Anise Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

6 c  chicken broth

1 c worcestershire sauce

4 ts anise seeds

3 ts Chinese 5 spice powder

3 c  uncooked rice

3 lb chicken tenders

1 tb sesame oil

Directions:

Cut chicken into 1-inch chunks, and fry in sesame oil over high heat,

until no longer transparent. Add chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, anise,

Chinese 5 spice, and rice. Bring to a boil, and then lower heat. Cook

over medium heat until liquid is all absorbed.

          

Olive Tapenade over Pasta

Spanish olives was something I use to pick out of the salad when we had company. My sister use to put the black ones on her fingers, but to me, the green were more tasty. I loved the pimento center. Delicious. Since I am an olive and pasta lover, I thought why not combine the two. I have eaten this cold and water and both were very good. Its just a matter of your preference.

Ingredients:

3 cups of Spanish olives (the ones with the Pimentos inside) if you don't like them just the green will do

3 large garlic cloves

1 large bunch of fresh parsley

1 cup of olive oil

juice from 1 lemon

1 lb. of pasta, I used springs

Directions:

Bring water to boil and cook pasta. In the meantime, add all ingredients except the olive oil to a food processor and begin to pulse adding in the oil slowly. When all is combined, add to a medium size fry pan to heat through if you are serving hot.

When pasta is cooked, drain and add in olive mixture, toss well and serve. Definitely serve with some crusty bread. What a treat from the regular pasta toppings.

Red Hot Chicken Bites

Ingredients:

3 lb. boned chicken breasts

1/8 tsp. garlic salt

2 T. red pepper

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 C. flour

Vegetable oil

Directions:

Cut chicken breasts lengthwise into 1-inch pieces. Sprinkle garlic salt freely

over chicken, turning pieces so each is coated. Continue with red, then black

pepper. Set aside for 1 hour to let chicken absorb flavor. Dust chicken with

flour, then deep fry in oil at 375ºF for 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Serve

warm or cold.

Vietnamese Sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup carrot, peeled and grated

1/3 cup thinly sliced white onion

1 to 2 tablespoons jalapeno chile, finely chopped

1 - 16" long baguette

4 teaspoons low-fat mayonnaise

3/4 pound cooked chicken breast or pork tenderloin, sliced

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Directions:

With chef's knife, mash garlic and salt into a paste. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add vinegar and sugar, stirring to dissolve. Add carrots, onions and chilies. Toss to coat. Set aside. Slice baguette into 4 equal lengths. Split each piece horizontally. Spread cut sides with mayonnaise. Arrange the meat on the 4 bottom halves. sprinkle with lime juice and 5-spice powder. Top with the carrot salad and a shower of cilantro leaves. Cover with bread tops and serve.

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Lemon Ice - Granita al limone

Granitas can be served as a palate cleanser between courses, or as a refreshing snack, or a light after dinner dessert. This is a favorite of mine which I make all year long, It is very refreshing on a warm day.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Place the sugar and the water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir often until the sugar is dissolved.. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it boil for about 1 minute until the syrup is sparklingly clear. Let the syrup cool to room temperature. Pour the lemon juice through a fine sieve to catch any small seeds and pulp. Once the lemon juice has been sieved, add it to the syrup and mix together. Pour into a shallow glass or other non-reactive baking dish and place in the freezer.Scrape up the ice mixture with a fork after 20 minutes. It should be starting to freeze and be somewhat slushy at this point. leave in the freezer another 20 to 30 minutes, and scrape up the mixture again with the tines of a fork. Repeat twice more or until it has the texture of shaved ice, and serve.

This ice can also be served while it is still somewhat slushy. A great way to serve this is in a 2 piece serving set with ice in the lower bowl, and the granita in the top piece.

Reader Submitted Recipe

A Tuscan Table

DeAnna Johnson

DeAnna Johnson Website

Chickpea Salad

Cold salads are great for the hot summer months. Beans for one are also very good for you. Chickpeas are something I love to add in my soups, salads, with pasta and just love to pick on them. Give this one a try. Add different spices to it to make it your own.  This is my version.

