  Yogurt gets placed next to the homemade granola and there’s always a savory egg dish of some sort.  Even if I’m serving a crowd, I’ll double frittata recipes and bake them in large rimmed sheet pans.  Yes, you can do that!

spinach, feta and roasted peppers

savory muffins with spinach, feta and roasted peppers

Muffins and quick breads are very popular for brunch, and I have several recipes on this site, but I think these with spinach and roasted peppers are so delicious and a fresh change of pace from the ones you would normally expect.  They’re also fairly easy to put together.  In fact, you can combine your dry ingredients the day before and have your spinach, feta and peppers prepped and ready to go, so that all you really need to do is stir everything together and bake the morning of Mother’s Day.  Like most muffins, these are much better fresh out of the oven, but if you have leftovers, just store them in the fridge and warm them in the oven for a few minutes.  These are also the perfect match with any egg dish, whether simply scrambled or baked in a fritatta.  My most favorite frittata is this one with Swiss chard, but the one I just posted the other day with asparagus and artichokes is a close second.  Certainly, these muffins aren’t just for brunch, but make a great little extra something with a bowl of soup or in the next day’s lunchbox.

savory muffins with spinach, feta and roasted peppers

In the same way I love looking at what’s in people’s grocery carts (is that creepy?), I love hearing about your menus for holidays and special occasions.  Do share with me what you’re planning or what you would love someone to make for you!!  Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful mamas!

Savory Muffins with Spinach, Feta and Roasted Peppers

Savory Muffins with Spinach, Roasted Peppers and Feta

Pamela, adapted from Bon Appetit
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Ingredients
  

  • 2 ¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour or a combo*
  • 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ¾ teaspoon sea salt
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • ¾ cup whole milk or unsweetened plain hemp milk
  • ½ cup unrefined olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup thinly sliced spinach leaves
  • ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese
  • ½ cup chopped roasted red peppers or drained mild Peppadew peppers

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 standard muffin cups with unbleached parchment paper liners (or cut parchment paper squares to fit.)
  • Whisk flour, baking powder, paprika, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl.
  • Whisk milk, oil, maple syrup and eggs in a large bowl and combine well.
  • Add dry mixture to wet and stir until just combined. Fold in spinach, feta and peppers.
  • Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. I use a large ice cream scoop to do this.
  • Bake muffins until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack or eat warm. Best eaten the same day that they’re made.

Notes

*To make these gluten-free, substitute wheat flour with 2 ¾ cups King Arthur Multi-purpose Gluten-free Flour + 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum.
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Tex-Mex Matzo Brei Recipe (Migas with Matzo!)

my favorite passover breakfast

I used to look forward to Passover when I was a child even though I wasn’t Jewish and was never invited to a seder.  But Pathmark and Shop Rite would carry matzo for about 2 weeks around the time of the holiday and I loved it.  Do you know about matzo?  It’s like a giant, light and crispy cracker usually made with wheat flour and a little salt, typically only eaten for Passover.  Funny enough, my grandmother (also not Jewish) was the one who introduced me to matzo which she slathered with Breakstone’s whipped butter.  This was really the only way I ever ate it unless I was feeling adventurous in which case I might spread on a little peanut butter and jelly.

I like to soften the matzos a little by running some water over them.

I remember back then we could only find plain wheat matzo or egg matzo which was a bit softer.  But now, it’s amazing to see all the different varieties available.  Just the other day in addition to the traditional egg and wheat, I spotted gluten-free matzo, both plain and toasted onion flavor, spelt matzo (I bought two boxes), whole wheat, whole wheat with extra bran (good because matzo can be a tad constipating), and matzo crackers (Mr. Picky’s favorite.)  Matzo has come a long way!

saute bell pepper and onion; add jalapeño if you like.

break up the matzo and add it to beaten eggs

My matzo consumption has also evolved and become a little more interesting since I married a Jewish guy.  I’ll tell you the truth, I really don’t eat much matzo anymore, but when I do I’ll turn it into a matzo lasagne or my favorite, matzo brei (rhymes with “sky.”)  Matzo brei can be sweet or savory, but essentially you break up some matzo and combine it with beaten eggs and cook the whole thing in a skillet.  For savory, you can add cooked onions, smoked salmon, salt and pepper.  For sweet, we add a little cinnamon and serve it with maple syrup and fresh fruit on the side, sort of like French toast.

just needs some salsa and guac!

