finding time for cooking

for the time-starved or curious culinary adventurer

Za’atar Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts, Dates, and Thyme

I am a well-known lover of cauliflower, but even I was surprised by how fervently I fell in love with this recipe.  I tried it kind of on a whim, just to mix things up from my normal grill foil packet cauliflower (which is bomb, and I’ve made literally every night for like four months).

But I took one bite and said out loud (in a room by myself), “OH MY WORD THIS IS AMAZING!”  My cats looked at me weird.  Whatever, they’re totally missing out.

Za'atar Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts, Dates, & Thyme | finding time for cooking blog

The flavor combo of this roasted cauliflower is crazy and intense.  It’s such a perfect blend of sweet, savory, crunchy, and earthy.  I would never have thought to pair really ANY of these together, but the result is absolutely sublime.

Za'atar Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts, Dates, & Thyme | finding time for cooking blog

And you know what’s bonus??  It’s super easy too.  There’s very little hands-on time, and it can all come together in under half an hour—basically the time it takes for the cauliflower to roast.  It makes a perfect side dish alongside simple things like grilled or baked chicken, and I’ve even had it as a lighter vegetarian dinner as well.

Za'atar Roasted Cauliflower with Pine Nuts, Dates, & Thyme | finding time for cooking blogREAD THE POST

Easy Side Dish: Fried Baby Potatoes

I moved away from home when I left for college, and only get back to Kansas once or twice a year.  Usually that’s around Thanksgiving, but on the rare occasions it happens to be during the summer, my mom invariably asks if there’s anything in particular I want to eat, and I invariably answer “grilled chicken and steak with fried baby potatoes”.

It’s our thing.

Easy Friend New (Baby) Potatoes | one of my favorite summer side dishes, super easy and fast, and soooo good! #potatoes #sidedish #summer

It’s nice that some things in life are consistent 🙂  This is barely a “recipe”, but I’ve never really had these quite the same anywhere else so I wanted to share how we do this.  The reason that summer is key is because we want to get fresh new potatoes if possible (red is best), and the key is SMALL.  Yes, you can make regular potatoes this way, but it’s only with smaller potatoes that you get the right ratio of buttery crispy goodness and soft fluffy innards.

Innards.  Mmm.

Fried New Potatoes doneREAD THE POST

Korean BBQ Cauliflower & Chickpeas (vegan, gluten-free)

I’ve been completely obsessed with this this recipe for a couple months now.  I’ve seriously made it three or four times in six weeks.  And I cook like…maybe once a week?

This dish is super healthy done right—it’s so delicious that you don’t feel like you’re giving something up, and so easy that you don’t have to work hard to convince yourself to make it.  Another bonus is that the main ingredients are really affordable, which isn’t always the case when using fresh, healthy ingredients.

Korean BBQ Cauliflower & Chickpeas | easy, delicious meatless recipe, healthy and naturally gluten-free, vegan dinner recipes, vegetarian dinner recipes #healthy #vegan #meatlessmonday

Given how hectic things have been lately, I’ve tried out a couple of meal prep delivery services to see if they would help me be better about cooking and eating healthier—rather than relying on UberEats.  I recently tried Terra’s Kitchen and focused on largely paleo and vegan recipes for my first box, to try and counteract the rest of my life.

This is a slightly adapted recipe of the first meal I made from them, and it was a WINNER!  If you are wanting to try out a meal delivery service that has a lot of really healthy, fresh options, you might give them a try.  This code will get you $40 off your first box (just a referral link, not a partnership of any sort).

Korean BBQ Cauliflower & Chickpeas | easy, delicious meatless recipe, healthy and naturally gluten-free, vegan dinner recipes, vegetarian dinner recipes #healthy #vegan #meatlessmonday

The star of this dish is the sweet, tangy, spicy sauce that coats everything.  But don’t underestimate how awesome the different textures are in combination—solid yet tender cauliflower, chewy chickpeas, crunchy peanut pieces.  Nom nom nommity nom!READ THE POST

Southern staple with a twist (Kale Mac & Cheese)

If my blog has established anything, it’s that I have a longstanding love of kale. I have no idea where it came from, since I never tried kale until about a year ago. But I was in love at first bite. I’m always pinning various kale salad recipes on Pinterest, knowing I probably won’t get around to trying them since making dressing and eating salads isn’t so much my thing. But the second I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it right away. First, because it had kale. Second, because I have been working up the courage to try that most comfort-y of Southern comfort foods—baked mac & cheese.

