Beans! Cuban Beans!

I felt the need to stock up on some extra iron this week so I went to an old standby my Mom used to make for me. Comfort food, ahh! 

It's simple and delicious and you'll love it! 

Ingredients: 

1 bag or 2 cans of black beans (if using dry, prepare as you normally would) 
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, diced
2 packets Goya Sazon seasoning
1 bunch of cilantro, loose chopped
1 whole fresh tomato, diced
salsa verde
sour creme
sliced green olives
finely diced onion

1 cup rice per person (if using regular rice ratio is 2 parts water to 1 part rice, if making quick rice, follow the box) 

Placed the peeled and cubed potatoes in a decent sized pot and cover with water. Add in 2 packets of Sazon, 1/4 cup diced onion, and clove of garlic. Place on high and let boil for 5-10 minutes until the potatoes are about 3/4 cooked. You will see them change colors a bit. 

Add in the beans and cook until they're soft, anywhere from 5 - 15 minutes depending on the bean. You should have a nice dark broth with your beans and potatoes now. 

Remove from the heat and add in some cilantro. Taste and add salt if needed, but not too much if you like the olives (like I do). They add a good saltiness to it at the end. 

Place rice in the bottom of a nice deep bowl and ladle over the beans and potato. Add a nice dollop of sour creme in the middle, sprinkle on some tomato, salsa verde, onion, and olives. Sprinkle generously with cilantro! You can add some nice Jalapenos too if you like. Although I will say they tend to overpower the whole thing. I haven't figured out how to add enough to get the heat but not too much to kill the subtle flavor of the beans and potato. 

Here's what mine looked like. I forgot cilantro at the store (will be rectifying that tomorrow!) so imagine it on there for me. 

It was really delicious. The best part is for you preggers or anemic folks, the potato and tomato contains lots of nice vitamin C which is necessary to digest the iron in the beans! Tada! Healthy blood! It's a nice rounded meal with lots of good stuff for you and easy to make. You could even do it in the crock pot (or mini crock pot) if the mood struck. 

Dinner for 1

Going through my current "lifestyle change" has left me with the quandary of what to nourish my system with... Typically, this time of year I make at least one pot of soup a week and eat off that for a while... My housing situation has changed and I am not as free to make those decisions as I once was (and hope to be again in the not-too-distant future). I have been left with making GF pasta (which gets old really fast) or purchasing frozen dinners. Now, don't get me wrong, frozen dinners have come a long way from the cardboard crap of the past... With steam bags and trays, frozen dinners seem a mighty good (and healthy) option... However, with my dietary restrictions, I can only eat about 1/5 of the offerings, and of those 1/5, I usually only buy 1/4 based on my own tastes... You can see where things get challenging and I end up just going to McD's and getting a plain bacon cheeseburger...

Case in point - I purchased a potsticker entree for my lunch one day... It had red peppers in the "veggie mix" but I was willing to overlook that addition and just pick them out... I also neglected to read the KIND of potsticker that was listed on the front... Getting a tofu one instead of chicken or pork is kind of a let down... Since I was the stupid one who didn't read the package all the way, I made myself eat it... or at least I tried to eat it... The potstickers tasted like sweet and sour feet and the "veggie mix" was entirely made up of red peppers... Yuck!

I had an epiphany! I can purchase potstickers that I like, add some frozen brown rice, and the veggie mix of my choice and make my OWN frozen entree! So I got a small bag of chicken potstickers (a little bit healthier than the pork variety, but still tasty) and some already-frozen brown rice. I added about 1/2 cup of the brown rice to the bottom of a plastic container and added 3 potstickers on top (the # 3 came from the amount in the original "tofu" packaging). Then I topped off the container with broccoli. **IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT ALL THE INGREDIENTS STAY FROZEN... MAKE THESE, THEN EITHER MICROWAVE IMMEDIATELY OR PUT THEM BACK IN THE FREEZER**

Still frozen, with a bit of sauce added....

Now, I know that this is NOT a GF dish - the potstickers are made with flour... But since I'm allowing myself to eat the potstickers, I prefer to keep it "gluten-lite" and use teriyaki sauce made with tamari rather than soy... It's a personal preference. If you have a better "sauce" then by all means use it... Pour some over the potstickers (to add a bit of moisture to the skins while they cook) and a bit over the broccoli... Then put the lid on and stick it in the freezer for future use... Don't go overboard or your rice will be overloaded with teriyaki sauce and it probably won't be as good. BTW - Yoshida's sauce would probably be awesome on these!

