Indian-Spiced Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Onions

I'm making up for lost time using my one and only Indian cookbook. See last week's post on Chicken Tikka Skewers.

With those Chicken Tikka Skewers, I made the roasted Brussels sprouts also in Indian-Inspired Gluten-Free Cooking but with some tweaks. I added onions, because we love to roast onions with our Brussels sprouts, and upped the spices.

XOXO,
Amy

Indian-Spiced Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Onions
Adapted from Indian-Inspired Gluten-Free Cooking

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaping teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
1 large sweet onion, cut into large pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine 1 tablespoon olive oil and all of the spices and salt. Add Brussels sprouts and onion chunks and toss until coated with spice mix. Place vegetables on a baking dish (lightly sprayed with vegetable oil). Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over vegetables and roast until nicely browned, about 15-20 minutes.

Carolina Collard Greens

My younger daughter -- and the more adventuresome eater of my two girls -- turns 7 tomorrow. We celebrated on Saturday with a home cooked early birthday dinner. Penny's taste buds were set on having collard greens.

Yes, my child is weird. A child of the South and a weird collard craving, blue cheese nibbling, quinoa salad lunching kid. But finally someone else in my house other than me appreciates collards, so I happily fixed a big mess of greens.

Here are some Southern inspired dishes that would go well with collards: Family Cornbread, Slow Cooker Pulled Pork, Tangy Slow Cooker Pork with Onion Jam, Slow Cooker Chicken & Biscuits, Pecan-Crusted Chicken Breasts and a Deviled Egg Sampler.

However, our birthday dinner was a little more eclectic. We had Parmesan and Yogurt Crusted Chicken, scalloped potatoes and a nearly flourless French chocolate cake.

Penny, by the way, had two helpings of collards.

XOXO,
Amy

PS: I call these Carolina Collard Greens in honor of Cam Newton, QB1 for the Super Bowl 50-bound Carolina Panthers. In an interview following the Panthers' NFC Championship win, Cam compared "instant grits" to "slow cooked collard greens" when asked to talk about what's happened to him since being drafted. Go, Panthers! Keep pounding!

PPS: You might recall that Erin is bringing you grits following the Seattle Seahawks' playoff loss to the Panthers. Grits are coming later this week.

Carolina Collard Greens

2 pounds of collard greens, each leaf cut in half to completely remove center stem/vein and torn into 2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 pieces bacon
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch or two of crushed red pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar

Rinse prepared collard pieces under cold water and  set aside.

In your largest pot -- like a pasta or lobster pot -- heat olive oil over medium heat. (Trust me, the collards cook way down.)

Add bacon and cook for a minute. Add onions and cook until softened, about four minutes. Add garlic and red pepper and cook until fragrant, about one minute.

Remove bacon and cut into pieces and return to pot. (Or you can do what I do, which is use kitchen scissors to cut bacon while it is still in the pot.) Add collards and stir to incorporate with other ingredients the best you can. Add broth and vinegar.

Bring pot to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for at least 45 minutes.

Use slotted spoon to serve.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus Spears

You know what goes nicely with Andrea's Buttermilk Spoonbread? You know what would make a tasty appetizer?

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus Spears.

Cooking really can be that simple, my friends.

I made this combo for dinner the other night and it reminded me of a grown-up version of breakfast for dinner. Truthfully, my husband hates breakfast for dinner (a.k.a. brinner), so this was a genius move on my part.

XOXO,
Amy

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus Spears

Equal number of asparagus spears and prosciutto slices
Melted butter or olive oil, couple tablespoons

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Trim asparagus. My mom has a friend who taught her how to trim the right amount and I think of Mom's friend every time I make asparagus. So with your sharp knife start at the very bottom of the asparagus and tap your way toward the top until you feel a slight give. When you feel the give, that's where you cut.

Wrap one piece of prosciutto around each stalk.

Brush each stalk with melted butter or olive oil.

Place in oven until asparagus is roasted and prosciutto is crispy, about five minutes.

Chickpea Salad

My husband has been known to lament on Facebook that some days he has quinoa salad for lunch and chickpea salad for dinner. Geez, there I go again, trying to keep us all healthy.

But if Jeff is being honest, he loves it. After all, he's always picking up quinoa at the store and whenever I haven't made this chickpea salad in a while, he drops some subtle hints. Hey, we have lots of cans of chickpeas in the pantry. Why don't you make chickpea salad?

This recipe is adapted from my favorite vegan cookbook -- The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon. I have made the vegennaise (that's "mayo" without the oil and egg) Angela calls for in this recipe just once. Sorry, Angela, but some things taste better with mayo -- Duke's mayo to be precise. Also, I don't put in as much dill pickle as Angela calls for, because it makes the salad (mine, anyway) too wet. I also add carrot. And I always double the recipe, because the chopping takes some serious time, so why not make more while I'm at it? And besides I love my hubby.

XOXO,
Amy

PS: You will see later this week that one of my kiddos likes chickpea salad in her school lunch. Bless her.

Chickpea Salad
Adapted from The Oh She Glows Cookbook

2 (15-ounce) cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
3-6 green onions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, finely diced
1-2 dill pickle spears, seeded and finely diced
2 bell peppers, each one a different color, finely chopped
4-6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
4 teaspoons dill
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Toasted bread, crackers, or lettuce for serving

Put chickpeas in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher until some of the chickpeas appear flaky in texture and others are still whole or mostly whole. Combine all other ingredients, adjusting mayo, mustard, salt and pepper to your taste.

Serve this salad with toasted bread, crackers, lettuce -- or eat plain.

