I need advice.

Guess what I got on my birthday... Pumpkin pancakes!!  Did I mention my research team makes the best pancakes?  :) 


I think this is the recipe he used.  They were so good.  I forgot to take a picture of them though, so here is a picture of the pancakes he made me for Mother's Day instead (these are his usual whole wheat pancakes):

Hee hee, cute right?

Well anyways, this pumpkin pancake recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin puree, and makes at least 12 pancakes (I think we ended up with 14).

So the whole reason I am writing this post is to ask a question... does this recipe belong on my hidden vegetable blog?  Or, lets say, a zucchini or pumpkin bread recipe?  What about carrot cake?  Should the food have to be healthy to count?  Or should it just have to have vegetables in it?   In the case of these pancakes, is 1 cup of pureed vegetables enough considering the amount of syrup?  

I keep going back and forth about it.  It goes like this:

One side of me says "if it has hidden vegetables-count it!  That's the idea!"
The other side of me says "well, the idea is to make healthier meals, and if we weren't going to eat cake in the first place, then eating carrot cake isn't healthier."
But then the first side of me says "but carrot cake is better for you than chocolate cake!"
And the second side says "is it?"

Well, it isn't quite zucchini and pumpkin season yet, so I can procrastinate this debate a little longer, but what do you think?   And for the record, my chocolate birthday cupcakes were puree-free.

Soup on a rainy day

It was raining and cold, so what do we need for dinner... Soup!  

I will be honest here, I'm not sure this recipe belongs on my "hidden vegetable" blog, because many soups really are made with pureed vegetables and we know it.  Cream of potato for example.  Mash some potatoes, make into soup.  So basically, this is going on the blog because it has lots of pureed cauliflower in it, and so far, pureed cauliflower has been sort of the theme.

So here we go:

3 cups pureed cauliflower
1 cup frozen onions
1 cup water
2 cups chopped carrots (into circles, you know?)
2 cups chopped little red potatoes
1/2 cup onion and chive cream cheese (I chose that amount because it was all that was left in the container)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
salt, pepper, parsley

I started with the cauliflower and onions on the stove, realized it was going to be too thick, and added the water.  Then I added everything else and cooked until carrots and potatoes were soft.   I think I am forgetting something... oh yeah!  Sausage.  You know those ones that are shaped like a U?  Mmmm, did I mention it was cold and rainy?  At the end I added 2 cups chopped sausage.

So it was pretty thick, maybe next time I'd add more water or milk.  Also maybe I'd experiment with some additional seasonings.  Or maybe more onions.  When I say it like that, it sounds like it was bland, but it wasn't bland, I guess I just felt like it needed something else.  Next time I am going to measure the amount of salt, pepper, and parsley instead of just sprinkling it in.  (Am I ever going to learn to measure?)

Although, I am eating the leftover's for lunch right now, and I really like it!  Maybe it just needed to sit overnight.

Here are some pictures:

I sprinkled more parsley on top, to make it so pretty.  I learned that from Chef Ramsey, presentation matters!  (Ever watch Hell's Kitchen?  Jillian should have won last season.)

 

Yep, those are my mom's biscuits, also perfect for a rainy day... or any day!!  They are my favorite, but no matter what I do, I just can't make them as good as hers. :)   (Pay no attention to the old burnt cookie pan...)

The Verdict:

The research team had the same sort of response that I did.  "More pepper."  But then after eating it, he said he thought it would also be good as a chowder, all I would have to do is add clams.  Sometimes I think my research team has better ideas than I do!

The bottom line is that pureed vegetables are easy to make into soups that are very tasty, and you can make them however you want.  Which is why I think I felt like it was cheating to put it up on the the blog!  One that I made last year was a pureed pumpkin and onion... I've been meaning to have my research team make some pancakes (he makes the best pancakes) with the pumpkin I have, but if this rain keeps up.... 

Dip #1 - Sour cream green chili dip

My family loves sour cream green chili dip.  This one:

Mmmmm.  Give me some blue corn chips, and if I close my eyes I will believe I am at home in my parents kitchen.

Unfortunately, as with most dips, it is not the most healthy thing we could eat.  Okay, it's not healthy at all, but the green chili's are vegetables, right?

So this was a side, by side, by side comparison.