Cooked, and ready to eat!

When you are ready to eat it, just open up one of the corners of the container to allow it to vent and microwave for around 5-6 minutes... This is very easy to put together and keeps well in the freezer. Great for a night when you are by yourself and don't have the time or inclination to cook a meal... And this way, you know pretty much what went in to it (other than the potstickers, of course) because you picked all the ingredients yourself. Season however you want... I typically add just a bit of black pepper...

Raid the Fridge Bruchetta

I can't remember if I've spilled the beans here yet or not but I'm about 18 weeks pregnant at this point. (Translation - a little over 4 months along) Although I'm not experiencing the "normal" pregnancy symptoms all the books seem to talk about (frankly I feel like I'm totally allergic to pregnancy), I am starting to get a bit more of an appetite. I was hungry this afternoon and my cravings seem to center around things with HUGE flavor and that stay rather healthy.  I think I got lucky on that one. Hopefully the little one feels the same way. Either way, I did some fridge diving and came up with an old favorite I haven't made in quite awhile. It's quick, easy, and requires very little cleanup. These are all big plus signs for me so I'm going to share in case you feel the same. :-) 

Easy Bruchetta

-  Nice thick Italian or French Bread, sliced on the diagonal - my slices ended up being    about 4 inches across - average 2 pieces per person

-  1 clove fresh garlic, smashed and diced

-  1/4 cup finely diced onion

-  8-10 fresh basil leaves (estimate, it's ok), julianned

-  2 nice tomatoes, diced small (this will make about 5-6 slices)

-  2 slices of Capicola ham per serving - you can probably substitute any cured meat here, we just like capicola

-  a good quality balsamic vinegar

-  a good quality extra virgin olive oil (I noticed the irony too)

-  a pinch or two of salt

-  fresh grated Parmesan (again, optional but fantastic!)

Mix together the tomato, basil, onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. 

Lay the bread out on a cookie sheet or your toaster oven pan. I like the toaster oven because it's a little easier to control and way quicker. 

Spoon the tomato mixture onto the bread evenly across all slices. 

Chop up the Capicola and sprinkle on top of tomato mixture. 

Drizzle each slice with balsamic and olive oil in about equal amounts. 

Place under broiler (or on broil in toaster oven) for 5-6 minutes. Keep an eye on it and when the exposed bread turns a little golden it's ready. The Capicola will also start to bubble and get crisp. It's like bacon but better! 

Take out and using a spatula transfer to a plate. Grate some Parmesan on top and add just a pinch more salt to finish. Salt is optional but I think it's rather tasty with it combined with the tomato. 

My Description of one serving

How much I actually ate, and savored every bite!

You get your essential oils in the garlic and olive oil, some spice with the basil and balsamic,  vitamins in the tomato, and well other than that it's just good! It's a great lunch or dinner. It's also really good paired with some mixed greens with a little of the balsamic and oil drizzled on top. Add a dash of oregano and it become spectacular. 

Quinoa with Roasted Garlic, Tomatoes, and Spinach

Jessie has some quinoa in her panty and doesn't know what to do with it... So I decided to research a few quinoa recipes for her. I found one that interested me enough to try for dinner tonight. You can find the original recipe here, but I decided to modify it a bit. Mainly, I adjusted the roasted garlic part... Jessie told me to roast the garlic at 375 degrees for 25 minutes... Next time I should probably go for 30-35 minutes, but I'll play with that part of the recipe later...

Most of the ingredients... The garlic was in the oven and the quinoa was rinsed by the time I took this picture...

I rinsed the quinoa, also as per directions (it keeps it from getting bitter). Note: either use a SUPER-FINE mesh strainer or use a bowl and your hand to drain the quinoa... the mesh strainer I used had holes bigger than the grain, so a bit went down the sink...

Rinsed quinoa....

As the garlic was finishing, I sauteed the shallots and crushed red pepper. I didn't measure the shallots out, I just used the smaller part of the bulb.... I also didn't measure the crushed red pepper, just eyeballed it... Added the quinoa, as per the directions and then splashed it with some white wine (probably more than the recipe called for but, meh....)

Quinoa, shallot, & red pepper flake mix... after wine...

After the addition of the chicken broth....

Of course, when cooking with wine, it is customary to pour yourself a glass, or two (or three, I won't judge)...

