Dutch Oven Roasted Cauliflower and other veggies

My wife showed me this one in a picture online several months ago. It sure looked impressive, and tasty. She and I have been trying to lose weight with Weight Watchers in the last few months, so we’ve been doing a lot with veggies in general and cauliflower in particular.

Roasting it this way looked so delicious and fancy, I knew I was going to try it. It turns out that it’s also very, very easy.

In this case, I took the opportunity to do this bake/roast as a side to some grilled chicken and pineapple. The whole meal was amazing.

12” Shallow Dutch oven
12 coals below
18 coals above

2 medium cauliflower heads
Oil, preferably a spray oil, but drizzling olive oil is good, too.
Your choice of seasonings. I used:
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Parsley
Oregano
A touch of cayenne powder

3 medium onions
Optional veggies:
2-3 carrots
2-3 stalks of celery
Fresh green beans


I started, as usual, by lighting up the coals. While they were getting hot, I prepared the veggies. I started by cutting the stalks and leaves off of the cauliflower heads. Then I set them into the Dutch oven and sprayed them with the oil spray. This will help both with the color when it roasts, and it will help the seasonings stick.

Then, I sprinkled on the seasonings as I thought of them. You can really do as you like with them. I kinda kept to a savory/herbal kinda thing. The paprika helped it to come out with a really dark red coating. Cumin, cinnamon, and turmeric, or even ground cloves would have helped it to have a more “curry-ish” flavor. I may try that someday.

I cut the onions in half, then quartered each half and tossed those into the bottom of the Dutch oven around the cauliflowers. The other veggies got sliced and added in as well, with a light dusting of salt

Then I set it out on the coals, as I listed above and let it bake. It was pretty breezy, so I had to replenish the coals about every 15 minutes. While it cooked, I turned my attention to grilling the chicken and the pineapple.

The recipe research I had done said to cook the cauliflower for an hour and 15 minutes. I did that, but in the end, it turned out to be a bit overdone. I would probably go about 45 minutes next time. I might do it with fewer coals, and make it a slower roast.

When it was time to serve, I cut each cauliflower head into quarter wedges and served it with some of the veggies scooped up and placed next to the chicken and pineapple slices.It made for a delicious and colorful plate!

Here's a shot of the chicken, just for fun.

Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Dutch Oven Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

My mom made Spaghetti squash a lot when I was a kid, so I’m pretty familiar with it. For those that aren’t, it’s a yellow winter squash, and after it’s cooked, the flesh is scraped off the rind.  When you do it, the flesh shreds into short strings and looks a lot like spaghetti. It has a slightly sweet taste with a crunchy texture.

My mom always served it up with some kind of marinara/meat sauce, and I liked it a lot.  I can remember one time, I had this “Ah-ha!” moment, and I blurted out to my mom, “They must have crossed a squash with spaghetti!”.  And as soon as I said it, I realized how dumb that was.

So much for “Ah-ha...”

Lately we’ve been trying to eat healthier, so we got a few squashes.  I did some research and found that there are a lot of ways that people use them.  Of course, there’s the traditional “italian” tomato sauces, as a main dish, but there are also those that use it as a side, and just apply butter, garlic and herbs.  Another cool thing is that it will keep on your counter top for weeks.

In this dish, I wasn’t really going for “healthy” because I used ordinary pork sausage, but even still, I figured that a full plate was only about 700-750 calories, including the parmesan and feta. That’s not bad for a main evening meal.  If you wanted to go even less, you could use ground turkey, and even spice it like a sausage.

 Another comment:  It was tricky to figure out how many spaghetti squashes to cook for how many people.  For some reason, the websites I looked at didn’t say, either.  I found that as a main dish, one squash will do a full plate for two people.  As a side, one spaghetti squash could probably serve three to four.

Dutch Oven Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

14” Deep Dutch oven (to cook two squashes)
16-18 coals below
20-24 coals above

12” Shallow Dutch oven
18-20 coals below

2 spaghetti squashes
olive oil
salt

1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions
About 6 mushrooms
1 green pepper
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
Salt
1 lb ground meat (I used sausage)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
oregano
basil
salt
pepper

Parmesan cheese
Feta Cheese

I started out by lighting up a lot of coals, because I’d be cooking both the squashes and the sauce side-by-side.  I cut the squash in two, lengthwise, using a butcher knife.  It was tough, so I went with the big blade!  I scooped out the seeds and the stringy guts and left the regular squash flesh in place.  I drizzled on some olive oil and some salt in each half, and put them into the oven, upside down.  I cut open the second one and did the same.  Actually, I had some of the pieces the other way, like a bowl, and the moisture got trapped as it cooked, and made for runnier “noodles”.

The squash had to cook for a long time.  In retrospect, I would consider pre-heating the Dutch oven, while getting everything ready.  That would have cut down on the time a bit.  Once the squashes were in place, it was just a matter of maintaining the heat, for about an hour and a half.

