Papas Bravas, Roasted Florets and Cheesy Dressing

It’s hard to believe that September is already here. In just a few more months M and I will be traveling back to the States for a visit so she can attend a medical conference. We are both looking forward to it, but for now we are enjoying the beginning of spring here in Buenos Aires.

This coming weekend we will be running the 21K Maraton de Buenos Aires. We are excited forward to it, as it should be a beautiful course, which goes right through the heart of our city. We will be running the course together. This will be my first race since moving, and unless I'm mistaken, my first event for 2015! Crazy, but it's been nice focusing on other things besides training and racing.

For today, I have a great recipe that can work as either a side-dish or the main course. It’s a blend of a two different dishes, a favorite in North America, the other a common dish from South America.

Papas Bravas (or Patatas Bravas if you’re from Spain,) are a common latin-style dish where typically white potatoes are cut into irregular shapes and then either roasted or fried in oil and served with a spicy or smoked aioli sauce. They are considered bar food, and are often part of a tapa menu - which means they're perfect for watching futbol or Argetnine-style gatherings where the first person arrives 40 minutes after they were suppose to, and the last person arrives when you were hoping everyone would be leaving! Of course the BYOL version is oil-free.

I use to make this dish in New York using the oven-roasted florets and cheesy sauce as a healthier play on the ever-popular Broccoli and Cheese. With oven roasted broccoli and cauliflower florets, this dish boasts a significant amount of nutrition, and is also a great way to encourage youngsters to eat their greens - I mean what kid doesn't love dipping?

Papas Bravas with Oven-Roasted Florets and a Cheesy Caesar Dressing dipping Sauce

Serves 3-4

Papas Bravas

3 potatoes cut into wedges

2 sweet potatoes cut into wedges
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more to taste)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
½ teaspoon salt (optional)

Placed the cut and seasoned potatoes into a pan with parchment paper. Place into the oven at 350. I typically keep all the potatoes on one side of the pan leaving room to add the florets later. Check the potatoes every 12 minutes and flip to ensure they cook and brown evenly. Cook for 30-40 minutes until soft and slightly browned.

Florets

1 small head Broccoli – broken into florets

1 small head Cauliflower – broken into florets

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion flakes

Black-pepper to taste

After placing the potatoes into the oven, wash and cut the florets. After tossing them with the above seasonings, if you saved room, add the florets to the pan with the potatoes. If not, cover a second pan with parchment paper and place into the oven. Cook the florets for 20-25 minutes until well roasted. If you are trying to time the florets to finish cooking with the potatoes, let the potatoes cook for 10-15 minutes before adding the florets.

Cheesy-Caesar Sauce

¼ cup raw cashews

2 heaping tablespoons of nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 tablespoon chia seeds

½ tablespoon mustard (dijion or yellow)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 clove of fresh garlic or 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon black pepper

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup water

Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender (if using a normal powred blender, try using cashew pieces and soaking them in water them for 1 hour before blending). Blend on high until all ingredients are well blended. This also makes a great dressing for a salad

Now you can heat the sauce up if you like, or serve at room temperature with the oven hot potatoes and florets.

Enjoy!

As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.

Green Mac 'N "Cheese"

As a way of building a little excitement for the final week of the “Keep it Simple” giveaway, here is just one of the delicious recipes from the book!

This simple meal takes less than 20 minutes to throw together and I promise after you taste this nutritious dish, it’ll become one of your regulars. Don’t believe me? Even my persnickety sister, who is something of a connoisseur of mac and cheese loved the dish… Just more evidence that home-style comfort food doesn’t have to destroy your health!

To create that cheese-y goodness, this dish calls on an old school vegan staple, nutritional yeast. While many promote the yeast for being a good source of B-12, most studies show that it is not an active source, and hence should not be depended on for this essential vitamin. However, the yeast is still worlds healthier than any of the heavily processed faux-cheeses that have recently saturated the market. For some, this may be a new ingredient but it is relatively inexpensive and available at most health food stores and many local grocers as well. Make sure what you get is actually nutritional yeast and not brewers yeast, and if possible look for a non-fortified version, as fortified vitamins and minerals are really just isolates added to foods.

Makes 2-3 servings

1 box of quinoa, rice, or whole-wheat pasta (elbows are traditionally used)

1 cup raw cashews

1 small-medium red onion

¼ cup Nutritional Yeast

2-3 cups spinach

1 tsp onion powder

water or veggie broth as needed

Cook the pasta or grain of your choice according to the package.

While the pasta is cooking, add the cashews into a blender or food processor.

Process until the cashews are like a flour. Then add 1 cup water, nutritional yeast, and onion powder and blend again until creamy.

Now roughly chop the onion and place on a skillet with just a little bit of water to sauté the onions.

Once the onions start to caramelize, add the spinach and cook for another minute or until the spinach is wilted and begins to cook down.

Add the onion and spinach to the blended mixture and blend/process again until bright green and creamy. Add more water if the sauce becomes too thick.

Once the pasta is al dente, pour the Green “Cheese” over the hot noodles and serve.

This is just one of the great recipes. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this book, so make sure you go sign up for the giveaway!


As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.