Well if you live in Southern California long enough, you’re bound to be influenced by the flavors south of the border.  One of my favorite breakfast dishes is migas, which is eggs scrambled with fried corn tortillas and all the delicious accompaniments you would expect like salsa and avocado.  I can’t believe it took me this long to cook up a Tex-Mex matzo brei!  This has become my favorite matzo dish so far and there are so many ways to adapt it to suit your taste. I also included sweet bell pepper and onion and then served it with fresh pico de gallo, guacamole and cilantro.  If Mr. Picky hadn’t been eating this the morning I photographed this, I would have added a little minced jalapeno to the bell pepper and onion.  If you eat dairy, this is a natural for cheese and/or sour cream.  And if you aren’t keeping Passover, by all means add some refried beans!  This would be equally delicious for lunch or dinner.  Enjoy!

i love this with salsa, guacamole and cilantro

Tex-Mex Matzo Brei

Pamela
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Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil
  • 1 sweet bell pepper diced
  • 1 onion diced
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 sheets matzo don’t use egg matzo as it’s too soft
  • 6 large eggs
  • suggested accompaniments: fresh pico de gallo or salsa guacamole or fresh sliced avocado, fresh chopped cilantro, sour cream, grated cheese like Monterey Jack, crumbled Cotija cheese, refried beans

Instructions
 

  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté peppers and onions with a pinch of salt until tender and translucent.
  • Beat eggs in a large bowl.
  • Run cold water over the matzo for a few seconds to barely soften them. Crumble the matzo into bite-sized pieces and mix with the beaten eggs.
  • Add the egg and matzo mixture to the skillet with a healthy pinch or two of salt and pepper and cook, stirring often until cooked to desired doneness. This should take 5 minutes more or less. Serve with suggested accompaniments.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Chocolate Banana Almond Flour Muffins with Chia Seeds Recipe (Gluten-free & Passover Friendly)

Chocolate Banana Chia Seed Muffins with Almond Flour | Pamela Salzman

There’s a new (but not really new) diet in town which everyone is talking about called the Paleolithic Diet or Paleo, for short.  Sometimes it’s referred to as the Caveman or Hunter-Gatherer Diet and it focuses on the foods humans ate pre-industrial agriculture.  The idea is that our bodies recognize certain foods and haven’t evolved to recognize other newer foods so we should stick to what was eaten during the Paleolithic time to be healthy and fit.  The diet allows lean grass-fed and pastured meats, eggs, nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables, coconut, avocado and healthy fats.  Easy, right?  But the diet does not allow anything processed or refined (like sugar, flour, packaged food), or any grains (wheat, rice, barley, etc.), legumes (beans, lentils), dairy, potatoes or processed oils.  I am not encouraging or discouraging this diet, which I think has its pros and cons, but merely giving a quick explanation since I’ve received a few questions about it recently.

all the dry ingredients

As I have noticed more and more people limiting gluten and grains, I have also noticed the increased popularity and use of almond flour, which is finely milled blanched almonds.  Almonds, like all nuts and seeds, are gluten-free, low in carbohydrates and high in protein.  Whereas nuts and seeds, generally speaking, can be slightly acid-forming, almonds are alkalizing.

I love Medjool dates! Dice them when they're cold -- much easier.

A few years ago I found Elana Amsterdam’s great gluten-free website, www.elanaspantry.com, which I think started the almond flour revolution.  Elana has since turned paleo, and all her newer recipes follow those guidelines.  It’s really because of her website that I was inspired to experiment with almond flour and although I have had mixed results, overall I think it’s awesome once I figured out how to work with it.  I think it’s great to add some variety to our diet and I love getting some extra protein into Mr. Picky.  Almond flour also comes in handy around Passover, 8 days of no grains or legumes, except Matzoh which can start to get a tad boring after a few days.

