Yet cooked, cauliflower is one of the more versatile vegetables I know. Great in soups, pureed as a side dish, baked into savory gratins, or my favorite – roasted.

Roasting brings out cauliflower’s natural sweetness and when it browns and caramelizes it becomes as addictive as potato chips. You can pretty much use any flavor profile you want: Italian with garlic, parsley, pepper flakes, and Parmesan; Indian with whole spices, ginger, and garlic; or sublimely simple with just salt and olive oil. You can’t really go wrong. Just use a very hot oven (400-450 F) and make sure the garlic is spread out in a single layer and not crowded (otherwise it will steam).

If you need recipes, here are two different versions of roasted cauliflower that sound like winners.

From Slashfood, the roasted cauliflower teams up with a little bit of bacon in this recipe.

And Food 52’s recent cauliflower recipe winner features gremolata breadcrumbs. I make a similar dish but I toss the cauliflower and garlicky crumbs with orecchiette pasta and top it with Parmesan cheese. The play of different textures in the dish is revelatory.

If you want to pair your cauliflower with protein into a one-dish meal, try this recipe for Curried Red Lentils and Cauliflower from Eating Well.

If it’s soup you’re craving, take my recipe for Curried Cauliflower Soup with Mustard Seed Oil for a spin.

Image: Linda N via Flickr

The post Don’t Hate the Cauliflower appeared first on EcoSalon.

I know we just did squash but my plants are still producing like mad and who can resist a dish called Zuccaghetti? This salad-like concoction from Food 52 requires no cooking, so it’s great for hot days and it requires shredding, which will allow gardeners to work through their massive piles of squash.

Over at The Kitchn.com, they’re giving readers lots of ideas for picnic salads that aren’t the usual boring, dressing laden options. This crunchy cabbage and peanut slaw sounds like a mouthwatering Fourth of July pick to me.

As anyone who has ever tried to make red, white, and blue food knows, blueberries are pretty much the only option for the blue. This recipe from Food in Jars for Blueberry Butter uses a slow cooker to get the job done. How brilliant! You can be on grill duty while the blueberry butter makes itself.

Happy Fourth and Happy Cooking!

Image: Jeff Kubina

The post Tempt Your Tastebuds with Zuccaghetti, Crunchy Peanut Slaw and Blueberry Butter appeared first on EcoSalon.

I’ve always been enamored of whole grain salads with seasonal ingredients and flavorful embellishments. They are a great way to use what you have on hand, add more healthy whole grains to your diet, and eat with the seasons. This week’s winner is this Farro Salad with Fresh Mozzarella and Arugula Walnut Pesto From Food 52.

Eggs are such a handy food. Quick and easy to prepare, healthy, versatile, and an economical form of protein. They do, however, require a certain immediacy that isn’t always practical in all situations. This recipe for baked eggs from Mark Bittman is great for guests or anytime you need to serve more than one or two eggs at a time.

Finally, here’s a brilliant post from Tea and Cookies on rethinking your salads. Lots of helpful tips here and so many creative suggestions. This post might just change your entire summer.

Image: Vanessa Barrington

The post Three Recipes to Try This Week: Farro Salad, Easy Baked Eggs, and Rethinking Your Salads appeared first on EcoSalon.

I’m not usually a big eater of carrots for the sake of eating carrots. Normally I put them in soups and stews but rarely do I make a carrot dish. Not sure why.

Don’t me wrong, I like them, especially when they are fresh and sweet and flavorful as they are when pulled out of the ground. They just never seem terribly exciting compared to the usual bounty we get around here.

Last week, the carrots at the farmers’ market looked so inviting that I had to pick up a bunch. Then, my roommate’s CSA box came with even more gorgeous carrots. Suddenly I found myself with quite a lot of carrots to prepare. Luckily I found this carrot salad with harissa, feta, and mint on Smitten Kitchen. It sounds utterly addictive. I can think of about a million ways to eat it – on a picnic, tucked into a sandwich on a roll, alongside lamb burgers, or over a bed of greens.

Remember last week, I mentioned I was going to save my duck fat for roasting potatoes? Well I did render and save about 1/3 of a cup of duck fat from the duck I cooked over the weekend. This recipe for Spanish Roasted Potato Salad from Food 52 seems like another perfect excuse to use it. Easy and impressive sounding. This one calls for olive oil, but duck fat can never hurt.

The cherries have been great this year and I’ve eaten so many that I’m now ready to actually consider doing something with them – other than popping one after another in my mouth. Here’s a savory take on cherry compote from Simply Recipes to try.

Happy Cooking!

Image: Stevendepolo

The post 3 Scrumptious Recipes to Try This Weekend appeared first on EcoSalon.