Greek Salad Quinoa Salad

I eat quinoa every day. Every day. Usually, it's my Tomato-Avocado Quinoa Salad. But recently I needed to shake up my quinoa routine, so I created this yummy Greek Salad Quinoa Salad, using ingredients that I just happened to have on hand and that would normally go into a Greek salad.

Readers, I have found a new favorite quinoa salad.

PS: If you loved Erin's Bulgar Salad with Tomatoes and Cucumbers, you will love this, too.

Greek Salad Quinoa Salad

3 cups cooked quinoa
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
Heaping 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Ground pepper and sea salt to taste
Cherry tomatoes (if desired), cut in half, for serving
Greek olives (if desired), for serving
Fresh basil (if desired), for serving
Olive oil (if desired), for serving (FYI: I put a 1/2 tablespoon on the above serving.)

Combine quinoa, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, pepper and salt. When serving, add whatever combination of the "if desired" ingredients suits your fancy. Or maybe you can think of other toppings to make this dish your own. On the day I created this yumminess, I didn't have any fresh basil or Greek olives on hand.

BTW, the reason I add the tomatoes at the end is because I think the salad will keep better in the fridge and not get soggy.

Also, you can totally adjust the ratio of ingredients to suit your taste buds.

Finally, fyi, just as with the Hungarian Sour Cream Cucumber Salad, I got to use a cucumber grown on my Tower Garden!

Hungarian Sour Cream Cucumber Salad

We grew cucumbers! It only took two and a half months from seeds to cukes, but we did it!

Just before we harvested our first cukes from our Tower Garden, I asked friends on Facebook for their favorite recipes. My friend Brian suggested a sour cream cucumber salad and several friends backed that up. Apparently, this is a quintessential Southern summertime dish. While I have lived in Charlotte for the past 12 years and have also lived in Birmingham, Alabama, and Lexington, Kentucky, I had no idea! Definitely making this again!

XOXO,
Amy

PS: I added Hungarian to the name, because I saw other versions of this salad use that in the recipe phrase AND the hubby and I just visited -- and loved -- Budapest!

Hungarian Sour Cream Cucumber Salad
Inspired by Tasteofhome.com

1/2 cup sour cream (I use light)
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
Ground pepper to taste
3-4 cucumbers, peeled (if desired) and thinly sliced
1 small sweet onion or 1/2 Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
Dill to taste

In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, vinegar, sugar and pepper. Add the cucumbers and onion, tossing to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours. Top with dill and serve.

Note: When preparing this for a dinner party Chez George, I forgot to read the recipe sufficiently in advance, so I didn't know about the fridge time. The salad was able to sit in the fridge for only about an hour. It still tasted good, but it was definitely better the next day. Sometimes things just have to marinate.

Here is my younger daughter Penny, who harvested our first cucumbers from our Tower Garden.

Deviled Egg Sampler

I recently overbought on the egg front. What to do? Make deviled eggs, of course. Plenty of other good reasons to whip up deviled eggs, too. I love using my pretty deviled egg plate. Plus, my older daughter Lucy recently discovered a love of deviled eggs; she ate like six at a wedding reception.

What's better than deviled eggs? A deviled egg sampler, of course. In mine: traditional, poppy seed and curried.

Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

At top: curried. On right: traditional. On left: poppy seed.

My favorite in this sampler: the curried. Anyone who knows me and my love of Indian food would  not be shocked. Lucy plopped two of the traditional style in her mouth in about five seconds. Penny went for poppy seed. The hubby tried them all and remains a traditionalist at heart.

I bet you will come up with varieties we haven't even thought of.

XOXO,
Amy

Deviled Egg Sampler
8 eggs, hard boiled (See directions below)
Salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard, divided in half
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
3 tablespoons mayonnaise, divided in thirds

First, prepare the hard boiled eggs with this fool-proof method.

Take eggs out of fridge, so they start to come closer to room temperature. Add salt to a pot of water and boil. When water is boiling rapidly, use a slotted spoon to place each egg in the pot. Reduce to a moderate boil and cook eggs for 10 minutes. This timing is what ensures that the eggs are not overcooked; the yellow part of the eggs stays yellow and doesn't turn that gross green color around the edges.

Just before the egg time is up, fill a bowl with ice and cold water. When time is up, use a slotted spoon to gently remove each egg from the hot water and place in the bowl of ice and cold water. This last step ensures that  the eggs will stay nicely intact when you peel them.

Peel eggs immediately or drain water and place in fridge until you are ready to make your deviled eggs. I get better results if I peel immediately. I always make eight eggs to yield 12 deviled egg halves. By making eight eggs, I have enough eggs yolks to fill 12 halves and if I wreck two of the egg whites it's no big deal.

After you peel the eggs, slice in half and scoop out the insides. Divide the yolks evenly into three bowls. Add a bit of salt (to taste) to each bowl.

For traditional deviled eggs, add half a teaspoon of ground mustard and one tablespoon of mayonnaise to one bowl with egg yolk and salt. Combine/mash with a fork. Fill four eggs and top with paprika.

For poppy seed deviled eggs, prepare the a bowl as you did for traditional eggs and add half a teaspoon of poppy seeds. Combine ingredients. Fill four eggs.

For curried deviled eggs, add half a teaspoon of curry powder and a tablespoon of mayonnaise to  the third bowl with egg yolks and salt. Combine ingredients. Fill  four eggs and top with garam masala.

Eat immediately.

PS: A word on the mayonnaise. If you are using store-bought and you live in the South, you use Duke's. All other brands are lame.