Add dates to combined dry ingredients

I had a really delicious Chocolate Banana Chia Seed muffin at Le Pain Quotidian last year or the year before and I was intent on duplicating it.   The muffin was moist with the perfect amount of sweetness and I loved the crunch from the chia seeds.  They were kind enough to tell me the ingredients (although not the exact recipe) and I made a tasty version at home with whole wheat pastry flour and maple syrup.  The kids thought they were great!  When I tried using almond flour in place of the wheat flour, we all went crazy for them.  The almond flour version of the muffin was the best — super moist, chocolaty and a little denser, but in a good way.  Now when I make these muffins, I always use almond flour!

it's good to break up the date pieces

pour in the wet mixture

Before you start substituting almond flour one-for-one for wheat flour, stop right there.  It isn’t a perfect substitution.  Almond flour has no gluten, but does contain way more fat than wheat flour so there are a few adjustments to be made.  I would stop by Elana’s Pantry for a quick lesson on how almond flour works.  I also have found that specifically labeled “almond flour” is better than “almond meal” (like Bob’s Red Mill.)  Per Elana, I started buying almond flour from Honeyville Grain, which has a very good, fresh product and a very reasonable shipping fee ($4.50 flat rate.

fold in the mashed banana

batter with the mashed bananas

These muffins are not technically Paleo due to the yogurt, although if you can find an unsweetened almond milk yogurt, that would work here.  Or you can try making these without the yogurt and just add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, although I have never done it and can’t guarantee the results.  I’m really posting these as a great gluten-free, Happy Passover muffin, although I make these all year.  In fact I made these recently and Daughter #2 had a few friends over and they inhaled half the batch in 2 minutes.  (I’m telling you, if you want the kids to hang out at your house, you need FOOD.)  To make this more of a dessert, you can certainly substitute chocolate chips for the diced dates.  The chia seeds are fun and obviously nutritious, but there’s less than 1 teaspoon per muffin so it’s not a dealbreaker if you want to omit them.

using an ice cream scoop makes this easy

ready for the oven

As always, I love hearing about your experiments in the kitchen and would especially be interested to know about your experience with almond flour or your favorite Passover treats.  Once again, I’m on dessert duty for Passover and I’m getting busy right now.  This weekend I will be making loads of Macaroons, both plain and dipped in chocolate, the Lemon Ice Torte which I have been making since 1991, and a raw cashew “cheesecake” which I will have to share another time.  There is also a recipe on my site for a (vegan) Coconut Tart with Strawberries which is perfect for Passover and Easter.  Lots of delicious options!

also delicious warm out of the oven!

Chocolate Banana Almond Flour Muffins with Chia Seeds

Pamela, inspired by Le Pain Quotidien
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¾ cups blanched almond flour not almond meal – I use Honeyville
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 2 Tablespoons of chia seeds + 1 Tablespoon for muffin tops
  • ½ cup diced pitted dates about 7 dates (easier to dice when they’re cold) (optional, or ½ cup chocolate chips)
  • 4 Tablespoons melted unrefined coconut oil
  • 4 Tablespoons whole unsweetened yogurt
  • 1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup or honey
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3 medium very ripe bananas mashed

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with unbleached parchment liners.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and 2 Tablespoons chia seeds.  Add dates and break up pieces so they don’t stick together.
  • In a blender, combine coconut oil, yogurt, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla.
  • Pour wet mixture into bowl with dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Fold in mashed bananas.
  • Divide the batter into the prepared pan.  (An ice cream scoop makes this job easy.)  Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out  clean.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

Mini flourless chocolate cakes recipe

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes | Pamela Salzman

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes | Pamela Salzman

The last school the kids attended allowed cupcakes with 2-inch high thick blue frosting to be handed out at 10:30 am on your child’s birthday.  And if I do the math, that was about two birthdays every month.  The school also made a big deal about celebrating holidays with food, so my child went to school on Halloween and loaded up on candy even before she started trick or treating.  Then there were the ubiquitous bake sales and Friday candy, soda and pizza sales to raise money for whatever.  Nevermind the disruption to classroom teaching and the disastrous effect on learning, but what a poor message this sends to the children about food and how much we care about their health.

