Chimichurri Salmon with Roasted Cauliflower

Chimichurri Sauce & Marinade:
½ cup firmly packed fresh flat leaf parsley, remove stems
3 garlic cloves
¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp red pepper flakes

In a food processor add parsley and garlic; process with a few pulses. Stir in EVOO, vinegar, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Use half of the sauce to marinate the salmon filets for at least 30 minutes. Save the rest to use as a topping once fish is grilled.

Roasted Cauliflower:

2 cups of cauliflower florets
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Salt and pepper
Fresh lemon juice
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place cauliflower on a baking tray, drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast cauliflower for 15 minutes. Using tongs, flip florets over, spinkle with lemon juice and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until florets are browned and just fork tender. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

 

Serve grilled fish over a bed of rice with cauliflower. Drizzle fish with extra chimichurri sauce.

If you like this recipe, try these:

Chimichurri Steak

Chimichurri Chicken Pita

 

Crock Pot Mac n Cheese with Cauliflower

This dish was inspired by one of Paula Deen’s recipes, except I added cauliflower and ham, which makes it a complete meal with all the food groups. I like to pretend that this makes it healthier. :-)

2 cups uncooked small shell pasta
½ stick of butter (4 Tbsp)
2 cups of sharp Cheddar cheese
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup sour cream
1 can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1 cup milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 small head of cauliflower
8 oz of thick ham

Boil pasta for about 6 minutes, until al dente. Drain and set aside. In a medium sauce pan over med-high heat, combine butter and cheese until melted. Cut florets off cauliflower and into bite sized pieces.

In the crock pot, add cheese/butter mixture, eggs, sour cream, soup, milk, mustard, salt, pepper, cauliflower florets and drained pasta. Mix well. Cook for 2 hours on low, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is almost tender.

In a small frying pan, brown ham on both sides. Transfer to cutting board and dice. Stir into crock pot mixture. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Czech Fried Cauliflower

This is a traditional spring meal that Czech people eat with boiled potatoes. We like to serve it with a dip made of chopped capers mixed with mayo. I’ve also brought these to a work potluck and they were a big hit!

1 head of cauliflower, separate florets
Flour, for dredging
2 eggs, beaten
Breadcrumbs, for coating
Vegetable oil, for frying

Steam or boil cauliflower florets until just fork tender. Let cool so you can handle them. In this order, fill each bowl with the following: flour, eggs and breadcrumbs. Dredge cauliflower in the flour first, then dip in egg and lastly, coat with breadcrumbs.

In a frying pan, heat about ½ inch of oil over medium high heat. Fry cauliflower, turning over on all sides until golden brown. As they are done, set on a paper towel to help absorb some of the excess oil.

These are delicious hot… or eat them cold the next day as a snack!