Real, baked mac & cheese isn’t something I grew up with. Mac & cheese in my family was made on a stove with Velveeta, and usually some hamburger or tuna thrown in. Delicious, but not the real Southern dish. I’ve been a little scared of making it myself, because I’ve never made a roux and worried about how it would turn out. After pinning like 30 different mac & cheese recipes, this one finally convinced me to take the plunge.

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Oven-Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

One of the surprises in my CSA box this week was a couple of giant sweet potatoes. I thought the seasonality was a little weird (those are a fall/winter veggie, no?), but was excited to get a chance to make my awesome sweet potato fries.

Now the thing to note about these sweet potato fries is that they’re softer, not crispy/crunchy. I’m going to try a new recipe soon that claims to make them crispy. But these are still delicious, healthy, and super easy to make.

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Cauliflower Leek Risotto

Risotto is one of my favorite authentic Italian dishes, and my absolute favorite to make myself when I have the time. You can’t rush risotto. It’s my “stress-relief” dish—pour a glass (or two) of wine, and stir and stir. The process of it is soothing.

One of the first recipes I pinned on Pinterest was for this cauliflower risotto with leeks. It’s a healthier version, since you get the additional vitamins, fiber, etc. from the cauliflower plus you use less rice, which is a simpler carb.

Cauliflower Risotto with Leeks | a delicious, healthier alternative to regular risotto, this is flavorful and easy to make | finding time for cooking blog

I’ll admit I was skeptical about the cauliflower. I’ve never made anything with cauliflower (I didn’t even know how to chop it!), and I was worried you’d lose the smooth awesomeness of risotto by adding the cauliflower in. I remained skeptical throughout the entire cooking process, but I was more than pleasantly surprised by the result. It was so delicious!

Look at all this healthiness you’re about to put inside you.

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Oven-Roasted Okra (possibly better than fried…sacrilege in the South)

Okra was a totally foreign concept when I moved to Georgia. I’m actually not sure I knew what it was, or that it even existed. But this is Georgia. And there are few things we do better than take healthy vegetables, soak them in batter, and fry them up. Since moving here several years ago, I’ve fallen in love with fried okra, but just can’t have it all that often. Sometimes I’ll buy a big container of fresh okra and pseudo-fry it (a little olive oil, some cornmeal mixture, and saute). Then Pinterest offered up this gem: roasted okra. I would never have thought of it, and let me tell you—it’s genius.

Roasted okra...healthier than fried and tastes just as good | finding time for cooking blog

A co-worker brought some okra from her garden into work, and so on a whim I snatched it all and tried roasting it.

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Roasted Multi-Colored Carrots (With Bonus Fingerling Potatoes & Summer Squash)

When I got my big CSA box o’veggies this week, I got a bit of a shock. You see, they’d told me I was getting carrots. What they didn’t tell me is that I was getting PURPLE carrots!

That’s right, purple carrots. And this farm girl’s going to admit that she’s never seen a purple carrot.

Normally I roast carrots (of the orange variety), but I wanted to see if there was anything earth-shattering I was missing out on. Lots of great ideas on different types of glazes/marinades to roast with, but the consensus was not to get too fancy.

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Variation of a staple (Sauteed Kale & Scallions)

I’ve made no secret about my love for kale in its many forms—particularly sauteed.  I make it basically every night. But tonight after work I stopped by a farmer’s market on Peachtree and (because I was dumb and didn’t bring my reusable grocery bag) grabbed all my arms can carry.  Including scallions.

And then when I got home I had to do research on what exactly a scallion is, and how to prepare it. But since I was so tired after a long week, I decided to start by sauteing some with my nightly kale side dish.

Didn’t take any more time, and added a little something different to my nightly routine.

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Twist on a classic carb (Fontina Scalloped Potatoes)

A couple weekends ago I visited my best friend in Dallas. I got in super early on Friday morning and, after some pool vegging, we decided we wanted to try a bunch of new recipes and cook a big fancy dinner for ourselves, her boyfriend, and her roommate.

While pasta is my default carb, she insisted that we needed some kind of cheesy potatoes. So after intensive Pinterest perusal, we found this recipe—and it was delicious! The fontina (or in our case, muenster because we couldn’t find fontina) and the fresh thyme really give this a cool flavor, a little different from your average scallopped potatoes.

Creamy Fontina Scalloped Potatoes | finding time for cooking blog

We paired these with chicken fried chicken, roasted asparagus, and sauteed kale.

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