Bowl #1    The green chili dip out of the container
Bowl #2    Half the green chili dip and half pureed cauliflower
Bowl #3    1 cup pureed cauliflower, 1 cup pureed white beans, 1 can green chili's

For the record I will say right now, DO NOT MAKE DIP #3.  It was not good.  So now I am going to have to try and salvage it as something else.... but that is another day!

Here is a picture of all three dips:

The top one is the original, the bottom left is the the original with cauliflower, and we will not discuss the bottom right. 

So, actually, mixing pureed cauliflower with the sour cream dip worked out perfectly.  It was not as thick, and not as spicy as the original sour cream dip, but it was still good. 

We were doing the experiment with corn chips, but interestingly, the research team got out carrots to dip with, and proceeded to clean the bowl of half dip half cauliflower.   So... it may be better as a veggie dip (ha, dip your cauliflower in more cauliflower) than a chip dip. 

The Verdict:

The research team, as stated above, thought it might be better as a veggie dip, and wondered if there was a way to make it spicier... which I imagine there is.

I like the idea of halving the amount of fat in creamy dips, so this is something I think we will do again.  And maybe at a party, to see if anyone notices... ;)    Anyone want to come to our place for the super bowl next year?  By then I'll have these recipes all nailed. 

I also think it'd be possible to do the same thing with ranch dressing, or blue cheese... any of the creamy dressings.  I'm definitely going to try it!   Because really, who can only eat a little bit of ranch dressing?!

This is hilarious

Tonight I made some cauliflower puree, and as I was looking for a Tupperware to store it in, I came across the perfect one:

Although, if anyone is going to forget what it is and try and use it to top a cake, it's me.  ;)   (While I like to hide vegetables, I'm not going that far.   If I'm eating cake, it's going to have my favorite homemade frosting!)

Eggcellent (tee hee, I'm so funny)

Credit for our delicious and healthy meal this morning goes to Liz, thank you for such a great idea! 

This morning I added pureed vegetables to our scrambled eggs.  I didn't have any cauliflower already pureed, which would have been my first choice, so I used pumpkin and tomato.  Both puree's are only the vegetable, no added water or milk.   

4 eggs
3 tablespoons tomato puree (remember how I don't like to measure?  well this one is pretty accurate because the tomato puree is pretty juicy)
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree (this puree is much thicker, so they were very heaping tablespoons... probably more like 4-5 tbls)
Some milk  (yikes, I didn't even try to measure the milk...I need to work on this!)
salt and pepper
I also added chopped asparagus and green pepper to the eggs.  So many vegetables! 

We almost always have green chili's in our eggs, but I wanted to know if we would taste the pureed vegetables, so I didn't put it in.  But green chili would be great for hiding extra vegetable flavor if it needed it.

To be honest, the tomato puree wasn't exactly hidden.  There were small pieces of tomato skins still visible, which you can see here in the picture of it as it cooked.  The tomato puree is leftover from the family secret tomato sauce we made last fall, and I leave the skins on.   (By the way, the tomato sauce is the best.  Ever.  So good.  I highly recommend it if you make your own.)  

Add some sharp cheddar cheese to the top, and voila!

We both over ate this morning, I think this would easily serve 3.  Unless you like to eat a lot, as we did, then it only serves 2. 

The Verdict:

The research team could not taste the pumpkin, and get this, didn't even get the Cholula out.  So it must have been good!

I hope I always have puree available when we have eggs, because it is so easy to just add it in.  I will say, that I still have some turnip greens, and I thought about making 'green' eggs and ham... but we didn't have any ham.  ;) 

I am excited about my next idea:  Dips!  Vegetables in our chip dip, yep, but hold the phone...  vegetables in our veggie dip!!  I'm out of control.

ps.  I've been feeling the need to say this.  I am not a health freak.  I am health conscious, I try and make smart decisions, but I also eat Taco Bell.  This is just an effort to eat more vegetables.  Let me put some perspective on this.  Right now I am eating one of those frozen Tina's burritos... the one's with crack in them to make you want them every day for lunch?  So good.  :)

Mmmmm, Macaroni and Cheese

After the green hamburgers, I needed some success, so where did I turn?  Macaroni and cheese!  You just can't beat macaroni and cheese.  I could probably find a whole blog that is dedicated to only macaroni and cheese recipes (Oooh, I should look!  Anyone know of one?).  And it is perfect for hiding pureed vegetables.  So here is my first attempt....