Wine... yummy... I had to have an extra glass since Jessie cannot (preggers)

While the quinoa was cooking as per directions, I took the garlic out of the oven and let it sit for a bit....

Roasted Garlic

Another departure from the recipe - it calls for a chopped, seeded, small tomato... I chose to use grape tomatoes cut in half and NOT seeded... but that was purely my choice...

Halved Grape Tomatoes

When the quinoa was cooked, I added the tomatoes, spinach, and parmesan cheese and mixed it all together...

Mix it all together...

Note: you should probably taste the combination after you add the parmesan and before you add extra salt... I used "full-strength" chicken broth (and not the reduced sodium type) for the recipe... The parmesan is a bit salty on its own and the addition of salt after the parmesan was added was a bit too much for me... Still edible (and tasty), but not as amazing as it could have been...

If you are making this for a side, it makes 4 servings... If you are making it as a main dish (as I was), it makes two...

I will definitely make this recipe again, as it is light enough for the times when I don't want to eat a heavy dinner, and it has a lot of nutritional value... Apparently, quinoa is high in protein, so it is good for "meatless" nights... It is also awesome for any garlic lover... It is awesomely garlicky!

Fabulous 15 Minute French Onion Soup

Pregnancy. It comes with lots of stuff but for me its filled with nausea, food aversion, and weird cravings. Oh yeah, and insomnia. That's where this recipe came in.

We cancelled cable awhile back. We weren't watching it and quite frankly most times I don't miss it. We Netflix now. :) That being said, when you're awake at 2 am there is VERY little on in rural Mississippi. We have religious programming, infomercials, bad newscasts, and PBS Create network. That last one is a savior for me. They are like HGTV without the vapid ugly decorating whores. Mostly though, at night, they rerun the fantastic episodes of French Cooking with Jaques and Julia. This is perhaps my favorite show of all time.

The episode on was for many things like delicious Choux pastry from which cream puffs and wonderful turnovers and danishes were made (that to come later). They also made a wonderfully simple onion soup. So I have had this craving for 2 days now. It's easy, takes like no time at all and tastes wonderfu1!

Fabulous 15 Minute French Onion Soup (for one)

1/2 large onion, large diced
1 can or 1/2 carton good beef stock, I go with Swanson or Kitchen Basics
3 healthy slices of a good french or Italian bread, we had some for making deli sandwiches in the house (note: don't use loaf bread here, go splurge the $1-$3 at your local bakery for good bread. It's totally worth it)
 1 1/2 cups Cheese, it calls for Gruyere but I didn't have that so I mixed a nice salty goat cheese and parmigiano
salt and pepper to taste (liberal)
1-2 tbsp butter

Depending on the size of your pot, put in enough butter to cover the bottom thinly when heated. Turn heat to high and add in the onion.  Sprinkle on a decent amount of salt. Crush some peppercorns and add. Saute until the onions are translucent.

Add in the beef stock and bring up to a nice rolling boil. Reduce to medium heat and add in half the cheese. Stir constantly until melted. it only takes a minute or two. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Remove from heat.

I used my toaster oven to toast the slices of bread. Break them up and put them in the bottom of a nice bowl or crock. Add the onion soup over the bread. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top. Put the whole bowl in the toaster oven on broil until the cheese bubbles.

Wait a few minutes, hot cheese burns your mouth. It's quite delicious!

I never knew it was quite that easy but it makes a nice easy meal for one or two! (Jeff goes sin cebolla)

Cool Weather Grub!

Fall is DEFINITELY in the air here in Juneau. It was 36 degrees this morning when I took the hubby to work... You know what that means? I can FINALLY cook soups & stews for dinner! Yay! I am trying to convert my husband over to my way of thinking when it comes to the awesomeness that is a pot of delicious soup... He maintains that "soup is not dinner" but I can usually get him to eat stew or chili with few complaints.

Earlier today, I had a craving for lentil soup. To satisfy my craving, I went to the store to get ingredients while I had a bit of time between when I got off work and when Aaron got off work. While wandering the store, I saw a bag of baby yukon gold potatoes... and changed my mind (I just couldn't convince myself that I could successfully add potatoes to lentil soup). So I could use the potatoes that I immediately craved upon sight, and so I could get Aaron to eat it, I decided to make chicken stew.

Another good thing about soup weather? You don't really need a recipe... Just a good understanding of what tastes good together...