In the meantime, I made the sauce.  It’s a pretty straightforward spaghetti meat sauce, and if you wanted to, you could even use bottled sauce.  But I made my own.

I started off with coals under my 12” Dutch oven, heating up a bit of olive oil.  I sliced the mushrooms and started sauteing them.  My wife likes her mushrooms cooked down quite a bit, browned and done.  Over the years, I’ve come to love them this way, too.  It takes a little longer, though.  Once they’re close to done, I added in the onions and the peppers, and, finally, the garlic.  A bit of salt as each one is added helps to extract the moisture.

Once the veggies had gotten a little brown, I cleared them off to the sides and put the meat in the center.  I browned it fully, and added the tomatoes (with liquid), and the sauce.  Finally, I added the seasonings to taste, and replenished the coals for a good simmer, with the lid on.

When I could stick a little wooden skewer into the flesh of the squashes without much resistance, I knew they were done, and the sauce was well-simmered as well.  I brought it all in.

I let the squashes cool, with the lid off, for a little bit so they would be easier to handle.  I pulled each one out, one at a time, and, with a fork, began scraping the insides of the squash “bowl”, lengthwise.  Immediately it pulls apart into short threads, like pasta.  I lifted it out as I went onto the plate,  When the squash was empty, the plate was full, and I spread it out.  I ladled on some of the sauce, and finally, sprinkled on the cheeses.

You eat it with a fork, but not like spaghetti, where you twirl it around.  The “noodles” aren’t long enough for that.  You just scoop up a forkful and enjoy it!  This was the first time my son remembered trying it, and he loved it!

Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Zen on the Cob in the Dutch Oven

I like fancy.  I like complex.  I like a challenge.  I like to see if I can pull off intricate dishes and stretch myself.  I like to take simple dishes and enhance them, to "kick them up a notch". 

Ba-bam, and all that.

This weekend, however, I got to cook something incredibly simple.  And it tasted wonderful.

We were having a big barbecue party for a lot of Jacob's teachers and support staff at the school, and I spent a lot of time at the grill, naturally.  But on the side, I made some steamed corn on the cob.  It was so simple, that I'm not even going to spell it out in a recipe.

I started by lighting a lot of coals and pouring about half of them (I'm guessing about 20 or more) onto my cooking surface.  I put a veggie steamer (one of those metal fan-out things) in the bottom of my 12" deep dutch oven.  I poured in water until it was just up to the level of the steamer, and laid in the corn cobs (schucked and snapped in half) onto it.  Then I put the dutch oven on the coals. 

Pretty soon, it was venting steam a little, so I knew it was boiling.  I just kept fresh coals on for about 30-45 minutes, until the corn looked yellow and cooked, you know, like corn on the cob is supposed to.  Then we served it up with butter, salt, and pepper.  Yum!  Only two pieces were left over when it was all done.

Sometimes, simple and pure is perfect, right?





Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Healthy Dutch Oven Recipes

For a long time, I've not been overly worried about healthy cooking. And even less so in the dutch oven. Many of the dutch oven recipes are all about rich meats and sugary desserts. I love that stuff.

But I'm realizing that I can't go on like that indefinitely, and that I need to cut some of that back. It's vital that my family be more concerned about our foods.

So, I'm starting to cook more healthy, both in and out of the dutch ovens. So, here are some of the recipes I've found of late that are healthy, tasty, and fun to cook!

Here are the recipes in the basic "Healthy Dutch Oven Cooking" series:

• Part I - Dutch Oven Lime Marinated Chicken with Salsa Fresca
• Part II - Dutch Oven White Chili
• Part III - Mark's Family Whole Wheat Bread in the Dutch Oven

And here are some "back issues of the Black Pot" recipes that are also full of good health:

• A zesty Jambalaya
• This Tomato Soup is healthy!
• Blackened Salmon! Yum!
• Yogurt and Herb Fish
• Lotsa veggies in Mongolian Stir Fry!
  

Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Mark's Other Blog Posts: Personal Thoughts on LDS General Conference, Making Music With Family,

Healthy Dutch Oven Recipes - Part II

Continuing on with my efforts to make healthy recipes, this last wednesday, I made a white chili. It was very interesting to look at. Instead of the dark meat, and the deep brown broth, it was very light. A unique twist.

The combination of the leaner meat, the fresh vegetables, and not using anything canned, pre-prepared, or with preservatives, make this a very healthy alternative.


Dutch Oven White Chili

12" dutch oven
16-20 coals below

• 1 lb dry black eyed peas

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic

• 4-6 cups water
  
• 2 sweet peppers, one green, one red, diced
• 1 large tomato, diced
  
• 1 jalapeňo, diced
• 4-5 green onion, diced
• fresh cilantro, chopped
  
• Salt and pepper to taste (in keeping with the white chili theme, I used white pepper)
• Juice of 1-2 lemons, to taste (you could even sprinkle the zest when you're serving)
  

• 1/2 cup corn masa
  

I actually started out on Tuesday night, by pouring all of the peas (they're beans, really) into a bowl with a lot of water. The water will be absorbed by the beans, so make sure you cover the beans, and the double that amount.

