Hash Brown Casserole #secretrecipeclub

March means several things to me.  Now it is the month my baby was born.  But before then it was Spring. And St. Patrick's Day.  Maybe because it is an Irish holiday but I always think of potatoes when I think of St. Patrick's Day. I also dream of rainbows and pots of gold too. 

So this month for the themed reveal of the Secret Recipe Club I knew I had to go with a potato dish.  Good thing Micha from Cookin' Mimi had plenty of potato recipes.  Micha has been cooking for a very long time.  She has many memories growing up with food and being in the kitchen with her family. I feel like we grew up similarly in that regard. If you want some good American cooking with a little Southern flare be sure to check out Cookin' Mimi.

I was eyeing these ranch potatoes.  The Yukon mashed potato cakes also looked yummy but I made something similar not too long ago. In the end I ended up with the Hash Brown Casserole. You can make it for breakfast or dinner. We had ours as a side with pork tenderloin.  It was delicious and although the recipe makes a ton the dish disappeared very quickly.

Given the fact that Miss O ate it up means we will be adding it to our arsenal of recipes.  

Hash Brown Casserole

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes, once potatoes are

Cook Time: 35-40 minutes

Keywords: bake side cheese potatoes

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Ingredients (serves 6-8)

• 2 – 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub potatoes and pierce several times with a fork. Bake potatoes in the oven until fork tender. Let cool and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

When potatoes are cold, peel and shred using the large side of a box grater.

Place potatoes, butter, soup, and cheese into a bowl. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and stir gently to combine, you don’t want to break up your potatoes.

Butter or spray a 9 x 13 casserole and add the potato mixture.

Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes or until bubbly and starting to brown.

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Creamy Smashed Garlic Cauliflower

Hello Wednesday!  I cannot decide if it is a good or bad thing that today is Wednesday and the week is half done.  Tomorrow I jump on a plane for a quick jaunt to St. Louis.  I could do without this trip. But when I come back it will be the weekend.  I am always excited for the weekend. 

I have made pretty things in my day.  This here creamy smashed garlic cauliflower was an attempt to get more cauliflower in our lives.  Mr. J loves the stuff. My parents do not and therefore I didn't eat it much growing up. Funny how much our parents influence our eats.  I only think of how we are influencing Miss O nowadays.  With this in mind I am trying to give her as many different foods as possible. 

So back to this cauliflower. I bought a head and then wasn't really sure what to do with it.  I had seen recipes similar to mashed potatoes but using cauliflower. I thought since Miss O liked mashed potatoes she would probably jump on some mashed cauliflower as well. We easily cut up the cauliflower head and then steamed it on the stove top.  After adding lots of garlic for flavor and sour cream to make it smooth and creamy we ended up with some pretty delicious cauliflower. 

Mr. J really liked it.  I enjoyed it too. Miss O ate up about 5 bites before deciding she was done. Nothing but closed mouth and head shaking no after that. The true test will be when we try it again. 

Creamy Smashed Garlic Cauliflower

by Emily Morris, slightly adapted from Skinnytaste

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: steam side vegetarian cauliflower

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Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 medium head cauliflower, cut up into florets
• 4 cloves crushed garlic
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp light butter

Instructions

Steam cauliflower and garlic until soft. Drain.

Add milk, sour cream, butter, salt, pepper and mash with a potato masher or a hand blender.

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Mexican Pizza #secretrecipeclub

February is almost over and I am ready to do a happy dance.  February is always hard for me.  At this point I am sick of winter and the dark gloomy days. I start longing for major Spring cleaning and a refresh of life.  

Since it is near the end of the month it also means it is time for my Secret Recipe Club reveal.  Each month a group of bloggers is a assigned another blog in secret.  We pick a recipe to try out and then post on a set day. This month I had the pleasure of finding something delicious on Chocolate and Chilies by Asiya. They live in Canada but have roots from India and Pakistan.  When she mentioned most of her recipes include garlic and chilies I knew I would find way too many recipes to try.

I ended up deciding on the Mexican pizza, but also tagged the avocado pasta and the skinny chocolate fudge muffins.

This pizza was so easy to put together. I had my husband do the chopping for the toppings while I made the bean spread.  We bought some store pizza dough so all we had to do there was roll it out. In about 30 minutes the whole thing was done.  The pizza is super filling and really healthy except for the amount of cheese I put on top. I love cheese and got a little heavy handed with the cheese.

Thanks for a winning dish Asiya!!

Mexican Pizza

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

Keywords: bake pizza Mexican

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Ingredients (serves 4)

• pizza dough
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (19 oz)
• juice of half a lime
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 5 Tbsp water

For the Toppings:

• 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
• half of a red pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
• 1/4 cup corn, fresh or frozen (if frozen, allow to defrost before using)
• 1 small tomato, seeded and diced
• 3-4 tbsp cilantro, chopped
• shredded cheese, about 2 cups

Instructions

For the Bean Spread:

In a food processor add 1 cup of the black beans, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Puree until smooth. While it is pureeing, add water. Add remaining black beans and pulse until chopped. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza pan. On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to a 12 inch circle using a floured rolling pin. Transfer dough to pizza pan.

Spread desired amount of bean spread on pizza (I used 1 cup). Sprinkle with cheese.

Top with 1/2 of the cheese. Then continue topping with the red pepper, jalapeno, onion, corn and cilantro. Finish with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Top with shredded lettuce, sour cream and salsa if desired.

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