Ingredients:

1 can of chickpeas, drain and rinse

1 small can of black pitted olives

1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes

1 small red onion, sliced

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Directions:

This is very simple to make. Empty all ingredients in a bowl that you would like to serve in or container. Blend well and refrigerate until cold and serve. So simple, so easy and so very yummy. To use this recipe as a spread on crackers or bread. Omit the tomatoes and give a few pulses in the food processor and there you go, a chickpea spread. Again, simply delicious.

 

 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients: 

1/3 cup ground Italian sausage

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

3/4 tablespoon garlic salt

3 tablespoons grated Romano cheese

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/3 cup Italian-style dry bread crumbs

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 Bell Peppers (your choice of color) cored and seeded

Directions:
Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown.
Drain, crumble and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, mix together the sausage, cream cheese, garlic salt, romano cheese, oregano, basil, bread crumbs and olive oil. Stuff the peppers with the sausage mixture. Place on a baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes, until the stuffing is lightly brown and bubbly.

     

Couscous Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked couscous

1 tablespoon butter

1 red onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup toasted sliced almonds

1/2 cup canned chick peas, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup creamy salad dressing

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place 1 teaspoon butter in a saucepan and melt over medium-low heat. Add 1/2 cup couscous and stir until coated in butter. Add 1 cup water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until all water is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper, set aside to cool. In a salad bowl, combine the couscous, red onion, bell pepper, parsley, raisins, almonds and chick peas. Stir and mix well. Whisk together the salad dressing, yogurt, cumin, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over salad; stir until well blended, chill and serve.

Big Pink Drink

Ingredients:

1 oz. coconut rum

1 oz. grenadine syrup

6 oz. milk

Directions:

Pour rum over ice, fill with milk. Pour in a dash of grenadine to add a nice pink color.

Zucchini Slaw

Ingredients:

6 medium zucchini, grated (1 1/2 lbs)

2 teaspoons salt

1 large carrot, grated

1 sweet red pepper, julienne style

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 stalk celery, julienne style

2 tablespoons each chopped fresh dill and parsley

Dressing:

3/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon horseradish

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Combine zucchini and salt; toss well. Place in colander;

let stand for 30 minutes. Rinse under cold water; drain and

squeeze out excess moisture. Place zucchini in bowl and add

carrot, red pepper, onion and celery; toss well. Sprinkle

with parsley and dill. Combine mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar,

oil, honey, horseradish and pepper; stir into zucchini mixture.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Chocolate Martini

Chocolate is one of my favorite things and if it is yours, please remember that this is chocolate alcohol and not a cookie. These go down very easy.

This recipe makes 2:

 

Ingredients:

1 shot of Vanilla Flavored Vodka

1 shot of Chocolate Liqueur (25 oz. per bottle)

Chocolate shavings for top

If you have a shake combine both shots over ice and shake thoroughly. Pour into 2 martini glasses and top with shaved chocolate.

You can also dip the rim of the glass into chocolate powder for decoration as well. To do this, just dip the glass either into the vodka or liqueur and in very shallow dish dust with chocolate powder and dip glass into it and then pour in drink.

Salsa Cheese Burgers

Most of the time when I have a get together, I buy these big jars of salsa if I don't have time to make it myself and I always have a lot left. Burgers are one of my favorite things to eat and thought it would be a great idea to add my chop meat with a bang of flavor.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of chop meat

2 cups of salsa mix

pinch of salt and pepper

4 slices of cheese, your choice

Directions:

Add your meat, salsa, salt and pepper to a bowl. Mix well and make into 4 even size burgers. I usually put my burgers on the grill all year long, but you can certainly put them under the broiler. Cook them according to how you like to eat them. I like mine well done, yes, everyone screams when I do that. :) Serve up on a toasted roll with some sliced red onion and tomatoe and yummy to you!

 

 

Peppered Steak

This is a very simple Pepper Steak recipe when you need to put a quick meal together. Serve with rice or a salad and  you have a nice meal.

         

          Ingredients:

                 6  beef steaks, your choice of cut

                1 tsp. pepper

                1  tsp. salt

                3 tbsp. butter

                1 cup  olive oil

                1 cup of chicken broth

                1/3 cup of water

                1/3 cup of dry white wine

                ¼ cup of brandy

Directions:

Press freshly ground pepper into both sides of beef. Salt the beef to taste. Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet. When butter and oil are at frying temperature, sear steaks on both sides; then cook for about 5 minutes on each side. Put meat on heated platter. Add the wine, broth and water skillet. Stir and scrape to de glaze the pan. Add brandy. Simmer for 15 minutes and pour sauce over filets and serve immediately.