The next day, when it was time to cook, I started browning the turkey over 20 or so coals in a 12" shallow dutch oven. I added a little bit of olive oil at the bottom, because I knew that the turkey was much leaner than ground beef and it would help it to not stick so much.

At the same time, I heated up my 10" dutch oven, with a little olive oil, and sliced up the onion and minced the garlic. I put those on to sautee.

Pretty soon, the turkey was done, and the onions were translucent and even a bit browned themselves. I poured the onion/garlic mix into the turkey. Then, I added everything in the third set of ingredients. I drained the beans and added them. In retrospect, I would have held back some of the green onions and the fresh cilantro. Maybe as much as half of each. I would have saved that to sprinkle on top of the chili when it was served. That would have looked and tasted great.

The jalapeňo I chopped whole, with the veins and the seeds. I did it half at a time, and added it continually until I got the heat I wanted. I added some, cooked for a while, tasted, and then added more. At this point, I probably only put in about 3/4 of the jalapeňo. To me, that was perfect. It was hot, but not overpowering. You do it to your taste.

The whole thing cooked about an hour and a half, with about 16-20 coals consistently on the bottom. I didn't put any coals on top. I simply added enough to keep it simmering. I only lifted the lid occasionally to stir, check the doneness of the beans, and check for the jalapeňos.

The final step was in the last half hour of cooking. I added the corn masa to thicken. This time I didn't add so much as I have in the past. I wanted a thick soup, kind of like a stew, not a paste (which I do like sometimes). I recommend that you do the masa the same way you do the jalapeňos. Add some masa, stir it up. Let it cook for a bit, then check to see how thick it is. If it needs more, then add it, etc...

Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Healthy Dutch Oven Recipes - Part I

My wife and I had quite the wake-up call at the doctor's office the other day. She's been diagnosed diabetic for a long time, but her sugars were way out of control. We decided it's time that we both lose weight.

I know that a long time ago, I said I don't cook in the dutch oven to be healthy. I also know that sometimes, I'm still going to cook things that aren't. But during the week, and many of the dutch oven sundays, from now on, we're eating healthier.

So, I went out and bought a diabetic cookbook, called "Prevention Diabetes Diet Cookbook: Discover the New Fiber-Full Eating Plan for Weight Loss". The basic premise of the book is that to eat healthier, you first want to focus on "whole foods". That means any food that doesn't have a lot of processing or ingredients. Between that and watching your carbohydrate/sugar intake and fats, too, you'll lose weight. My dear wife has already lost 5 lbs in the first week and a half.

In the menu plan for the first week, there was this plan for lime marinated chicken. There were no special ingredients at all in the list. All whole foods! All low fat, and it looked great! So, I tried it!

Dutch Oven Lime Marinated Chicken with Salsa Fresca

12"Dutch Oven

8-9 coals below
16-17 coals above

The Chicken

• 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Juice of 3 limes
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• Liberal shakes of salt and pepper

The Salsa

• 3 Medium tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic
  
• 1 avocado
• 1 Medium onion
• 3-4 green onions, chopped into the greens
  
• 1/2 Cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and cored
• Liberal shakes of salt and pepper
  

In one bowl, I started by mixing all of the ingredients in the first set, except the chicken. I took two tsp of the mixture and set it aside in another bowl. I stirred it all up and poured it into a ziplock baggie. I added the chicken and shook it all up and set it aside to marinade. Since it was still frozen, I used that as an opportunity to thaw it, instead of marinating it in the fridge.

In retrospect, I might have cut the chicken into strips about an inch wide, kinda like stir-fry size. I don't know that it makes that much difference...

Once it was thawed and marinated, I put the chicken into a 12" dutch oven. I actually put a fold-out steamer basket in it, because I wanted the chicken juices to drain off, leaving the marinade as a sort of glaze. Since the moisture was still trapped inside the dutch oven, the chicken didn't dry out.

I put the chicken on the coals. It only took 20 minutes or so to cook. In the meantime, I made the salsa.

Which was really easy. I just chopped up all the ingredients, some minced pretty fine, like the cilantro and the garlic. I put them into the bowl with the reserved marinade and stirred it all up. I don't remember if I put in more lime juice or not.

When the chicken was done, I served it up with the salsa on top, and with some seasoned cucumbers. The combination of the hot chicken and the cool salsa, with the lime flavor in both sure made it taste GREAT! My kids just kept ranting on and on about it, and Jodi liked it, too. Brendon couldn't believe it was healthy and tasted so good!

Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Mark's Other Blog Posts: The AD/HD Quiz, Social Book of Mormon?, I invoke Godwin's Law