chocolate

melt almond butter, butter and chocolate

smooth and creamy

The public schools my kids attend now have a policy against any food (even if you wanted to bring in kale chips) being sent in for birthdays and holidays.  If your child is in elementary school and you would like to mark his birthday, feel free to buy a book to donate to his classroom and volunteer 15 minutes to read it to the students.  All the kids will also give him a big card that says all the things they like about him.  Is this freakin’ awesome or what?  Just a happy birthday with no sugar rush before noon.  No bouncing off the walls when he gets home.  No pressure to be the mom who brings in the treat with the most sugar or artificially colored candy.  I always lost that one.

egg whites

I think 99% of children get more than an appropriate amount of sweets and treats outside of school that we don’t need to give it to them in places where it doesn’t belong.  Don’t even get me started on snack after soccer games.  BUT, I am of course a reasonable, fun mom who encourages eating a wide variety of wholesome foods with the occasional treat.  Actually, I allow treats more often than I’d like to, but the message is that those are not foods to be eaten more than once a day, preferably only once or twice a week.  But when a special holiday like Valentine’s Day rolls around, I am the first one in the kitchen baking up something special for my darlings.

folding egg whites into chocolate

I discovered these flourless chocolate cakes from the True Food Kitchen website.  True Food Kitchen is a chain of healthful restaurants started by Dr. Andrew Weil.  It’s really the kind of food I love — natural, unprocessed, flavorful, but not extreme in one way or another.  I happen to love chocolate and I drank Dr. Weil’s Kool Aid, so to speak, and believe all the wonderful benefits about dark chocolate’s antioxidant benefits and high mineral content.  It also happens to be a natural aphrodisiac.  Hmmmm……  Before you get any ideas, M&M’s don’t fall in the same category, sorry!  I also try to limit everyone’s consumption of gluten to just a wee bit, so these mini cakes looked perfect since they are flourless.  You figured that out on your own, I’m sure.

they'll puff up in the oven

These are the bomb, no joke.  I have never served them to anyone who didn’t think so, even Mr. Picky who could probably down all six of them if I let him.  They’re kind of a cross between a rich and dense cake and a souffle.  The cakes have a really nice chocolate flavor without making you tired of chocolate after two bites.  I think they’re just great plain, but everyone loves the raspberry sauce I make to go along with them.  The raspberry sauce is a great instant sauce to know how to make regardless of the cake.  It’s terrific poured over oodles things like yogurt or ice cream, French toast or pancakes, even your favorite porridge.  Did you catch that amazing nut butter and banana French toast I posted on facebook?  You’re not my facebook fan?  Bummer.  You should be!  This sauce would be awesome with that.  How about this, let’s say you don’t have time to whip up these chocolate cakes for dessert on Valentine’s Day.  Make the raspberry sauce the day before and serve it with store bought ice cream or pancakes just to have something a little special.

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes | Pamela Salzman

For lots more fun Valentine’s ideas, check out this post from last year.  You won’t believe all the things you can do with a heart-shaped cookie cutter!

Mini Flourless Chocolate Cakes

Pamela, adapted from True Food Kitchen via Dr. Andrew Weil
5 from 1 vote
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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 6 ounces dark chocolate at least 70%
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter + 1 teaspoon for greasing the ramekins
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted creamy raw almond butter
  • 1 teaspoon 100% pure vanilla extract
  • 3 eggs at room temperature, separated
  • 6 Tablespoons granulated cane sugar* divided
  • pinch of fine grain sea salt
  • Raspberry Sauce
  • 5 ounces frozen raspberries about 1 cup
  • ¼ cup natural cane sugar Sucanat or granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup hot water

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  • Over a double boiler (can use medium glass bowl over a pot of simmering water), melt chocolate, butter and almond butter. Let cool. Stir in vanilla.
  • While the chocolate mixture is cooling, lightly grease 6 4-ounce ramekins with the teaspoon of butter. If you don’t normally have success turning out cakes without leaving some in the pan, feel free to trace circles of parchment paper to line the bottoms of the ramekins.
  • Separate the eggs and place the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add 3 tablespoons sugar and beat until a light, pale yellow color, about 6 minutes. Slowly pour the in the melted chocolate and mix until combined. Pour back into the bowl that had the chocolate. Wash and dry the mixing bowl.
  • In the clean mixing bowl, add the egg whites. Whisk until frothy. Slowly add the sugar and salt and whisk until soft peaks form. Carefully fold the whites into the chocolate mixture until combined. You do this by getting your spatula to the bottom of the bowl and pulling some chocolate out and over the egg whites. Turn your bowl a little and do it again. Keep pulling the chocolate out and over until you don’t see any more white streaks.
  • Spoon the batter into the ramekins. Bake for 15 minutes or until tops are dry and the cakes are set. They will be puffed when you take them out of the oven, but if you let them sit on the countertop, they do deflate. Feel free to eat them warm out of the ramekin or allow to cool before unmolding. If you unmold them while they are too warm, they won’t unmold easily.
  • Prepare the raspberry sauce: place raspberries, sugar and hot water in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. (Can be made one day ahead and kept refrigerated.)
  • Serve each cake with raspberry sauce spooned around decoratively.