Heat some olive oil in a dutch oven (love my Lodge Enameled Cast Iron one). Cut one chicken breast into cubes, season with salt & pepper, and brown in the oil. When browned, remove the chicken and set aside. Add a bit more oil and then add one red onion, two stalks of celery, and two carrots (all chopped) and cook until the veggies start to soften. Add the baby yukon gold potatoes (roughly quartered, but it depends on the size of the potatoes... just make sure they are about the same size, but not too small, or they'll be mushy) and the chicken. Season with more salt, pepper, and about 1 tsp. of an herb blend (I used herbs de provence, but you can use whatever you like). Then, add 1 quart of chicken broth and let it simmer with the lid on over medium heat. Cook until the potatoes are soft. Mix in some cornstarch (mix it with liquid first, or you'll be sorry.... I used some white wine I had lying around). Thicken it to the desired consistency (Aaron likes it thick, so I used about 2-3 tbsp of cornstarch, but 1-2 would probably be fine). Taste for any additional seasoning it may need. Fresh herbs might be nice (but I didn't have any luck with my kitchen herb garden, so I didn't).

Feel free to add anything else you want to it... soup isn't rocket science and it isn't exactly precise... I RARELY measure anything for my soups. And it is pretty rare for me to have a crappy batch of soup.

I didn't get any pictures of the awesomeness, so you'll just have to take my word that it looked and tasted great. Definitely hit the spot for some comfort food. An added bonus? When I plugged the ingredients in to calculate the calorie count of the dish, it works out to a little over 200 calories per serving. We each had 1 bowl and I separated the rest of the pot into two plastic containers. I figure it is about 6 servings a pot, at these quantities. Sometimes I go a little overboard with soup production, but I successfully reigned it in for this one :)

Cheapskate Chicken Dinner

Today in Mississippi it's been stormy. My joints are not a fan. I, however, am! The boy went to work today and I have been dragging myself around the house all day trying to accomplish things. That has not gone well. Dishes, yeah. Laundry, yup. Made the bed, cleaned the bathroom. Still, not one of my projects on the almighty white board has been crossed off. Why? I haven't a clue!

Now about noon every day he calls to check in. Today's Topic O' Discussion was dinner. A few weeks ago Kroger had some awesome free range chicken on sale. Folks around here seem to like the extra large family packs and didn't quite realize that the price per pound of the really good free range stuff was LESS than the over-processed over-packaged force fed birds. So for a pack of 6 chicken drumsticks I paid about $2. I took them out of the freezer yesterday night and wasn't quite sure what to do with them until about lunch. 

My brilliant idea was "shake n' bake". Of course by now you know I am not a fan of that prepackaged crap so I figured, Yeah, I can totally make my own. I started by rinsing the chicken and patting it dry with paper towels. Throw it in a bowl and add about a cup of milk and a good healthy amount of tabasco. I also added in a pinch of oregano from the garden and some Northwest Seasoning from Penzey's. Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour but up to like 12 hours is fine. 

In the mean time... maybe have a beer and then prep this next step. 

Find a quart or gallon sized ziploc bag. Add in equal parts of flour (yes Jen, you can use GF easily for this!) and corn meal (not sure if that's GF, if not just double the flour), add in like a good tablespoon of Northwest Seasoning. If you don't have that, just kind of mix together some pepper, paprika, salt, black pepper, and cumin. You could also do a season salt of some kind. Basically whatever you wanna eat, ok?! Geez, you guys are picky! 

Shake that mixture up pretty well. Pick the chicken up from the milk and shake it a little over the bowl to get the heavy liquid off. Then put the piece in the bag and shake until it's covered. I like to do them individual for a nice even coating and no lumpy bits. 

Place the chicken in a glass baking dish, make sure the pieces aren't touching. Now add in about 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of lard. Yeah, I get that most folks these days aren't into "fat" but if you're gonna make this right, kick your conscious in the ass and go get some lard. TRUST ME! 

Now bake for 30 min at 350. After 30 min, jack the heat to 450, flip the chicken over and bake another 15-20 min until golden. And for the love of all that is food like, please use SKIN ON BONE IN chicken. You can be prissy and peel skin off later but for now, leave it on. Skin and Bones are where the flavor comes from. 

It will come out all sorts of yummy and taste sort of friend but has like WAY less unhealthy junk. Plus c'mon. The total cost for the whole dish for me was like $2.50. 

I also made some mashed taters. This is my one exception to the boxed food rule other than cereal. I love Idahoan potatoes. The box lists the ingredients as potato. That's it, just dehydrated potato. Yum! Boil some water, add in a hunk of butter and some garlic salt. Mix in the potatoes. For like $0.45 and 5 minutes you can have delicious potatoes. I love to add milk and sour creme sometimes too. Depends on how far you want to take this one. 

