Why not roast those vegetables?

When I was growing up, having a side of vegetables at supper meant something boiled - carrots, peas, beans, corn, whatever. It was boiled. Eventually we got a steamer basket, and then it was boiled or steamed. Still not impressive.

These days, I often roast vegetables such as brussel sprouts (see the recipe a few days ago), cauliflower, broccoli, or even carrots.

The basic process is:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 or so.
2. Toss the vegetables with olive oil and seasoning (salt, pepper, maybe some garlic).
3. Roast until soft. (Depends on the vegetable, usually 20-30 minutes)
   

Because you're not boiling the veggies, you're not washing away the vitamins, and you get some tasty charring and caramelization that you don't get in a wet cooking method. So if you've got some vegetables and you're tired of soggy sides, fire up the oven and roast 'em!

Basically Barbecue Sauce

Grilled meat is very caveman. However, most commercial barbecue sauces contain sugar. This is actually a good thing, because the sugar caramelizes during the cooking and produces wonderful flavours on the meat. However, since cavemen didn't have access to sugar, and stevia won't caramelize, we have to turn to another sweetener in the caveman's pantry - agave syrup. Yep, agave, the same plant from which we get tequila, is also the source of a sweet syrup which has a much lower glycemic index than sugar (for those of you who are worried about such things). honey. Disregard mention of agave - it's almost pure fructose! Brush this sauce on when your meat is almost done - don't make the rookie mistake of putting the sauce on at the beginning, or you'll end up with burnt offerings.

Ingredients

• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 tsp garlic powder (or 1 clove minced garlic, if you don't mind chunky sauce)
• 1 tsp onion powder (or 1 small minced onion, as above)
• 1/8 cup cider vinegar
• 1/8 cup agave syrup
• 1/2 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
• a couple of drops of liquid smoke (optional, for smoky flavour)
  
• a couple of drops of hot sauce (optional, for zip)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer over medium heat for at least 30 minutes.

This is a pretty basic sauce framework - you have sweet and sour tastes. I haven't added salt, but you could certainly do so if you wanted to. I think you can probably customize this sauce about a million ways - try adding some lemon juice, for example. Or use honey in place of the agave syrup. Maybe some red wine?

Holocene-era Hungarian Goulash

Okay, the title was a reach. But this goulash is quite tasty - at first glance there's a lot of onion in the recipe, but the majority of the onion breaks down completely (due to the long cooking time) and helps to thicken it. It would be good over rice, if I ate rice, but I don't. Sometimes we'll have it over "riced cauliflower", but more often than not I'll just have a big bowl of this as-is.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup oil (olive oil, coconut oil, or similar)
• 3 onions, peeled, chopped in half, and thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp salt + 1 tsp
  
• 1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
• 3 pounds (1.2kg) cubed stewing beef or other suitable meat (kangaroo works well)
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, and cook the onions until soft. Remove the onions and set aside.
2. While the onions are cooking, combine in a bowl the paprika, pepper, and 2 tsp of the salt, then toss the meat in this mixture.
3. After the onions are removed from the oil, brown the meat in the same pot.
4. After the meat is browned on all sides, add the onions back to the pot, along with the tomato paste, water, garlic, and the remainder of the salt.
5. Bring to a low boil, reduce to low heat, and simmer for at least 2 hours, until the meat is tender and the onions are mostly gone.
   

Best-ever Brussel Sprouts

When I was younger, brussel sprouts meant soggy greenish things that had been boiled to within an inch of their lives. No more! We have them this way a couple of times a month - the sprouts are a great source of vitamins and minerals, and the bacon grease makes them delicious.

Ingredients

• One pound (500 g) brussel sprouts
• 3 Tbsp bacon grease (reserved from when you last made bacon, or substitute olive oil), melted
  
• 1/2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh-ground pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut off the stem-ends from the brussel sprouts, remove any yellow leaves or insect-eaten bits, and cut into halves.
3. Toss with the grease, salt, and pepper, and spread onto a cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 40 minutes, tossing occasionally. There should be blackened bits in places when they're done, and the sprouts themselves will be soft.
   

Pterodactyl wings

If you can't find pterodactyl, you can still use chicken wings for this recipe. The method for cooking the wings is courtesy Alton Brown, and the sauce recipe is a traditional Buffalo style.

Ingredients

• 1 pound (or more) chicken wings, split, with tips removed
• 1/4 cup "hot sauce" (such as Durkee's or Frank's - check the ingredients to make sure there's no added sugar)
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp vinegar

Instructions

1. Steam the wings for 10 minutes in a steamer basket over a pot of water.
2. Place the wings on a cooling rack over paper towel in the fridge, and cool for one hour.
3. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes (on a rack on a cookie sheet), flipping halfway through.
4. While the wings are baking, combine the remaining ingredients and stir well.
5. Put the wings into a bowl, cover with the sauce, and toss well.

Serve with plenty of napkins - these things get messy.

Butter Chicken

As promised, a bit of a treat to celebrate Canada Day. Okay, butter chicken isn't exactly a traditional Canadian dish, but this is (in my opinion) a pretty yummy dish anyway. If you so desire, you can serve it over rice, or riced cauliflower, but I just like a big bowl of this as-is.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1" piece of ginger root (2.5 cm), peeled and grated
• 1-1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 4 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 Tbsp almond butter
• 1 can tomato sauce (or 1 can of tomatoes and 1 can tomato paste)
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup 10% cream
  

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a large pot, then add the onion and cinnamon.
2. When the onion is cooked (translucent/waxy), add the remaining spices, garlic, and ginger root.
3. After about 2 minutes, add the chicken breast pieces and the almond butter.
4. Once the chicken is no longer pink, add the remaining ingredients, and simmer until thickened, approximately 20-30 minutes.
   

Because I'm not busy enough

(Other blog deleted - I don't have time for this blog, much less two of them!)

There'll be a recipe up here later today or tonight - my very own recipe for Butter Chicken. Stay tuned!