Notes

*You can substitute coconut palm sugar for cane sugar in the chocolate mixture. If so, increase cooking time by an extra 2-3 minutes.
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Gingerbread cookies recipe

Mr. Picky asked me the other day if I would make cookies with him and I was this close to saying “Not today, sweetie.  I’m too busy.”  That would have been absolutely true.  We’re all so busy.  I don’t know anyone whom I have asked lately “How are you?” that hasn’t responded, “Really busy!  How are you?”  It’s not just this time of year either.  I feel like we’re running around at 90 miles an hour all year long.

In my classes and on my blog, I try to emphasize balance and moderation, yet I’m not so sure I practice what I preach with respect to finding downtime.  And as I had that thought, my daughters came home from school.  That is to say, they pulled into the garage in a car driven by Daughter #1 who turned 16 two months ago.  They walked in and all I could see was a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old.  I used to hate it when people told me kids grow up so fast, but the cliché couldn’t be more true.  It goes by in a nanosecond.  I can’t say my daughters have asked me recently to bake cookies with them, instead they invite their girlfriends over to stay up late and eat the cookie dough I keep in the freezer.  Believe me, I’m thrilled they even hang out at our house!  So last week I skipped writing a post that I thought would get published last Friday and instead baked cookies with my favorite little dude.  Totally worth it.

Mr Picky is a funny kid.  Some people joke with me that a boy who eats lentils and beans cannot be labeled “picky.”  And every year he adds more and more foods to the still narrow “approved” list.  But he doesn’t seem to like what most kids do such as buttered pasta, macaroni and cheese, pizza or sandwiches, not that I’m complaining.  His favorite cookies don’t contain candy or sprinkles, but instead are gingerbread.  And that’s what we decided to make last week.

Gingerbread cut-out cookies are a commitment.  It’s not like make a batter and spooning drops of it onto a baking sheet.  There’s chilling the dough, rolling it out, cutting it into shapes, decorating the cookies.  It’s a fairly simple dough to make and I don’t hold back on the spices.  But these cookies aren’t spicy, they’re just really flavorful.  Whole wheat pastry flour can be substituted with a gluten-free flour blend such as the King Arthur Multi-purpose GF Flour plus the addition of 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of flour.  Mr. Picky’s favorite part is decorating which I always keep pretty simple with raw sugar, currants or mini-chocolate chips.

We had the best afternoon.  It was so nice to have one-on-one time with him and chat about school, football and his favorite new book.  We also talked about the mystery of Santa and that this was definitely going to be the year that he stayed awake to watch him leave gifts under my parents’ tree.  Sweet.  Spending time in the kitchen with my son was such a gift and a reminder to me that the biggest joys in life don’t come from checking off my to-do list.

Gingerbread Cookies

Pamela
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Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups whole wheat pastry flour or your favorite gluten-free flour blend +1 tsp. xanthan gum
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 4 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon allspice
  • a few grinds finely ground black pepper optional
  • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup dark natural cane sugar i.e. muscavado, or dark brown sugar, packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup unsulphured molasses not blackstrap unless you like that bitterness
  • large grain sugar for decorating or mini-chocolate chips or currants

