When Salad is Not Enough...

Now that this whole "Paleo-diet" thing is taking hold like South Beach, or Atkins, or the Zone were a few years ago, it occurs to me that I really do not want to eat like a cavewoman. Likewise, I have no desire to bash someone over the head with a club so I can steal their fire. No, I want to eat like a civilized person and cook on a stove.  Freshly killed, grilled meat and leaves don't always cut it. That being said, I've been in search of sides that don't eat like vegetables, but that do not involve grains or potatoes or plantains or yucca root.  Enter any vegetable baked with cheese or cream. You can pretend its starchy potato-y, polenta-y mess. Obviously, you don't want to turn on your oven when it's 90 degrees out. But the way this summer is going, you've probably got another few weeks of baking left.

Baked Squash with Two Cheeses

8 smallish medium summer squash, I like half zucchini, half yellow squash, sliced lengthwise in quarters, then sliced into little quarter circles.
1 vidalia onion, diced
1 1/2 cups fresh grated cheddar cheese
1 8-oz. container sour cream (full fat is best)
1 tsp garlic powder (I know...it's not the real thing, but there's so much going on here it's ok, really.)
1/2 tsp salt
2 lge eggs
1/2. c.fresh grated parmesan
Butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 baking dish. I like glazed terracotta,but you can use pyrex if you wish. Combine the cheddar, sour cream, garlic, salt and eggs until well mixed in a large bowl.  Combine with the chopped veggies.  Spoon evenly into the buttered baking dish and top with the parmesan cheese.  Bake, covered with foil for 1 hour. Then uncover, raise the temp to 400 and bake for another 15 minutes or so until the top and edges are nicely browned.

Turnips Au Gratin

This recipe is for graduates only....those of you who have been avoiding all root vegetables per you doctor for 6 months to a year. This is so worth the wait. 

2 cups heavy cream
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1/8 tsp cayenne (just a dash really)
1 tsp coarse salt
1/4 c. butter, cut into small chunks.
1 large turnip or two smaller turnips (about 2 lbs.)
1 1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese

Peel the turnip and cut it in half. Now put each half on its flat side and finely slice it. You're looking for 1/8 inch slices if you can, but definitely no thicker than 1/4 inch. If you have a mandolin that is sharp enough and wide enough to accomodate your turnip, fan-tastic! I don't have one; I use a knife. Put the slices aside.
Now heat the cream, garlic, cayenne and salt in a small saucepan over med-high heat.  Once it comes to a slow boil, turn it off and let is sit while you layer the turnip into a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Grease the bottom of the baking dish and put in one layer of turnips.  Dot the turnip with butter and 1/2 c of parmesan cheese. Repeat with a second layer.  Now put a third layer of turnips on top and pour all of the cream mixture over the turnips.  Finish with the last 1/2 c of parmesan cheese. 
Bake, covered in foil, for about 45 minutes at 375 degrees.  Then uncover and continue for another 20 minutes, until the top starts to get a toasty color and the edges brown slightly.  Check it with a butter knife to see if the turnips are done.  Let it cool for a bit so the cheese sets and it doesn't slide all over the place like an overly-saucy lasagna.  Yum. 

This is also really good with jarlsberg cheese instead of parm. And if you're feeling really naughty, you can chop up some prosciutto and dot it between the layers with the cheese.

Strip Steak with Hot Lime Honey Coleslaw....Mmmm Hmmm

Yum. Just finished supper and it's a keeper. My experiments are not always well received and I sometimes have to go back to basics. But I'm sure not all of Edison's inventions worked the first time.  This one did. 

I was going through old recipes this afternoon to decide which ones will make it into my never-ending cookbook project, which ones need revamping, and which ones just need to get scrapped, when I found one for an Asian flavored strip steak I haven't made in a long time. I haven't made it in a long time because I can't eat any of the ingredients in the marinade. It's got soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar in it. Any one of those items is pretty much a guarantee I'd need a handful of Benadryl and a possible a trip to the emergency room. And the slaw that usually accompanies it uses more vinegar and simple syrup, at which point I'd probably have to get out the Epi-Pen. So, a revamping was definitely in order! Here it is:

Hot Lime Honey Coleslaw
1 small head of purple cabbage, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchstick sized strips
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp honey
juice of 2 limes
Salt to taste

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large saute pain. Add the cabbage and carrots. Let the veggies go for at least 5 minutes over high heat, stirring frequently to make sure the cabbage cooks evenly. The point is to soften it and brown the edges slightly.  If you find that it's browning too fast and the carrots are not cooking fast enough, reduce the heat to low and cover it for five minutes to steam.  You want the cabbage to retain a bright purple color tinged with white and the browning on the edges.While it is cooking, mix the honey and lime juice in a small bowl or measuring cup.   Remove the veggies from the heat and toss with the dressing and salt to taste. 

Strip Steak
1 1/2 lb. thin cut sirloin, trimmed of excess fat and cut into six 4-oz. pieces
2 or 3 Tbsp olive oil, plus a little more for the pan
1 tsp salt
juice of 1 lime
2 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed

Put the pieces of steak in a nice big ziploc and add in the other ingredients.  Seal it, mix it up really well and stick it into the fridge for an hour or so. Less time is fine if you're in a rush, but you might want to throw in the juice of an extra lime to pack the flavor if you can't marinate it for very long. After you get the veggies going, get a well seasoned saute pan nice and hot with a little more oil over fairly high heat.  Cook the steaks in the pan for about 4 minutes per side, season with salt to taste and serve over the hot slaw.