Some steamed green beans done in the microwave and it was cheap, simple, and surprisingly healthy. Did I mention it was damn good? Yup! 

I'd have taken a picture but we ate it too quick. Sorry!!! 

Simple is always better (at least in my opinion)

I love experimenting with different recipes, putting my own tweak on things. I scour the internet in search of different ideas... Sometimes I come up with gold, like in this instance... My version increases the whole grain values and can be modified in any number of ways... My name for it is "Brown Rice, Chicken, Spinach, & Cheese Casserole".... I know, it's a rather lengthy name... I'm still working on another one, but I haven't come up with one yet. I'm open to suggestions!

Yes Deer!

This year my husband took a dear hunting. The processor turned a good bit into sausage so my goal was to find some new ways to use deer. Today, amongst finding boxes and more unpacking, I managed to come up with some decent dishes. I know what you're thinking... Deer? Eww. Not so much! Bambi is good, y'all!

Number 1: Ragu very much...

Ingredients:
1 Onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
about a foot of deer sausage, casing removed and sliced into medalions
1 inch of peeled chopped ginger root
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp fresh coriander (ground in a spice grinder or mortar)
about 2 cups of carrots, sliced into thin medallions
1 can chickpeas
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1 can stewed or diced tomatoes (whatever is in the pantry works!)
1 can tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock (much better if home made)

Saute everything but the tomatoes in about 2 tbsp of olive oil. When it starts to get a little crusty (not burnt, this is NOT a Cajun dish) add some of the stock to deglaze (this is foodie talk for get all the crusties off the bottom)the pot. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 10-20 minutes. If you have more time, well go ahead and leave it on. Nothing will really hurt it at this point. Just turn the heat down low.

I served it over some mashed potatoes. I kind of like the Idaho boxed potatoes. They don't have anything but dehydrated spuds and none of that weird junk. Add your own weird junk!

Makes a great hearty meal for a cold day. Even my husband, the squash hater, liked this one. He did however want to trade out the chick peas for green beans, which is totally acceptable! Throw whatever you have in the pot so long as it's a veggie.


Number 2: Can you Deer? Chili

This one is super hard. You'll need a crock pot, can opener, and possibly a knife. That last one is up to you.

Ingredients:
1 ft long section of smoked deer sausage (substitute whatever meat you like here if it isn't available)
2 cans of black beans
2 cans light kidney beans
1 can dark kidney beans
2 cans corn
1 onion, diced
1 pack taco seasoning
2 cans diced tomato and green chili
1-2 fresh diced jalapeno

Throw everything (including liquid from cans) in a crock pot on high for like a minimum of 4 hours. This stuff is great the next day. Make some corn bread for it though. It tends to get a little warm. You can tone it down with some extra corn or beans. If you want to use fresh, go for it.

I also made some of Jen's famous chicken soup. I'll let her tell you about that one. Sufficed to say, it's like, awesome.

Popcorn

I haven't quite gotten the kitchen back together. Everything is still in boxes or wrapping. Though that doesn't seem to make you any less hungry... ever...

So here's a quick way to dress up popcorn. It uses my absolute favorite spice company, Penzey's Spices

Ingredients:

For fresh > 1 cup popcorn kernels, 3 tbs coconut oil, 1/2 tsp good salt

For easy > 1 bag of microwave popcorn

If you're using microwave popcorn, put the bag in the microwave and press "Popcorn".

For fresh, heat the coconut oil in the bottom of a medium sized pot or high sided pan. Make sure it has a lid or you'll be cleaning up popcorn for awhile. Add the popcorn kernels to the pot and swirl in oil over medium high heat. Keep the lid on but vented a touch. In 5-10 minutes it will start to pop. Keep swirling so the fresh kernels can hit the oil. When it stops popping heavily or your pot fills (either one works) take it off immediately and dump it into a bowl. Sprinkle with the salt mixture and toss well.

Now to make it awesome:

Take about 1/4 tsp of Penzey's Spices "Brady Street" seasoning. Sprinkle and toss well with about 2 tbs of melted butter and popcorn. I'm telling you, it's like heaven!

Once I have pots and pans again and a kitchen I can move in without knocking stuff off counters, I'll post some more!