Instructions
 

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
  • In a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand), cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix again until light and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in the eggs one at a time and then the molasses. Add the flour mixture in two additions either by hand or on low speed. Divide the dough in two pieces, wrap each in plastic and chill for at least an hour.*
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper or Silpats.
  • Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop to about 1/8-inch thick and cut with cookie cutters of your choice. ** Reroll the scraps and continue to cut additional cookies. Decorate with sugar crystals, dried fruit or chocolate chips before baking. For softer cookies, roll out a little thicker. Transfer to baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes for 3-4-inch cookies (less for smaller cookies, more for larger.) I like to see a little tinge of golden color around the edges of the cookies. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

*Dough can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.
**If you are not comfortable rolling on your countertop, roll the cookies out on a piece of parchment cut to fit the baking sheet. Remove scraps. Then transfer the parchment and cookies to the sheet and bake.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Cauliflower fritters recipe

“Wow.”  That’s what I said a few days ago when I woke up and it was December.  DE-CEMBER.  I’ve got no holiday card in the works yet.  I went to the movies on Black Friday and I worked through Cyber Monday which means I am waaaaaay behind on my Christmas and Hanukkah shopping.  The only December task I have checked off my list is getting Mr. Picky’s suit let out so I wouldn’t have to go out and buy him another for Christmas Eve.  But I’m not worried about Christmas quite yet since that’s a good 3 weeks away.  Hanukkah, on the other hand, starts on Saturday.  This Saturday!

As you might have learned from reading this blog, my family is Italian and my husband is half Jewish and half Puerto Rican which means a lot of holidays and a lot of food!  But thankfully, and I mean that, I am off the hook for preparing the annual Hanukkah dinner and gift exchange with my husband’s family.  My mother-in-law has that one mastered so she will be making dozens of potato latkes for us to enjoy when we celebrate this weekend.  Traditional foods on Hanukkah include anything fried in oil to symbolize the miracle oil in the temple in Jerulsalem.  For most, this means potato pancakes (latkes) and doughnuts.  Ugh.  Not the most healthful foods on the planet.  I usually indulge in a latke or two since my mother-in-law makes the absolute best.  But the Jews love a holiday and many of them last 8 days, Hanukkah included.  So my kids and my husband nudge me to make latkes a few more times during the week.  They know better than to ask me to make doughnuts.

To mix it up a bit, I always cook up zucchini latkes at least once during Hanukkah and the kids love them, especially Mr. Picky.  This year I am also going to make these delicious Cauliflower Fritters during Hanukkah because to me they taste kind of latke-ish, they’re cooked in oil, they’re made with CAULIFLOWER and my family is obsessed with them!  There may not be any potato in there, but I bet you could grate a fresh potato and fold it in there and call it a Cauliflower Latke!  I’ve seen many recipes which use cauliflower in place of potatoes or rice.  Cauliflower is rather neutral in flavor and mashes up nicely to a soft texture so you really have no idea there is cauliflower in these patties.

What I love about these Cauliflower Fritters is that the batter can be made earlier in the day and the fritters made just before you are ready to eat.  My husband loves them on top of a pool of warm marinara sauce, Mr. Picky squirts mustard on his, and I like to eat them with a crisp salad.  Since there is flour in the batter, I treat these fritters as if they were a starch and I make another vegetable side dish for dinner.  Once you taste these, you’ll be making them all year long!

Cauliflower Fritters

Pamela, adapted from skinnytaste.com
5 from 1 vote
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Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups steamed* chopped cauliflower, about 1 medium head (you can also use frozen, steamed cauliflower, defrosted)
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free flour I like King Arthur Multi-purpose Gluten-free Flour (you can also use all-purpose flour)
  • 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • ½ cup grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese optional if you're dairy-free
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley or chives finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • About ¼ cup hot water
  • Unrefined olive oil for cooking fritters

Instructions
 

  • Place the cauliflower in a large bowl and add the flour, garlic, eggs, cheese, parsley, salt and a few grinds of pepper and combine. Add hot water a little at a time to make a batter that looks like egg salad. I mush everything together with my hands.
  • Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons oil or enough to coat bottom of skillet. When oil is heated, take a ¼ cup of batter and form into a patty. Cook in the oil until golden brown on the bottom. Flip fritter and cook until golden brown on the second side. You can likely fit 6 fritters at one time. Repeat with remaining batter.

