Colcannon

So yummy and such an easy recipe. Cheap to make too. Creamy mashed potatoes and crisp tender green cabbage, this is true comfort food. You don't have to be Irish to enjoy this recipe. Yet I just tried it recently, amazingly enough. This is extremely filling and it is even good reheated. This is the recipe that I use. The only thing that I do differently is to use low fat sour cream thinned with a little bit of milk instead of the cream called for in the recipe. I may try to make this with a little less butter.

Last year, my friend Kevin had a cabbage patch and a momma cat kept her babies in it. I was going to put the picture up on here but the picture is no longer on FB :o( Here is a picture of a kitty in a cabbage patch that I found online. The kitty in the picture looks like two of our neighborhood kitties.

Lentil Loaf

After seeing a picture of this loaf that Danaskully64 of Veggieboards made, I knew I had to try it out. I made mine from  this recipe (this is the same one she posted) and I decided to make some mushroom gravy to go with it from this recipe and I added some one onion, chopped and sauteed in oil (along with the 'shrooms) to my gravy. I also made Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

The loaf is relatively easy to get out of the pan. I forgot to add basil to mine, and as recommended by Tofu and Sprouts, I cooked my lentils in vegetable broth. I think it is a good, inexpensive recipe that is very easy to make, even during the week. Christopher loved this loaf. I want to make it again with BBQ sauce instead of the tomato sauce, as recommended by Danaskully64 and a lot of the reviewers. I did saute my onion and added a shredded carrot, sauteed to the mix. Definitely try out the mushroom gravy, I think it went well with the Lentil Loaf, and it would be good also on mashed potatoes.


Here is a close up of the Lentil Loaf and Mushroom-Onion Gravy

Here is the plated food

 

Here is the loaf

Roasted Vegetable Night

I love, love, love to make these....Crispy Potatoes with Rosemary, Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Maple Glazed Carrots and Onions...Simple comfort food on a cold winter night to warm me up. I recently discovered that I didn't hate Brussels Sprouts as much as I once thought, they are almost "nutty" tasting made this way and we always have Brussels Sprouts in the freezer. I think that I was scared away by these tiny cabbages because my mom used to just boil them up and expect me to eat them and they are disgusting like that.  I used to think they were  little stinky cabbages of doom.This is probably what I looked like :

Surprisingly I loved "fried cabbage". Go figure. I guess that is the southern coming out in me. I guess I have a more adult palette now because instead of eating the roasted potatoes with Ketchup, I like to eat my roasted potatoes with Sriracha..

LOL. I call it Asian Ketchup ;)


Roasted Carrots and Onions with Maple Syrup

1/2 medium-large onion cut into slivers
1/2 pound-1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into very small chunks
2-3 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2-1 tsp. onion powder or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or to taste)
1/2-1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1/2-1 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Toss all ingredients to coat, cook in a square baking dish.
Bake about 30-45 minutes or until tender and onions are starting to char, stirring frequently.

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

2-4 large potatoes (I use Russet, but use your faves) scrubbed and chopped in large chunks
rosemary (dried) to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
Toss all ingredients on a  large baking sheet to coat with your hands. Cook at 400-425 degrees F, for about 30-45 minutes. Flip once to brown on both sides.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1 frozen package (individually frozen) Brussels Sprouts (12-16 ounces) or 1 pound fresh cleaned
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
Toss all ingredients to coat, and cook at 400 degrees F until outside leaves are slightly charred (about 30-45 minutes). I usually cook mine in a square metal baking dish. Fresh is definitely better.