Recipes while traveling (or how to make wallpaper paste)

So, Jessie is on part two of her "adventure" (or, is it part 3?). She is on a ferry in the middle of the ocean and we have had communications via text all day. But, that does not diminish her superpowers of coming up with appropriate ideas for what is for dinner. So, I thought I would share our conversation this afternoon (while I was at work transcribing minutes from the last board meeting and she was around Ketchikan and had a cell signal).

Jen: Got any good recipes for potatoes? I have a shit ton and I'm best at mashed. (read: I don't feel like making mashed potatoes tonight)

Jessie: I bought that cookbook at your recommendation. It has a bunch of good potato recipes.

The fiddlehead one. (please ignore the lack of proper grammar... it's a text message... like yours are always grammatically correct?)

Yeah. You said it was good so I bought it. :)

The millet bread recipe is awesome. We call it bird seed bread and it was out (should be our) favorite when the restaurant was open. (I secretly hope that Jessie perfects this recipe as she is awesome at bread and I suck at it... OK, now that it has been published for all to see, not so secretly)

So... from here, we have a few non-food related text messages that pertain to my opinions on the best way to get rid of a bruise (lavender oil... seriously) and a funny blog she introduced me to (barefoot foodie - hilarious!)... I won't bore you with this discussion, but I will bore you with more of our food related conversation...

How about twice baked potato? They freeze and reheat well

I have about every potato imaginable except for russet. My Yukon golds don't bake well.

Chowder?

What kind? Can I do a chicken chowder? (I have to make this clarification because Jessie has an affinity for the various kinds of seafood chowder at a local restaurant here in Juneau and I do not... I prefer land-based animals in my bowl, thank-you-very-much)

Yeah. Or corn

I've tried making corn chowder and I don't care for it. (I'm starting to sound like a whiny little bitch about now, aren't I?)

Chicken would be ok

Have I bored you yet? Yeah, it was a really intense conversation about potatoes and chowder options... I know... But the recipe for wallpaper paste is included in these messages, I swear... There's a bunch more that extol how much work sucks and food is better, etc, etc... On to the recipe!

Purple potatoes broasted (I'm assuming that this is supposed to be "roasted") with cauliflower and pureed with cream is delightful. (See, I told you!)

Yum!

Get an already cooked chicken and pull some to eat with the puree and you're set.

Is it like a soup? Or more like mashed 'tatos?

Kind of like grits.

Sounds easy and tasty.

It really is. Some salt and pepper and you're good. Could even throw some leftover Alfredo in (we made homemade Alfredo sauce for New Year's Eve)

What temp for roasting veggies?

375

K. I might make that tonight and make the soup tomorrow (one of the omitted conversations from above was about soup... my specialty)

Toss in some olive oil and maybe one of the seasonings I gave you. Then roast. Will give everything a nice flavor!

So, there you have it... We are so bad ass at recipes that we don't need more information than that... What? You do? OK... Here is more info:

Roughly chop up 1 head of cauliflower

Peel several potatoes (I used 3 med. sized yukon golds and 3 med. sized purple potatoes... feel free to use whatever you want) and chop into chunks... it's not too precise, but roughly the same size.

Put the chopped veggies into a cake pan or roasting pan. Drizzle the veggies with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with the seasonings of your choice.... salt, pepper, etc... whatever you like. Toss to coat.

Roast at 375 F until the cauliflower is golden brown and the potatoes are soft (pierce with a knife)... My oven took about an hour or so.

Here's where I took my liberties (and it probably resulted in why it turned out like wallpaper paste). After roasting, I mashed the veggies with a potato masher (so much for not making mashed potatoes), added about a cup of cream, a squeeze of crushed garlic from a tube (you could probably add some garlic cloves to the roasting pan, but I didn't think of this until after my veggies were roasted). I took my stick blender to puree it, because I don't own a food processor. I needed to add some more regular milk to it to loosen it up a bit. After tasting, it needed a lot of salt and pepper, but it was still pretty darn tasty. To save me some time and grief, I bought a rotisserie chicken from the store. The chicken and wallpaper paste combined was awesome! 

This is why I think that Jessie has awesome superpowers when it comes to food and recipes... She can be super stressed out, in the middle of "nowhere" with limited resources and electronic services, and she can knock it out of the park! I had absolutely no idea what I was going to have for dinner tonight and lucked out that she was available to give me some pointers... I probably would have ended up eating a bowl of Captain Crunch (not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, unless my mom is reading this...)

Completely satisfied in Juneau...

Jen