Caramelized Onion and Jalapeño Waffles with Radish Salad

This recipe comes from a kind of odd cookbook Justin picked up that we haven't really cooked much out of yet.  It's a lot of ingredients, and involves a lot more prep work than I'd normally choose for a recipe, but I was intrigued by the concept of onions and herbs in waffles.  It is amazingly tasty and very filling- though the kids wouldn't touch the strange looking green-speckled waffles   I did most of the prep work of chopping onions, zesting and juicing the lemon, mincing herbs, etc. beforehand, which actually made it a lot easier to throw it all together later that day.  My toddler has a higher spice tolerance than I do, so we only used 1/2 the jalapeño the first time we made it, since I was afraid of the heat, but these waffles weren't really spicy at all, so when we made them another time around, we put in the the whole one and it worked just fine.  We also originally served the salad next to the waffles rather than on top of them, since I was uncertain about putting a salad on top of a waffle.

It turns out that they go together very well, and the salad actually isn't weird on top as you might think.  I actually prefer it that way now, but if you're uncertain, you can certainly feel free to put it on the side.  The flavor of the lemon cream went perfectly with both the salad and the waffles. This was a very rich recipe- Justin and I could only eat one waffle plus a serving of salad each.

Ingredients:
For Waffles:
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 yellow onions, finely diced
1 jalapeño chille, seeded and minced
3 Tbsp champagne or sparkling wine or preferred non-alcoholic substitute
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup mixed minced fresh herbs (we used parsley, thyme, and cilantro)
1-1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup melted ghee (clarified butter)

For Lemon Cream Sauce:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
grated zest of 1 lemon
5 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

For Radish Salad
8 oz mixed salad greens
2 bunches radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
3 green onions, including light green parts, finely chopped
5 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1-1/2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish (optional):  4 oz smoked salmon, chopped (we didn't use this the first time around, given that smoked salmon is pretty expensive.  The waffles and salad were definitely very tasty even without it... but we decided to splurge and buy the smoked salmon the next time around... it was amazing).

Instructions:
To caramelize onions, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and jalapeño and cook until onions are caramelized, about 8-10 minutes.  Add wine substitute and simmer until thoroughly reduced and set aside.

Meanwhile, for lemon cream sauce, mix all ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl, cover and refrigerate.

For salad, toss together greens, radishes and onions in a largish mixing bowl.  In a small nonmetal bowl, mix together lemon juice, olive oil, mustard and salt and pepper.  Whisk to blend.  Cover and refrigerate until just before serving salad.

To make waffles, combine flour, herbs, baking powder, pepper and salt.  Stir to blend.  In a separate bowl, combine milk, eggs, and melted ghee and whisk thoroughly.  Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just moistened and rather lumpy.  Fold in caramelized onions.  This will be a <i>very</i> lumpy batter.

Cook as per your waffle iron instructions.

To serve, mix salad with dressing.  Place a small amount of salad on top of waffle (or next to the waffle, if you're not sure about putting the greens on top) and drizzle everything with lemon cream.  Garnish with the chopped up smoked salmon, if using- which I highly recommend doing. :)

Creamy Cauliflower Cashew Pasta

Cauliflower is all the rage on Pinterest these days, and since Alfredo is not exactly healthy, Justin and I had actually tried a cauliflower pasta sauce some months back.  While it was decent, it wasn't really amazing, and I wasn't really motivated to revisit the concept anytime soon.  Still, when I saw this Cauliflower Cashew Bake from Eat Within Your Means show up in my Pinterest feed, I was intrigued by the addition of cashews to the sauce, and I figured I'd give cauliflower sauce another shot.  I'm glad I did!  This recipe was incredibly easy to throw together, and when served with some potatoes and frozen mixed vegetables, was actually really satisfying as a dinner entree, which some meatless dishes we've tried haven't always succeeded at.  When Justin first tasted it, he didn't even realize it was cauliflower instead of regular Alfredo.  Also, it made a ton of leftovers, which is always a useful thing.

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
6 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup raw cashews
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 cups milk (the original recipe actually calls for using non-dairy milk or water)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg, optional
16 oz. macaroni noodles or other pasta shape
1 cup crunchy casserole topping of your choice (I used Italian seasoned bread crumbs)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º and put a large stock pot of water on to boil.  While this is heating up, wash off the cauliflower, and break the cauliflower into large florets.  Put the cauliflower, cashews, and garlic cloves into the boiling water and cook for 5-6 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, take the cauliflower pieces, cashews and garlic out and put it in a blender.  Add the macaroni to the boiling water, and cook according to the directions on the box.  Add the salt, milk, pepper, and nutmeg to the blender and puree until creamy.  Start with 1-1/2 cups of milk, and add more (up to 1/2 cup more) if it seems too thick- mine was just fine at 1-1/2 cups, but I like a thicker sauce.  Once the pasta has finished cooking, drain and add to a 9x13 baking dish and stir in the cauliflower sauce.  Sprinkle your casserole topping on top and bake at 350º for 15 minutes (If the topping is not browned on top, you can place it under the broiler for a minute or two, but mine was just fine).