Seafood Lasagna

 I love that you can change up a classic to fit many different tastes. Seafood is just one of those things to make this warm comfort food into something extraordinary. I first had this in New York City when

                               

Ingredients:

1 onion - chopped

2 tbs. butter

3 cups of mozzarella cheese

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

2 teaspoons dried basil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1 egg

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/3  cup milk

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 pound scallops

1/2 shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles

1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese

            

Directions:

Cook the lasagna in a large pot of boiling salted water until al

dente and drain. In large pan sauté onion in the butter.

 In a bowl combine mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, basil, salt, pepper, egg and sautéed onions and set aside.

 

Combine the mushroom soup, milk and garlic. Stir in white wine, scallops and shrimp and set aside.     

To assemble lasagna layer bottom of greased pan and layer with lasagna noodles, seafood sauce, noodles, cheese mixture, noodles, seafood sauce, cheese mixture and noodles. Top the last layer with a good coating of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for at least 10 minutes. If you don’t it will be too hot and when you serve it will be all runny.                                                                          

 

Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups cold heavy cream 12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup coffee liqueur

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 (8-ounce) packages chocolate chip cookies

Shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, mascarpone, sugar, coffee liqueur, cocoa powder, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine and then slowly raise the speed, until it forms firm peaks.

To assemble the cake, arrange chocolate chip cookies flat in an 8-inch spring form pan, covering the bottom as much as possible. (I break some cookies to fill in the spaces.) Spread a fifth of the mocha whipped cream evenly over the cookies. Place another layer of cookies on top, lying flat and touching, followed by another fifth of the cream. Continue layering cookies and cream until there are 5 layers of each, ending with a layer of cream. Smooth the top, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Run a small sharp knife around the outside of the cake and remove the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the top with the chocolate, cut in wedges, and serve cold. 

Mushroom Lasagna with Bechamel Sauce

I have been craving pasta all week long, but was not in the mood to go grocery shopping so I just took what I had and made a vegetable lasagna with Bechamel Sauce. It turned out so good. As the summer time is coming to a close and so are all the fresh vegetables, why not make ahead and freeze. Good idea. I always make 2 lasagna's at once. Eat one and freeze the other.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of spinach lasagna

1 lb. of mushrooms, your choice, chopped

1 medium onion, sliced thin

6 slices of bacon

3 tbs. olive oil

salt and pepper

1 medium zucchini, sliced thin

2 1/2 cups of milk

3 tbs. flour

3 tbs. of butter

3 cups of shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Cook pasta and remove from water. Drizzle olive oil on the lasagnas so they dont stick while waiting to assemble.

In large fry pan heat the oil with bacon. Cook until crispy and remove (crumble bacon after cooling). Add in onions and zucchini. Cook until soft, about 10-15 minutes and then add in mushrooms.

In a different pot, you need to make the Bechamel Sauce. First you need to warm milk in separate sauce pan. Just heat through. Melt butter in pan and add in flour. Stirring constantly to incorporate. Add in milk, a dash of salt and pepper, cheese and the crumbled bacon. Heat through and remove.

Grease a 9x12 baking dish with spray or butter. You can layer any way you wish but I start with a coating of the bechanel sauce first, lasagna noodles and then the vegetable mixer. Fill this to the top and the last layer will be the bechamel sauce. Bake for 45-55 minutes at 350 degrees. Delicious.

 

 

Oreo cupcakes

Who doesn't love an Oreo? I still sneak a few and dunk them in a glass of cold milk. Oh so good. If you have a an Oreo fan in your home or want to dazzle someone with an easy cupcake try these.

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix and ingredients required

1 container of vanilla or white frosting

12 oreo's, crush

12 oreo's, whole

Directions:

Make the batter as indicated on box for 12 cupcakes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Empty frosting contents in medium bowl with crushed oreos (reserve 1 cup) and use hand mixer to combine well. Frost cool cupcakes with this mixture and roll cupcake sides in the crushed oreos. Top with a single oreo and serve with milk. So yummy.