Notes

The batter can be made ahead and the fritters can be frozen, too.
*To steam the cauliflower, cut it into large florets and place in a vegetable steamer over boiling water, steam, covered, until the cauliflower is tender, (about 7-10 minutes), then roughly chop, measure 4 cups, and place into a large bowl.
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Sweet potato casserole recipe

baked sweet potato casserole | pamela salzman

There are a few recipes I make on Thanksgiving that I call “one-hit wonders.”  That is to say I don’t make them on any of the other 364 days in the year.   I’m no fan of stuffing, for example, so I keep the masses happy by making it on the holiday and then we forget about it until next year.  My Maple-Glazed Sweet Potato Gratin was in the same category for no other reason than it just seemed a little decadent to serve on a day that isn’t considered the biggest meal of the year.

about to roast

roasted and peeled sweet potatoes

baked, covered for 40 minutes

Just for fun, I recently tried a new sweet potato recipe which my kids absolutely flipped for.  Not only has this Sweet Potato Casserole bumped the former gratin out of the coveted spot, but my kids have begged me to make it multiple times since then.  My girls have even eaten it for breakfast and as an after-school snack.  I am crazy for sweet potatoes any which way and I am perfectly content with a nice big juicy one plain and simple.  So when recipes start adding cups of brown sugar with marshmallows or oatmeal cookie dough on top, I can’t take them seriously.  We’re going to try and keep things classy over here, ok?

simple, no-sugar, organic corn flakes

topping

bake covered for 40 minutes, then add the topping

But there was something intriguing about this recipe from Food & Wine that I had to try.   Despite the pureed sweet potato base mixed with eggs, milk, butter and an obscene amount of sugar, I saw potential.  The topping is what really had me since I just love a contrast in textures.  I could already taste the silky puree with the light and crispy cinnamon-nutmeg flakes and nuts.  Even after I cleaned up this recipe by cutting the sugar by almost two-thirds, the casserole was still absolutely divine and a perfect complement to your Thanksgiving buffet.  It’s also super easy to  make if you have a food processor and can be done in advance (Thanksgiving magic words!)  By the way, I have also made this recipe dairy-free with success by using coconut oil instead of butter and unsweetened hemp milk instead of regular.  Since it’s already gluten-free, everyone’s happy!

bite of casserole out of the oven

What?  Did you just call me “trashy” behind my back for using cereal in a Thanksgiving recipe?  Guilty.  Maybe I deserve it.  You know what I say?  Worth it!

Ah, Thanksgiving!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Pamela, adapted from Food & Wine
5 from 2 votes
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Servings 8 -10 (on a normal day, but probably serves more like 14 on Thanksgiving if you have a lot of other side dishes)

Ingredients
  

  • 5 ½ pounds sweet potatoes such as garnet or jewel, scrubbed (these are often labeled "yams" at the market)
  • 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter or ¾ cup unrefined coconut oil melted, divided
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt + a pinch
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground nutmeg divided
  • 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
  • 1 cup whole milk or plain unsweetened hemp milk
  • 3 large eggs beaten
  • 1 cup pecan halves or pieces about 4 ounces
  • 1 cup cornflakes crushed
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup maple sugar or brown sugar

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the sweet potatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in the oven until tender, about an hour, but could be more depending on size. Or you can also boil peeled, cubed sweet potatoes in water for 15 minutes or until tender and drain, but I think roasting the sweet potatoes makes then sweeter.
  • Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
  • When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and discard the skin and place potatoes in a food processor. Puree until smooth. Do this in batches if necessary.
  • Transfer the puree to a large bowl. Add half the butter (6 Tbs.), salt, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, maple syrup, and milk. Stir to combine and then stir in the eggs. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top with a spatula. Recipe can be made up to this point one day in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes.
  • Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, until lightly toasted. Transfer the pecans to a cutting board and coarsely chop. In a bowl, toss the pecans with the cornflakes, cinnamon and remaining 6 tablespoons of melted butter, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, maple or brown sugar and a pinch of salt.
  • Remove foil from casserole. Distribute small clumps of topping all over sweet potatoes. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes longer, until topping is golden and sizzling. Let casserole stand for 20 minutes before serving. ( I have also baked it covered for 30 minutes, uncovered for 30 and it still turned out great!)

