Roasted broccoli and cauliflower

My absolute favorite way to cook broccoli and/or cauliflower: roasted. I toss with lots of olive oil, salt & seasoning. Today was this onion salt from Trader Joe’s, sometimes I do salt + curry powder, or salt + za’atar. Then a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes, a quick stir, and 5 more minutes. It’s perfect when it’s getting a little crispy and charred around the edges, but the thick stems are still crunchy. I could honestly eat this entire tray myself, I love it that much.

Creamed Greens

Creamed greens is a great way to use up those big bunches of greens, and has become one of my favorite ways to cook them (aside from just a simple sautéing with butter and garlic).  This is reminiscent of the old creamed spinach that we used to have as kids (I think it came from a box in the freezer section), but even more flavorful if made with some of the more hearty greens that are so available now.  It’s super easy to make, goes with a lot of meals, and takes greens down to a texture that sometimes even the kids will eat.  I think it's a great way to introduce some of the stronger flavored greens - cooking them down with butter and blending with cheese and cream tempers the flavor a bit, and the long cooking and blending helps with the texture that some people don't like. 

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Summer Squash Dip

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I have had sooo much squash from the garden this summer - all from three plants! And while I do love it, one gets a little tired of eating it in the same few ways over and over again (like this lunch I had the other day, or this zucchini bread & muffins). And we've got a lot more yellow summer squash than regular green zucchini anyway. I have a couple of favorite dip recipes (this one, and this one) that involve mixing cooked veggies with some yummy stuff - so I thought this might also be possible for squash. I did a little internet searching and came across this one - it sounded great! Squash with cumin, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and yogurt. Who doesn't love those things?

So here is what I did:

Ingredients:

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  • A couple of large summer squashes - I think any kind would work.  I've used a large yellow summer squash (the kind that looks like zucchini but are yellow), and the round pattypan squashes.  Actually I bet this would even work with zucchini.
  • Garlic powder
  • onion powder
  • olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • tahini
  • cumin
  • lemon juice
  • plain yogurt
  • fresh garlic

I tossed the cubed squash with olive oil and salt, garlic powder, and onion powder, and then roasted in the oven at 350 convection on a cookie sheet for about 40 minutes - turning several times, until the cubes were a little brown and very soft. Then I dumped that in the food processor and added the other ingredients.  I used ground cumin, and I used my own homemade whole milk yogurt. And of course there's the fact that I never measure anything, so I didn't follow the quantities in the recipe, I just throw stuff in and blend and taste and keep adding and blending until I like it. I'm sure it ended up being more garlic and lemon juice and cumin than the original recipe calls for, because that's just how I like stuff. And I did it in my food processor - because I have 4 kids and a mortar and pestle, or smushing things with forks, just isn't really going to happen.  Plus, I really like the creamy texture that the food processor gives it.

This was good. Really, really good. I will definitely be making it again.

I might try it without the yogurt next time, just to see how it is as a vegan option. I think maybe adding a little more lemon juice to replace the tanginess of the yogurt.

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Pictured here: Curried Carrot Dip, Eggplant dip (done in the food processor, so creamier than the one in my original post), and Summer squash dip.

Update: I made the squash dip again with no yogurt - so a vegan version.  I just used a little more of the other ingredients to bump up the flavor a bit, and it is also really, really good this way.