 

 

Greek Mashed Potatoes

I have been on a feta cheese kick for a while now. There are not many people who do not love mashed potatoes. I have used cream cheese, cheddar cheese, mozzarella and a few other cheeses in my mashed potatoes and now feta cheese is next. I made these mashed potatoes smooth, but you can also make a chunky version.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of potatoes

2 cups of feta cheese

1/2 cup of greek yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup of milk

Directions:

Peel and cut potatoes into bite size pieces. Add potatoes to water and let boil for 45 minutes. Testing with fork. When you like the consistency, drain and return back to pot. Add in all ingredients and combine with hand mixer. Serve! You can also add red onions and olives; which I have done in the past. Lets mix it up!

Baby Lamb Chops

If you love baby lamb chops this is a very simple and tasty recipe. Since lamb usually has deep flavor already you do not want to overdo it.

Ingredients:

6 baby lamp chops

Tsp thyme

Directions:

On broiler pan, place baby lamb chops. Sprinkle with thyme on both sides. Broil for 2-4 minutes on each side.

Curry powder

Curry powder is a mixture of spices of widely varying composition based on South Asian Cuisine. Curry powder, and the contemporary English use of the word curry are Western inventions and do not reflect any specific Indian food, though a similar mixture of spices used in north India is called garam masala but curry powder is actually closer to the south Indian sambar powder. The word curry is widely believed to be a corruption of the Tamil word kari, variously meaning something like sauce, cooked vegetables or meat.

In the western world, curry powder mixtures tend to have a fairly standardized taste, though a great variety of spice mixtures are used in Indian cuisine.

Curry powder was largely popularized during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through the mass export of the condiment to the western table, throughout Europe and North and South America and through its use in British Army rations. Curry powder did not become standardized, as many of the original blends of curry powder were still available throughout the world. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a growth of Indian-based food consumption in the west and internationally. This led to an increase of Indian Restaurants throughout the world. The tradition of keeping special blends of curry powder simply became uneconomical, and curry powder became increasingly standardized outside India.

 

 

Indian cooks often have readier access to a variety of fresh spices than their foreign counterparts. Some curry cooks will have their own specific mixtures for different recipes. These are often passed down from parent to child.

Check out my Chicken Divan recipe it has curry in it and its delicious.

Blueberry Muffin Trifle

Have left over blueberry muffins from breakfast? This is an easy and delicious way to use them for dessert.

 

Ingredients:

1 blueberry muffin

1 cup frozen whip topping

1 cup raspberry jam

1 cup of blueberries

Directions:

I make this in individual sizes. Break up the blueberry muffin. Place a few pieces at bottom of parfait dish or bowl and layer with blueberries, jam and whip cream.

Makes a pretty presentation and its delicious.

Crustless Apple Pie Dessert

I grew up on eating Apple pie and I still love it to this day, but when there are many people to serve and you want something more than just a pie and a bigger splash of presentation, this is a good recipe to try. Its very simple and extra delicious.Makes 6.

Ingredients:

1 large can of apple pie filling

1 small container of whipped topping

1 box of instant banana pudding

Cinnamon

Directions:

In medium bowl prepare the instant banana pudding. In a large bowl combine 1/2 of the whipped topping and the instant pudding. In 6 individual dessert cups layer the apple filling, banana pudding cream, apple filling and then top with whipped topping and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and serve. Oh so good and your family and guests will love it.

Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box of banana cake mix, if you do not have that you can use yellow cake mix

2  Bananas, I prefer ones that have more black as they are sweeter

1 box of instant banana pudding

Direction:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cake as indicated on box. Remove bananas from skins and mash with fork, add to cake batter with the banana instant pudding. Blend well, for about 2 minutes with electric mixer.  As an option you can add walnuts to the batter, but she make sure someone with nut allergies is not going to be eating them.

If you do not have cupcake cups, makes sure to spray the cupcake tins.

Pour batter into cupcake cups and bake as indicated on cake box; usually for 30 or 35 minutes. 

 

 

Spicy Pecan Salad

Ingredients:

1 heart of romaine lettuce

red onion

1/8 cup crumbles blue cheese

2 oz. spicy pepper pecans (chopped)

4 teaspoons raspberry vinaigrette (per serving)

Toss romaine lettuce with raspberry vinaigrette and divide evenly on salad plates. Slice red onion paper-thin and layer to taste on top of the greens. Sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles and spicy pepper pecans to taste.