Notes

You can bake this up to 4 hours in advance and serve it warm or at room temperature.
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Trail Mix Cookies Recipe

Having teenagers is a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, it’s kind of cool that my girls are old enough to have adult conversations and share clothes with me.  On the other hand, it bums me out that they prefer to be with their friends over their parents.  I don’t take it personally, of course.  But if all goes according to plan, Daughter #1 will be going to college in two years and her younger sister two years after that which means I don’t have a lot of time left with them in the house.  This is one reason I encourage them to invite their friends to hang out at our house or spend the night as much as possible.  Not only does it make the house more lively, but I know what they’re up to and sometimes I’ll even overhear some good gossip.  Just recently did I figure out how to make my home the place to be.  It’s called FOOD.

Teenagers are always hungry.  No, I take that back.  They’re always “STAR-ving.”  They don’t even know what the word means.  My daughters complain that they’re starving if they haven’t eaten in two hours.  My point is that if you want to have the house that the kids want to hang out in, other than breaking the law and supplying alcohol (not recommended), you need to have some good eats.  I don’t think my house is considered to have the “best” food by any means.  There are no Cheetos, no soda and no microwave popcorn.  But I do always have tons of fresh fruit, leftovers from dinner, the makings of a quesadilla and lots of homemade cookie dough in the freezer, especially in the fall when the kids are back in school.

These Trail Mix cookies are a new favorite around here.  They’re like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies PLUS.  There are so many goodies in the cookies, it feels like you’re eating a handful of trail mix held together with some oatmeal cookie batter.  In fact, you could use trail mix in this recipe, hence the name.  I’m not sure I’ve made this recipe the same way twice since I’ll often use it as an excuse to clean out the bottom of my nut and dried fruit jars.  Before you get excited about a cookie that sounds like it might be healthful, it’s still a cookie, just maybe a higher quality one.  If you want a cookie that you can eat for breakfast, make these.  This recipe uses whole wheat pastry flour, rolled oats, flakes of unsweetened coconut, and chocolate chips.  My kids love pecans, so I generally use them here, but if I have a handful of walnuts or macadamia nuts, those can go in too.  Same idea with dried fruit — use whatever you’ve got.  The key with these cookies though, is to make sure you don’t decide to just eliminate an entire ingredient without coming up with a substitution.  All the “stuff” helps give your cookies structure and without it, your cookies will go a tad flat.  If you can’t eat nuts, I have used sunflower seeds with success, or you can just add 1/2 cup extra of chocolate chips, dried fruit and coconut to make up for the 1 1/2 cups of nuts.  What I did struggle with was the sugar in the cookies. The quantity is quite a bit less than you would find in a comparable cookie, but I didn’t have as much success substituting coconut sugar or maple syrup for the white and brown sugars.  At the end of the day, it’s still a cookie which we should enjoy in moderation.

If you like to be prepared for weekday school lunches or unexpected playdates, it’s always nice to have some cookie dough on hand.  You can make this batter and keep it refrigerated for a week, baking off as many cookies as you like at any given time.  I also like to scoop the dough onto baking sheets with my ice cream scooper, freeze them raw (the same way you would freeze fruit), and when they are frozen solid, gather them up and put them in a container to freeze for a rainy day or the next sleepover.  And from the empty containers I generally see in the morning, I have also observed that teenagers are at their most STARVING in the middle of the night.

Trail Mix Cookies

Pamela, inspired by epicurious via Smitten Kitchen
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Ingredients
  

  • 8 Tablespoons 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup natural cane sugar or coconut sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup rolled oats either old-fashioned or quick-cooking
  • 1 ½ cups chopped pecans or walnuts or macadamia nuts
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • ½ cup unsweetened dried coconut flakes (or use extra pecans)
  • ½ cup dried fruit such as cranberries (or use extra chocolate chips)
  • Or use 3 ½ cups trail mix instead of above add-ins; chop nuts
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated orange zest optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and 1 egg at a time until well incorporated.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add half the dry mix to the butter with the mixer on low speed. After the flour has been incorporated, add the remaining flour mixture and stir together.
  • Stir in the remaining ingredients.
  • Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto the cookie sheet and bake until golden, 12-15 minutes. (If you bake the dough directly from the fridge, add 3-5 minutes.)
  • Remove from the oven and cool cookies for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
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