Zesty Cook » Roasted

Roasted Brussel Sprouts w/ Parmesan and Pine Nuts

zesty — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:43:22 +0000

Happy Friday! Tis’ the season to roast vegetables and today is no exception. Lately I have been turning into a huge brussel sprout fan and I am loving it. Many years have passed in my life where I never tried a brussel sprout let alone thought about roasting it in the oven.

Well my friends that has all changed. I am on the brussel sprout bandwagon like society is onto chia seeds. Yep that is right. I heart brussels sprouts. Oh wow, did I just say that?

Ok, enough banter, let’s move on. This recipe doesn’t get much easier than this – 6 ingredients and you have a side dish that will make you happy.

Ingredients

Brussel Sprouts, halved
Drizzle of Olive oil
Parmesan Cheese, grated
Pine nuts
Salt & Pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay out the brussel sprouts, season with salt and pepper and drizzle the olive oil.
Toss and roast
In a small dry pan over medium heat, add the pine nuts to toast them for extra flavor
After the brussels are tender ( about 30 minutes) remove from the oven, add the grated Parmesan cheese and pine nuts. Toss together.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When you are buying brussel sprouts, make sure you hunt for the firm ones with a tight outer leave. I find these are the freshest and best for roasting.

A simple dish that goes with anything. It works as a side dish, an evening snack or for some – maybe even a main course.

Have a great Friday wherever you may be and a nice weekend.

Take care

zesty

Slow Braised Beef with Roasted Cauliflower and Sweet Potatoes

zesty — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:00:40 +0000

Happy Hump day all! Hopefully you had a nice holiday weekend and are ready to get back to the grind. The fall is creeping up and routines will soon be created. One routine that we want to work on this year is more family time at the dinner table. So we can talk about the day, share our stories, and have some really quality time. It is easy to forget about this stuff when things get hectic.

For a nice sit down meal give this one below a try. It uses simple flavors and the good quality ingredients to make you feel like you are at a fancy restaurant. The method is simple but involves some time. For the beef, you have a couple of options to make it melt in your mouth. You can throw it in the slow cooker in the morning and let it ride the whole day through, or you can toss it in the oven for 3 hours at 250 F and get similar results.

The ultimate key to great beef is the time you give it to break down and cook and how you season the cut. I chose for a spicy barbecue based sauce with some onion and garlic. Below are all the details on how to recreate this dish.

Ingredients

4 Sirloin Steaks
1 Head of Cauliflower
2 Large Sweet potatoes

Beef Sauce

1 Tbsp. Onion flakes or powder
1 Tbsp. Black pepper
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1/4 Cup Barbecue sauce
1 Tbsp. Dry mustard
1 Tsp. Seasoning salt
1/2 Tsp. Red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. Coriander
Splash of water

Cauliflower Sauce

2 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
Black Pepper
Red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. Honey
Pinch of salt

Method

In a large bowl combine all the beef sauce ingredients and mix together. Lay the beef in a large baking dish and cover with sauce liberally. Cover with tin foil and bake in the oven for 3 hours at 250 F
In another bowl combine the cauliflower sauce ingredients and give a stir. On a cookie sheet, lay some parchment paper down and drop the cauliflower on the paper. Drizzle the sauce over and coat the cauliflower. Let sit for about 30 minutes. Roast in a 400 degree oven until golden brown, tunring a couple times. I let them go about 30-40 minutes. I also finished them off in the broiler to crisp up some edges and keep the cauliflower crunchy.
For the sweet potatoes, pierce for a fork all over and drop in the oven for about an hour or so.
When the beef is cook, let rest for a minute and serve. I topped it with fresh baby arugula and spinach for some crunch.
ENJOY!

Ok, I am heading out to put junior on the bus for day 2 of school. I will definitely be back in action on Friday for something tasty I hope. Have a great rest of the week and if you have any questions by all means let me know. Before I go, I have a question for you?

What is one routine you want try and get into for the remainder of this year?

Take care

zesty

A Smashed Potato

zesty — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:00:26 +0000

Scrambling with work and Disney preparations – I decided to recycle one of my new found favorite ways to serve potatoes… Let me know if you like them.

Growing up on PEI, potatoes are everywhere, and I have grown to love them. Whether they are mashed, baked, french fries, scalloped, pan fried, boiled, microwaved ( umm a bit sketchy) I eat them all. Over the years I have tested many techniques and added different flavoring to potatoes to kick it up a notch. When looking for a comfort side dish I tend to lean towards the method seen below.