Spicy Pepper Pecans:

2 oz. or 1/2 cup of chopped pecans

3 teaspoons dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Rinse pecan pieces to dampen. Combine brown sugar and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Mix in damp pecan pieces and toss until thoroughly coated. Spread evenly on cookie sheet then place in preheated 400F oven and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until brown sugar is thoroughly melted on pecans. Remove and let cool.

Vegetable Platter Dip

Instead of chips and dip, serve up some vegetables for your guests.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of bacon

3 scallions, minced

2 containers of sour cream

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:

Fry or bake bacon until very crispy, but not burnt. When cooled place between paper towels and crumble. Empty sour cream into serving bowl and add in bacon, scallions, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Cut up vegetables or buy pre packaged. Refrigerate dip for 1 hour before serving.

Cook bacon and crumble into small pieces. Blend together bacon, sour cream, onions, garlic salt and Tabasco. Cover and store in refrigerator. Serve with vegetables to dip.

 

 

Cheescake Cupcakes

I love food and mostly I love desserts. If you are a lover of a cupcakes and cheesecake, this one will score big with you. I can make all these wonderful desserts, now if I could find a way to make them with no calories! Honestly, I am not sure how many calories are in this dessert, but they are not any bigger in portion size if you had a large cupcake or a slice of cheesecake.

The great part of this too, is that you can use any flavor cake mix you want. I love chocolate cupcakes, so this time I used chocolate, but have used carrot cake and red velvet.

Ingredients:

1 box of cake mix and ingredients indicated on box

1 1/2 cups of Raspberry preserves

2 bars of cream cheese

1 small container of whipped topping

1/2 cup of sugar

Directions:

Bake cupcakes as indicated on box. Only fill 1/4 of the way up, maybe 1-2 tbs. When done, let cool completely. In a bowl combine the raspberry preserves, cream cheese, whipped topping and sugar. Blend well. Place even amounts over the cupcakes and refrigerate for atleast 2 hours and serve. What an easy way to make something fancy out of a cupcake. 

Cauliflower

I think learning about different foods groups could be an important thing; especially when trying to get your kids to eat things that look kind of yucky. Making a game out of something you are eating can be fun for them and if its fun, they might even eat it. I eat cauliflower many different ways and over the colder months I will bring you some of my favorites, but for now as you know one of my favorite ways to eat things is with dip. Instead of chips and dip, eat cauliflower and dip. Yummy!

Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea, in the family Brassicaciae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head (the white curd) is eaten. The cauliflower head is composed of a white inflorescence meristem. Cauliflower heads resemble those in broccoli, which differs in having flower buds.

Its name is from Latin caulis (cabbage) and flower,. Brassica oleracea also includes cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, and collard greens, though they are of different cultivator groups.

For such a highly modified plant, cauliflower has a long history. Francois Pierre La Varenne employed chouxfleurs in Le cuisinier francois.They had been introduced to France from Genoa in the 16th century, and are featured in Olivier de Serres' Théâtre de l'agriculture (1600), as cauli-fiori "as the Italians call it, which are still rather rare in France; they hold an honorable place in the garden because of their delicacy", but they did not commonly appear on grand tables until the time of Louis XIV.

Major groups

There are four major groups of cauliflower.

Italian 

Diverse in appearance, and biennial and annual in type, this group includes white, Romanesco, various green, purple, brown and yellow cultivars. This type is the ancestral form from which the others were derived.

Northwest European biennial 

Used in Europe for winter and early spring harvest, this was developed in France in the 19th century, and includes the old cultivars Roscoff and Angers.

Northern European annuals 

Used in Europe and North America for summer and fall harvest, it was developed in Germany in the 18th century, and includes old cultivars Erfurt and Snowball.

Asian 

A tropical cauliflower used in China and India, it was developed in India during the 19th century from the now-abandoned Cornish type, and includes old varieties Early Patna and Early Benaras.

Varieties

Orange cauliflower

There are hundreds of historic and current commercial varieties used around the world. A comprehensive list of about 80 North American varieties is maintained at North Carolina State University.

