MAYONNAISE FREE CAULIFLOWER & POTATO SALAD.

 This is a really nice meal to make in summer and with garden fresh tomatoes it's a winner. 

Keep in mind you can alter this recipe to your heart content.  Too may potatoes?  use 2.  Don't like capers leave them out. 

So here we go.

INGREDIENTS:
4 Medium Potatoes
1 Medium size Cauliflower
 2 Table spoons of Capers
1 Jar of marinated Artichoke Hearts.
2 Garlic cloves
3 celery stalks.
1/2 White onioin
1 Green Bell pepper.  Aka Bel-tilla. ;)
3 Piece of a Medium avocado
1/2 cup of Garbanzo beans
1 Garden picked tomato for garnish.



A pan with water add it to it.  About 4 cups.  

 Place the steamer basket on top.   Do not turn burner on yet.

 Cauliflower.   Clean, take steam off and separate florets.

 Put in bowl and set a side.

 Potatoes.

 Naked Potatoes that have been peeled.

 Slice the potatoes in half. Place face down.

 Cut each one into 4 quarters.

 Then cut four times again.  Diced.

 Put all the diced potatoes in a pot and fill with water.

Like so.  Turn burner to high.   If you start the cauliflower and Potatoes at the same time, they will be done at the same time.  
When done the potatoes should be firm.  The test, Take a piece out and cool it.  Squeeze it between your finger, it should not give.  But when you bite into it.  It should not be crunchy, but give and taste good. 
If it's crunchy it need to be cooked longer.








Back to the Cauliflower.   With a small knife, but the cauliflower into approximately the same size as the potato pieces.  

Put all the cauliflower piece into the steamer basket.   The piece are still bright white it's the lighting.  Not cooked.  But the lid on and turn burner to high.

 Celery

 Sliced

 And Diced

 Bell pepper.

 Cut the top and bottom off.

Slice and dice.

 Onion

 Slice

 And dice.   Remember you don't have to be perfect. 

Take a gander at the potatoes.   That the starch coming out and it's close to being done.











 Steamed cauliflower.  Now the pinch test is not going to work for the cauliflower.  It should be tender, but not fall apart. 

 Cool the potatoes.  Added ice cube to the water to speed the process up.

 Chopped veggies.

 Mixing chopped veggies with cooled cooked potatoes.

 The two cauliflowers on the left are cooked, and have a slight translucent yellow look. The one on the right is bright white, uncooked.

Marinated Artichoke

 Chopped.

 Add two table spoons of capers and the Artichokes and mix in.

Add cooled Cauliflower.   Mix in.

 Garbanzo beans & Avocado.

 1/2 Garbanzo beans and Avocado slices with garlic.

 Blend all.

 Add all to salad and mix well.

DOUBLE DARK CHOCOLATE CHERRY & AVOCADO MUFFINS

Well let me start off with some of the end pictures did not turn out so well.  To post or not to post?  Post!.     So yeah I did not get a good shot of the muffins and my sweet toothed monster came by and made short work of the muffins. 

Warning this recipe is not healthy.  To go beyond this point is to throw caution to the wind.

INGREDIENTS:
1 40z Bakers chocolate  YES!
2 Medium Avocados
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown
2 Table spoons honey
2 Teaspoon baking powder.
1 cup of chocolate chips.  Double YES!!!!!!!! 

2 cups of cherries.
1 3/4 cup flour.

First as you can see by the picture above I have the chocolate in a double boiler.   Add water to a pan below to boil then place a glass bowl on top with the chocolate.

Cut Avocados in half and half again and peel off skin. 

Remove two.   6 slices will only be needed.  

Cream avocados.   

Chocolate melting just find.   Move around squares until they all dissolve and melt.

Add baking powder and sugar to avocado mixture and honey.   I covered it up. 😕

Mix in. 

Now add the chocolate from the double boiler and mix in.   Let this cool to room temp.

Mix and mix.

   Cut right into the cherry until you hit the pit and cut around the pit.  Then cut off the tip. 










Add chips.

Add cherries and mix in. 
Ok now add the flour a little at a time to the mixture and stir until all the flour is gone.   Add some more and stir in very well, until all the flour is gone.  This is going to be a very thick batter, not runny at all.  

Well this is not what I call a award winning food picture, but it get the message across.   Fill the muffin tin with batter.     




Now if you have a muffin tin with lot more holes, never ever leave a hole empty.   Why?   It will warp your tin.  So let say you have four holes empty. First set your muffin in in the oven.   Then with a measuring cup fill the pans holes with warm water about a 1/2 inch from the top.  You have to be extra careful when moving your muffin tin in and out, but this will insure that your pan will not warp. 

Turn the oven to 375, have tooth pick ready.  And keep your eye on your evil goodness.  When the tooth picks come out clean your ready to nom. 

Now if you want to Double the Madness.  Here is what my Hubby did. 
 Warmed Double Dark Chocolate Cherry & Avocado Muffins with Vanilla Ice cream.
Cut muffin into chunks and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.     Pure Evil.    

BASIC: CHERRY SYRUP WITH YOGURT

 This is so easy to make and make a excellent dessert or breakfast.  

18 Cherries.
1 scoop of Plain Greek Yogurt.
1/2 cup water.
1 Tablespoon sugar (optional)  If fruit is very sweet do not add, if fruit is tart add. 

 Cherries. 

 I dig the knife right in and cut around the pit, and cut off the end. 

 Mix sugar, cherries and water.  Turn burner to Medium heat.

 I move the Cherries to one side on purpose. 
Watch the water as it turn a darker shade of red.  Stir cherries as you cook them. 

 A little pinker, but not yet.  Still on Medium.

 No here we go.  When the water is this nice shade of red, bring the cherries to a boil, but turning up the heat and boil for about 1 mintues. Then turn off the burner. 

The cherries can be cooled and even frozen for later use.   When you thaw them out add 5 table spoons of  water to the bottom of the pan and thaw them out gently.   

 Yogurt. 

LEFT OVER'S: CHERRY & SAUSAGE SOUP

 From one meal comes another meal and the cool part is this no cooking, your basically just heating things back up.  :)    Fast is good and easy.  

This is what is left from our meal yesterday.  I was like hmmm Oh!  I have some bricks of stock in the freezer.  :)  Yummy Salmon stock.  Yummy mouth watering Salmon stock....ok enough on the emphasis.  ;)  


 

 Stuck the brick in a pot and melted 2 cups of stock off and put the remaining stock back in the freezer.   You can also use broth.  Now if you don't have any broth, you can make some it takes about a hour but believe me it will be worth it.  As it's cooking you can be doing what ever you want.
Small Batch Broth recipe.
4 Chicken pieces of any type.   Legs, tights,
1/2 onion
1 carrot
4 garlic cloves.
1 celery piece.
Spices 1 teaspoon of each.
Cinnamon
Cumin
Pepper
Celery Seed
Thyme.
Cover all with water until the chicken is covered by a inch.  Bring to a boil, and then turn to low and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Use for this recipe.  And guess what you'll have chicken for a lunch.... dinner or what not.   Peel and freeze chicken.    Keep carrots add them to the soup if you want.  
  



 Stock is very strong in flavor so you can add 1 cup of water to it and it won't affect the flavor.    

 Stock with water with the burner on medium high.

 Add left overs and leave on burner until all his heated to you desire.  Carefully taste it.

Yummy Dinner is served.