Dressing and sauces

Romesco Sauce

If you’ve never tried Romesco sauce, you haven’t lived yet.  This smoky-garlicky-peppery sauce can be put on basically everything: toast, chicken, roasted potatoes, sandwiches, pizza and pasta!

This Romesco Pasta Salad is our family favorite but you can put this sauce on practically everything! And to all my vegan friends out there…YES, my Romesco Sauce is divinely vegan!

A couple of notes:

  • Jar roasted peppers works as good as oven roasted peppers for this Romesco Sauce recipe. Also skipping the roasted tomatoes the “traditional recipe” calls for.
  • Don’t skip the vinegar! It tempers the raw garlic pungency.
  • Spanish Pimentón (dulce/sweet and picante/hot) it’s a must. You can find it anywhere this days (HomeGoods, Whole Foods, Vons, Amazon.) It adds extra smoky flavor and heat.
  • I used any type of roasted almonds or a mix of different ones. My favorite is Blue Diamond Smokehouse – no sponsor! It just adds more smokey flavor to the Romesco Sauce.

Please let me know how your Romesco Sauce turns out in the comments! I can’t wait to hear what you serve it on.

Romesco Sauce

Versatile and full of flavor, this Romesco Sauce can be put on practically everything from toast to scramble eggs!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 jar roasted red peppers, drained
  • 1 cup raw or roasted almonds I used salted but unsalted will work too. Just adjust the salt to taste when finishing it!
  • 2 cloves Medium-to-large cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 tbsp Red vinegar or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp Spanish smoked paprika aka Pimenton dulce
  • 1 tsp Spanish hot smoked paprika aka Pimenton picante
  • 1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions
 

  • In a blender or food processor, combine everything but the olive oil. Blend, starting on low and increasing the speed as it starts to blend.
  • Taste, and adjust salt if needed. Serve or store in a jar in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days.
Keyword sauce

From Root to Leaf: Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Carrot Top Chimichurri

Why carrot tops are not eaten in our country has been a mystery to me. I grew up eating them in soups, stews and who knows what else. I was not a fan, but I ate them. A lot! And contrary to what some people may think, carrot tops aren’t toxic. I’m happy I lived to tell you about it!

Now, carrot tops texture and strong flavor may be a challenge to some people’s palates. It’s not the kind of greens I would use on a plain salad. However, when used as a herb–such as parsley or cilantro–it can add texture and flavor to any dish.

There are plenty of carrot top chimichurri recipes out there. All are pretty much the same with slight variations. Is what you do with your chimichurri that matters most. And because I believe on ‘what grows together goes together’, I topped roasted rainbow carrots with it. It tasted so good. Perfect combination of sweet, smoky and tangy flavors.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Carrot Top Chimichurri

Dominique for DealiciousCooking
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 bunch of medium rainbow carrots
  • 1 cup carrot tops chopped fine
  • ½ cup minced fresh cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano can be replaced by 1 teaspoon of dry oregano
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 small shallot minced can be replaced with regular or purple onions. Approximately 2 tablespoons
  • ½ teaspoon of chili garlic sauce optional
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground paprika
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Some fresh ground pepper

Instructions
 

  • For the carrots: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the green top and reserve for the Chimichurri. Wash and peel the carrots. Place them on a baking sheet. Toss the carrots with some olive oil and salt. Roast for 20 minutes or until tender.
  • For the Chimichurri sauce: Wash and dry your carrot tops well before chopping them as they tend to have lots of dirt. Combine all the ingredients in the order they appear leaving the vinegar and olive oil for less. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Notes

Serve with roasted carrots, toasted bread, or over grilled flank steak.

 

Hot weather calls for cold noodles

Oriental Cold Noodles for dealiciouscooking.com

It’s searing hot and it has been that way for a while. The kids are perpetually cranky, the dog doesn’t know what to do with himself and even my tropical self can take this weather anymore.

Cold noodles are just perfect for lunch or dinner when the last thing you want to do is stand over a hot stove. They’re easy to cook, delicious eaten straight out of the fridge and the perfect leftover to pack in the kid’s lunchboxes.

For these recipe I used the veggies I had available (spinach, celery, tomatoes and green onions) but anything goes. The noodles were regular Barilla angel hair but it can be done with any type of noodles oriental or not.

Start by chopping the veggies and mixing it in a large bowl.