Colors

Cauliflower plants growing in a nursery in New Jersey.

White 

White cauliflower is the most common colour of cauliflower.

Orange 

Orange cauliflower (B. oleracea L. var. botrytis) contains 25 times the level of vitamin A of white varieties. This trait came from a natural mutant found in a cauliflower field in Canada. Cultivars include 'Cheddar' and 'Orange Bouquet'.

Green 

Green cauliflower, of the B. oleracea botrytis group, is sometimes called broccoflower. It is available both with the normal curd shape and a variant spiky curd called Romanesco broccoli. Both types have been commercially available in the U.S. and Europe since the early 1990s. Green-curded varieties include 'Alverda', 'Green Goddess' and 'Vorda'. Romanesco varieties include 'Minaret' and 'Veronica'.

Purple 

Purple color in cauliflower is caused by the presence of the antioxidant group anthocyanins, which can also be found in red cabbage and red wine. Varieties include 'Graffiti' and 'Purple Cape'. In Great Britain and southern Italy, a broccoli with tiny flower buds is sold as a vegetable under the name "purple cauliflower". It is not the same as standard cauliflower with a purple curd.

Nutrition

Cauliflower, raw (edible parts)

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	103 kJ (25 kcal)
Carbohydrates	5 g
- Sugars	1.9 g
- Dietary fiber	2 g
Fat	0.3 g
Protein	2 g
Water	92 g
Thiamine (vit. B1)	0.05 mg (4%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2)	0.06 mg (5%)
Niacin (vit. B3)	0.507 mg (3%)
Pantothenic acid (B5)	0.667 mg (13%)
Vitamin B6	0.184 mg (14%)
Folate (vit. B9)	57 μg (14%)
Vitamin C	48 mg (58%)
Vitamin K	15.5 μg (15%)
Calcium	22 mg (2%)
Iron	0.42 mg (3%)
Magnesium	15 mg (4%)
Phosphorus	44 mg (6%)
Potassium	299 mg (6%)
Sodium	30 mg (2%)
Zinc	0.27 mg (3%)

Cauliflower is low in fat, low in carbohydrates but high in dietary fiber, folate, water, and vitamin C, possessing a high nutritional density.

Cauliflower contains several phtochemicals, common in the cabbage family, that may be beneficial to human health.

• Sulforaphane, a compound released when cauliflower is chopped or chewed, may protect against cancer.
• Carotenoids
• Indole-3-carbinol, a chemical that enhances DNA repair, and acts as an estrogen antagonist, slowing the growth of cancer cells.

Boiling reduces the levels of these compounds, with losses of 20-30% after five minutes, 40-50% after ten minutes, and 75% after thirty minutes. However, other preparation methods, such as steaming, microwaving, and stir frying, have no significant effect on the compounds.

A high intake of cauliflower has been associated with reduced risk of aggressive prostrate cancer.

Cooking

Cauliflower can be roasted, boiled, fried, steamed or eaten raw. Steaming or microwaving better preserves anticancer compounds than boiling. When cooking, the outer leaves and thick stalks are removed, leaving only the florets. The leaves are also edible, but are most often discarded. The florets should be broken into similar-sized pieces so they are cooked evenly. After eight minutes of steaming, or five minutes of boiling, the florets should be soft, but not mushy (depending on size). Stirring while cooking can break the florets into smaller, uneven pieces. Cauliflower is often served with a cheese sauce, as in the dish cauliflower cheese.

Low carbohydrate dieters can use cauliflower as a reasonable substitute for potatoes; while they can produce a similar texture, or mouth feel, they lack the starch of potatoes.

Cherry Pie Trifle

Ingredients:

1 package of lady fingers

1 large frozen whip topping

1 pkg. Instant vanilla pudding

1 can cherry pie filling

1 can spray whip

Directions:

Prepare pudding as indicated on package. Blend with frozen whip topping and set aside.Open lady fingers and can of cherries.Layer lady fingers in bottom of trifle dish or any type of deep glass dish. Next cover with cherry pie filling and top with of pudding/cream topping.

It’s best to chill for one hour and then make the little designs of whip cream. You can also just top with 1 small container of frozen whipped topping. It looks just as pretty and the taste is still amazing.