Now do not dismiss the fact I truly adore mashed potatoes with butter and cream but lately I have been all over SMASHED potatoes. It is a two step process to make it happen but will never disappoint.

Ingredients

Potatoes
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Method

Start off by boiling the potatoes until almost fork tender.
Preheat oven to 400 F
Once the potatoes are finished boiling remove them from the water and let stand for a minute.
Prepare a cookie sheet or roasting pan
Using a heavy bottomed pot, smash the potatoes gently to just break the skin and press the potatoes down.
Once flat, add a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven until golden brown and slightly crispy. About 25-35 minutes.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: In the boiling stage, be careful not too overcook the potatoes. You just want them softened slightly so you can “smash” them with the back of a pot.

Well I hope you enjoyed the potato talk. Do note that they are potatoes and very versatile. Switch it up and keep it fresh. Another great alternative is the beloved sweet potato. All the techniques stay true to a regular potato. As I am typing this, I think someday I should talk about all the different types of potatoes and why some are good for baking versus boiling etc. Maybe another time!

I am scheduling some guest posts while I am on vacation next week and not bringing my laptop… can you believe it?

Take care

zesty

90 Second Cheesy Chicken Nachos

zesty — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:00:31 +0000

Help the Students Event: Day 13

Remember the chicken I featured on Wednesday? Well we didn’t have time to eat it right away so guess what I did? Yeah I think you figured it out from the title…. I pulled all the chicken off the bones, grabbed the roasted grape tomatoes and mushrooms and made 2 pretty crazy wicked orders of chicken nachos. The ultimate comfort food for a TV night or when you are starving and don’t have a lot of time to make dinner.

Is there anyone who doesn’t like nachos? Likely a few but the majority of peeps are a fan. I used multi grain tortilla chips to somehow convince myself I can eat more cause they are healthy. I am oh so sneaky.

Ingredients

Multi grain nachos
Chicken (cooked)
Shredded cheese ( Mozzarella and Cheddar)
Tomatoes
Mushrooms ( chopped)

Method

Arrange a plate full of nachos
Spread the chicken, tomatoes, mushrooms over the nachos
Top with cheese
Microwave for 90 seconds
Double check the cheese is melted to your liking, if not go another 30 seconds
ENJOY!

Freestyle Variation: Well let’s just say that the options are endless. You could lose the chicken and go with beans, jalapeno peppers and whatever other vegetable you like. You could use left over beef if you so desire. Mrs. Zesty loves to insert BULLS EYE BBQ sauce after Step 2.

I hope you enjoyed this simple comfort dish – and don’t be afraid to kick it up in your kitchen, dorm or bedroom ( depending on where you live) and come up with food that makes you happy, fills you up and keeps the budget in tact. Weekend is upon us and I cannot believe I am going to be judging a CHOWDER competition tomorrow. I am excited. Have a super weekend and drop back on Monday for yet another week of Help The Student recipe ideas.

Take care

zesty

Roasted Nuts That will Drive you Nutty!

zesty — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:00:10 +0000

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the water is as blue as blue can be. Oh What a place! Regis and Kelly are here and they have been since Saturday doing this week of shows from beautiful Prince Edward Island and they have been raving about it. Really you cannot disagree.

Last night at the camp site I made a delicious appetizer that was a HUGE hit. I saw it a couple of weeks ago on the food network. It was on the show “Best things I ever ate” and it was Giada’s favorite snack. Basically it is roasted nuts tossed with brown sugar, butter and fresh rosemary.

Simply put….. DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

Variety of Nuts
Butter
Brown sugar
Rosemary

Method

Roast nuts in oven or on BBQ until golden brown and warmed all the way through
In a large bowl, add some butter, brown sugar and fresh rosemary.
Once the nuts are complete, remove from the heat and add to the bowl. The hot nuts will melt the butter and brown sugar.
Mix to coat evenly
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Use a nice mixture of nuts, cashews, brazil nuts, pecans, walnuts, peanuts etc for that extra flavor and texture. These even got a taste from the trailer next door. I heard rumblings of a great party treat.

Alright I am back to the campground and ready for another fun filled day. Last night’s dinner was pretty tasty and I will be featuring it likely on Friday. Not sure what to cook tonight – but that is all I can think about. I love to EAT! Have an awesome Wednesday and check out Regis and Kelly if you have time.