Cold Oriental Noodles for dealiciouscooking.com

Prepare the dressing while the noodles are cooking.

Cold Oriental Noodles for dealiciouscooking.com

Rinse the cooked noodles with water until cold. Mix noodles, veggies and dressing. Refrigerate for at least one hour allowing the noodles suck in all the flavors. Eat it straight out of the fridge. Repeat!

Cold Oriental Noodles

Dominique for dealiciouscooking.com
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Cuisine Fake Asian

Ingredients
  

  • For the noodles:
  • 4 cups chopped fresh raw vegetables: spinach celery,snow peas, bell peppers, scallions
  • 16 ounces Chinese egg noodles or long pasta like linguine or angel hair
  • For the dressing:
  • 1 small garlic clove minced or crushed
  • 2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons agave syrup or 1 tbsp sugar
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of water
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • Sriracha or Tabasco sauce to taste optional

Instructions
 

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Prepare the vegetables: wash, trim, peel as necessary and cut into sizes and shapes of your choice. Mix in a large bowl.
  • Cook the noodles in the boiling water until tender but not mushy. When they’re done, drain and rinse with cold water. Reserve.
  • Whisk together the dressing ingredients.
  • Toss the cold noodles and veggies; top with sauce and stir to coat.
  • Refrigerate for one hour before serving.

Notes

This dressing goes wonderfully with chopped salads too!

 

Because we love curry

Eggplant Potato Curry with Brown Rice and Turmeric Indian Celery Seeds Marinated Chicken Breast. Last night’s dinner.

For the Curry you’ll need:

1 diced potato, 1 diced eggplant, 1 onion, 1 jar of Seeds of Change Jalfrezi sauce (find $1.00 off coupon at MamboSprouts.com)

Sauté the sliced onion in 1 tbsp of canola oil. Add potato and eggplant. Sauté for 5 minutes and add sauce with 1/2 cup of water. Let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

For the Chicken Marinate:

Juice of 1 Lime, 1tbsp Turmeric, 1 tbsp Celery seeds, 1 tsp granulated onion, salt (1 1/2 tsp per chicken breast approximately), 1 hour marinating. Pan fry or grill it.

If you interested to try this simmer sauce, get a $1.00 coupon at MamboSprouts.com or look for the Mambo Sprouts coupon book at Sprouts or Whole Foods. I’ve tried 3 different simmer sauces from Seeds of Change and they’re delicious (and organic).

No, I don’t get paid to blog about any products and even if I did I would never rave about something I don’t like. Poor quality or nutritional value is not included on this blog recipes, pics or links (except for Twinkies which I plan to try for the first time one of these days and definitely blog about!)

Cheers!

Until tomorrow

I took the kids for a treat at YogurtLand this afternoon at the Riviera Village and stoped by Petit Casino to buy a fresh baguette. I confess I’ve never bought or tried anything but their French baguettes which are always fresh.  It’s the best dang baguette in the SoBay.

I tried to gather some of the loose items in the fridge and came up with this for dinner:

ARUGULA SALAD W/ PAPAYA SESAME HONEY VINAIGRETTE  (I bought papayas at Costco last week and after eating papaya for breakfast almost everyday it was time for our last solitary super-ripe papaya to meet a different destiny. I started putting ingredients together and it worked. Here is the recipe in case you find yourself with one too many papayas in the fridge.)

PAPAYA VINAIGRETTE

1 ripe papaya, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp of  each one of these items: sesame oil, canola oil, apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, honey, orange juice and water. Blend it with a blender or hand mixer. Taste. Make it your own… add more honey if you prefer sweeter dressing, more soy sauce if you need more saltiness or cayenne pepper if you like it sweet and HOT!

KIDS DINNER

OUR DINNER  (Fresh made balsamic onion relish, Canadian Bacon, leftover steamed spinach and a fried egg on top to keep things warm. Why a fried egg? Why not?)

BALSAMIC ONION RELISH (Try it on toasted bread topped with goat cheese for a sweet and creamy appetizer)

1 sweet onion diced, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp of lemon if available. Saute onion in olive oil on low heat until transparent (approximately 12 min. Do not brown the onions. Use very low temperature). Add sugar and caramelize it (saute until brown). Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on medium heat until all the liquid evaporates and the onions take on a jelly-like consistency. The slower it cooks the better consistency you’ll achieve.

Food shopping tomorrow anyone? Come back for local deals. Share your weekly menu suggestions here.