While the noodles cooked...  (just over 1 cup uncooked noodles)

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup shredded colby/jack cheese (that is just what we had in the fridge)
1 heaping spoonful cream cheese (to help it be creamier?)
Pepper

I melted it all until it was smooth, then added the cooked macaroni.  I thought it tasted a little pumpkiny, so I threw an extra 1/2 cup of cheese on top and baked it for a few minutes.

:)  I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but here are some of the process...

Oh, I also added peas before I baked it.  More veggies!  Plus I think it looks prettier.  ;) 

I thought it tasted great!  It was creamy and yummy.

The Verdict:

The research team thought the texture was 'different', and liked the baked cheese on the top the best.  Interestingly, he could not guess the vegetable.  

I have three ideas for future mac n cheese:

1.  Use sharp cheddar cheese, stronger flavor will cover the veggies better
2.  Use several different veggies to even out the flavor (next I think I will try pumpkin, tomato, cauliflower)
3.  Add canned salmon... fish flavor dominates everything!  (plus it's so good for us)

I am already looking forward to making more mac n cheese!!

ps.  You will all be happy to know, that I did not put any turnip greens in my brownies.  ;)

It isn't easy being green.

So, those turnip greens I bought.  My great idea this time was to hide them in hamburgers.  Well, lets just say, they aren't very hidden!  

I'm sorry, I have to laugh... I didn't think this at the time, but in the close up picture it kind of looks like horse manure!!   Luckily, they didn't taste like it...  :)   It's kind of funny though, they look normal on the outside, but you'd take one bite, see the green, and think "what the heck is this?!"

I pureed a whole 'bunch' of turnip greens with one cup of water.  (afterword I thought that it was too much water)  It made about 2 cups of very green puree.

I took 1 lb of ground beef, the usual seasonings... salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, some garlic powder, some barbeque sauce... ummm, I think that is all.

I mixed in the puree, and it turned it so green!  Right then I thought "oh man, these are going to taste like grass!"

As you saw, I made them anyway, and while we could taste the greens, it wasn't too bad (as in, it didn't taste like grass).  It had sort of a 'bite' to it.  Which one can expect in turnip greens.  Maybe in the future I'd only do half a cup of puree?
 
The Verdict:
And I quote.  "You could call them alien burgers.  Or dinosaur burgers."

Which, actually is not a bad idea at all.  We do have a son, who will one day have a dinosaur birthday party, so I just might have to make these again.  ;)

The only problem is that I still have a cup of turnip green puree... only now I am afraid to use it!   What do you think about putting it in a boxed brownie mix, adding mint extract, and trying to pass them off as mint chocolate brownies!?    (I just realized that no one is ever going to trust my cooking.   Muaahhahhahh....)

Caulifredo!

Success!   We didn't have fettuccine, so we had it with tortellini's, but it was very good.  So here's what I did:

Cauliflower puree:  one head of cauliflower, one cup of skim milk in the blender

Then I took out one cup to save for something else (plus I was pretty sure I wasn't going to put it all in the alfredo!)

To what was left in the blender (which I think is about 2 cups puree) I added 4 tablespoons of onion and chive cream cheese (the 1/3 the fat version - I grabbed it on accident, but it still tasted good).  Remember how I said I didn't like to follow recipes?  I also don't like measuring anything.  So these were not exact tablespoons...  I added the cream cheese to try and make the puree creamy and smooth.  It worked.

Then I started the alfredo on the stove... (and here I actually followed the recipe so I could honestly put it up on my blog)

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded parmesan, romano, and asiago (it's a kraft combination...  you know, like the parmesan you sprinkle on spaghetti?)
season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and basil

Then I added...get this... 2 cups of the cauliflower puree!  And we couldn't taste it at all.  It was so good.  I was shocked at how cheesy it was with only 1/4 cup and the cream cheese.  It was a little thicker than alfredo sauce, so in the future I think I might add more milk or water to thin it out.

Also, in the future, I think I will serve it with broccoli or asparagus, or maybe a salad... then we would almost meet the 3/4 of our plate should be vegetables goal.  

I think it would serve 4.  We each had a serving and there are 2 servings leftover for lunch tomorrow.

Here is a picture:  (oh, green onions on top make it so pretty...)

The verdict:

The research team nodded with a smile of approval and two thumbs up.



Hmmm... what to do next?   I bought some leafy greens (chard or turnip greens or something... the labels were unclear, so I just picked the one that looked the freshest) for hiding, but I am not sure what to hide them in.   I will just have to let the creative juices flow!