Take care

zesty

Hoisin Roasted Chicken

zesty — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:00:51 +0000

Friday is here! Earlier in the week I prepared a roasted chicken for some extra meals. I realized I had purchased two of these little suckers because they were on 2 for 1 at Sobeys. I put one in the freezer but left the other one in the freezer. When I noticed it in the fridge on Tuesday night I thought I would roast it and use it as a protein source for another dish or two.

The one thing I love about roasting chicken is that you can start with a blank canvas and take it to whatever country you want. This time I chose a simple Hoisin Soy Glaze and pretended I was in Asia. So easy and so tasty – this chicken was packed with flavor. I know because the chicken wing was begging for attention when I pulled it out of the oven.

Ingredients

1 Whole Chicken
2 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
Dash of Soy sauce
Grape Tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Butter
Garlic Powder
Frozen Basil
Salt
Pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare bird by cleaning and patting dry
Add salt, pepper, basil and garlic powder to cavity
Rub hoisin and soy sauce on outside of bird. Season the outside with salt, pepper and basil.
Add grape tomatoes in the roasting pan.
Dollop with a pat of butter to ensure the skin will get nice and golden brown
Cook uncovered until legs are loose about 20 mins per pound.
Cover and let stand 10-15 minutes before cutting.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Season the inside of the chicken cavity. After washing it and drying it well, be sure to season the inside of the bird with salt and pepper and whatever other flavors you want.

What is your favorite flavor on your chicken?

It really is that simple. This bird is great on it’s own with some smashed potatoes and veg or in a salad the next day or even in a casserole which you will see next week. Chicken in versatile and healthy so eat it up and enjoy.

A huge weekend is set here at the zesty house because the landscapers are finished and we have grass seed. So my job is to WATER WATER WATER. Sun is slated for the whole weekend so it should be great. Have a fun weekend and I will see you on Monday.

Take care

zesty

A Chicken Wing!

zesty — Mon, 31 May 2010 12:00:52 +0000

Happy Monday! I am going to keep this short and simple and let the chicken wing do the talking. If you didn’t already know – I love chicken wings! I try them everywhere I go to see if I can find the best chicken wing on earth. I love making them at home with different flavor combination to see what makes the best wing. When I was in Boston last year for the Healthy Living Summit I tried some wings at a restaurant called Wings Over. These were the best restaurant wings I have ever had in my 33 years of existence. Simply amazing and plump with great flavor.

For today’s wing I opted for a simple technique but one that never fails… especially in the summer. I cooked the wings dry both in the oven and on the grill and then coated them in the sauce to finish them off.

The sauce is killer. A combination of sweet Thai chili and hoisin sauce toned down with a little brown sugar if needed.

Ingredients

Chicken Wings
1 1/2 Cups sweet thai chili sauce ( you can buy the sauce or make it yourself )
2 Tbsp. Hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp. Brown sugar
Salt
Pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Line cookie sheet with parchment and place chicken wings in a single layer on pan
Roast for about 45 minutes until they start getting brown – remove from heat and place in a large bowl
Using a saucepan, add sweet thai chili, hoisin and place over a low heat. Continue stirring and let it warm through. Perform a quick test for heat and add sugar if you feel it is too spicy.
Preheat grill to medium and place the chicken wings on the top grate to avoiding burning
Cook until they become crispy and then remove and let rest for 2 minutes
Toss the sauce over the chicken wings and coat evenly.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When making the sauce, use only a low heat because all ingredients contain sugar and they will burn very easily. Just bring it up to a light simmer and let it stay there while the wings are cooking. You will be happy.

The work week is upon us and June is coming. For all the folks in the US, Happy Memorial Day to you. I hope everyone has a great day and I will see you in June. Oh and these wings are crazy good. You should try them, if you don’t like chicken wings – at least try the sauce.

Take care

zesty

An Oh Canada Sweet Potato Stack!

zesty — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:00:48 +0000

OH CANADA! Where do I start with today’s post. Let’s just say yesterday was a pretty exciting day for Canadians. Not only did we win the Men’s Hockey Gold medal in an exciting game but we won the most gold medals in Olympic history. All I can say is WOW and now I am not sure what I am going to do without any Olympics on for another couple of years.

Although the Olympics are over, the food lives on forever. Today I want to share with you another spin on some sweet potatoes. If you don’t know, I am a large lover of sweet potatoes and I will eat them in any way shape or form. Here is a few of the ways I have featured them on zesty in the past:

It is hard to believe how many times I have feature sweet potatoes but as I am sure you will agree with me…. these little orange babies are tough to beat. Below is the simple instructions I used to create the Sweet Potato Stack.

