JuBella.com – Get Your Creative Dose

This past Sunday I roasted a chicken that was flavored with lavender and glazed with fig preserves. I knew that I wanted something comforting and cheesy to go with it but I also knew that I did not want it to be macaroni and cheese. Most people love macaroni & cheese, but I’m just not that big of a fan! So, I decided that my comfort dish would involve cauliflower, portobello mushrooms, butter, and lots of cheesy goodness! It was quite fantastic and you know you have a winner win the 7 year old says: “that was so good, that was better than macaroni and cheese”…lol.

I simply boiled some cauliflower in salt water and once tender I took them off the stove, added lots of butter, a tad more salt, fresh black pepper, shredded monterey jack & cheddar and crumbled up some portobello mushrooms. Stirred it all together, put them in small ramekins and baked them until the cheese was bubbly! You should definitely give this a try, it’s scrumptious and just as comforting as traditional macaroni and cheese!

So, just the other night I prepared a great dish for the family that involved some orzo stuffed tomatoes. I served it alongside a shrimp ceasar salad (psst..I made the ceasar dressing myself..this was the first time making a creamy dressing, and I was so excited…the hubby loved it!) Ok, so back to the orzo. After cooking the orzo in salted water, I seasoned it with the following ingredients:

Garlic powder
Pesto
Marinara
Blackened sun dried tomatoes, julienne cut(sear tomatoes in some olive oil until blackened and crisp)
Olive oil
Dash of salt
Crushed basil
Feta Cheese
Red wine

I must say that the red wine really topped it off. It brought out ALL of the flavors and the sweetness from the tomatoes. This is definitely a dish that I will be making again! You will want to cut the tops and the bottoms slightly off some large steak tomatoes. Rub them all over w/ a bit of olive oil and bake them in the oven on 350 degrees & for a few minutes I put it under the broiler to get a mice “roasted” effect along the edges of the tomatoes(be sure that you so not leave it under the broiler or baking for too long as your tomatoes could burst)! Then stuff with your seasoned orzo. This meal is truly delish and is vegetarian friendly also, but you can easily add some roasted chicken breast to the orzo to make it more filling. Bon Appetit!

Oh my, yes, I have missed my Monday routine, but all is not lost because we still have Tuesday afternoons! I ran across this recipe from the lovely Heidi Swansons: 101 Cookbooks and thought I just have to try this next week! It’s an Artichoke Dip recipe made with silken tofu! It looks so good. I would probably add a bit more cheese to mine, and I wish I had some cute mini iron “pots” to serve mine in!

Click here for the recipe!