Ingredients

2 Large sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Method

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees and line baking pan with parchment paper.
Toss sweet potatoes in olive oil
Add salt and pepper
Bake for 20-30 minutes – watching the sweet potatoes caramelize on the top. Turn the potatoes over and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.

Move the sweet potatoes to the top rack and turn the heat down to 250 to let the sweet potatoes dry a little bit and become even crispier.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: The huge tip here is the thickness that you cut the sweet potatoes. Cutting them too thin will cause them to burn and become inedible and cutting them too thick will almost cause them to be baked. About an inch thick is the ideal thickness to get the amazing caramelized crust and the soft marshmallow like texture on the inside.

Zesty’s House Cleaning

Please Vote for me and Campbell’s.
Enter to win the free blog makeover giveaway

Alright Monday is in full wing and things are happening and back to “normal“. I want everyone to have a great Monday and start the week off with a bang. How is the weather in your region of the world? I woke up to heavy rains and high winds… is spring on the way? Let me know your thoughts on mother nature and I will talk to you soon.

Take care

zesty

Just A Little Mexican Chicken

zesty — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:04:49 +0000

Happy Friday!! WHOOOOO HOOOOOO. As I type this post I am stranded in the house as the driveway is completely filled in from a snow drift. No big deal as our snow removal guy is en route. This gives me just enough time to share this delicious, quick and easy chicken recipe with you and kick off Friday with a bang.

Ingredients

2 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 Cup of Mushrooms ( sliced)
1 1/2 Cups Salsa
Mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Black Pepper

Method

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees
In a preheated sauce pan add the olive oil and begin to brown the chicken.

Add the mushrooms and let cook down for about 3 minutes.

Turn the chicken and brown the other side and then transfer to baking pan.

Top the chicken and mushrooms with the salsa and top with the cheese.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted and cooked through.

ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Over cooking a boneless chicken breast can really turn into a bad experience. Make sure to just cook it through until no longer pink. Remember that boneless does not take as long as bone in too cook.

Do you Remember

Remember back when I baked homemade beer bread. It was very good but had a funny after taste and many of you tried the recipe and some suggested the same problem with the amount of baking powder. Well I was concerned about that so I made the recipe again last night and tweaked the 4 1/2 Teaspoons of baking powder to 3 Teaspoons. It was much better. I also halved the amount of melted butter on top and it was still delicious.

Here are a couple of snapshots of the finished product.

I hope you have a great Friday and I will talk to you on Monday.

Take care

zesty

Oven Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

zesty — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:00:05 +0000

Hey there and happy Monday! I feel I have a little bit of hop in my hands on the keyboard tonight. I am writing this post and watching the Grammy’s at the same time in preparation for tomorrow. My calendar tomorrow is jam packed with work stuff as well as a meeting with the folks at OpenSky regarding product sourcing.

As an aside, you will never guess what I had for breakfast Saturday morning! Another classic rendition of Super Star Toast. You can never get tired of this.

On Saturday evening I was wandering around the kitchen and pantry trying to figure out what I can make for supper. I was in a weird mood and totally unsure what to prepare. We had just finished shoveling for about an hour and we were starving. I remembered that I had bought some fingerling potatoes a week ago and had yet to crack them open.

Just then the light bulb went off…. some roasted potatoes topped with red pepper flakes, chives and some Parmesan cheese. What a choice!

Ingredients

8 Fingerling Potatoes ( cut in 4)
1 Tsp. Sea Salt
1/4 Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
Dash of Garlic powder
1 Tsp. Black Pepper
2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Tsp. Chives ( dried or fresh)

Method

Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees

Slice potatoes and rinse ( hand dry)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grab a large bowl.
Toss the potatoes in a large bowl and coat with all the ingredients ( preserving half the cheese and chives for the end )

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown
Top with leftover cheese and chives
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Ensuring the potatoes are dry before starting will ensure they get nice and crispy. I also like to give them a quick turn in the oven about half way through so they get brown on all sides.

These potatoes were amazing! The red pepper heat warmed us up from being outside and the Parmesan cheese added a great flavor. I have also been on a huge sea salt kick as of late. Do you use sea salt when you cook?

I am going to watch a little bit more of the Grammy’s, do a sudoku puzzle and call it a night. Have a great Monday.

Take care

zesty