Cooking at Home

In between supporting local restaurants with takeout and delivery, try one of these recipes—provided by members of the community.
Have a recipe you want to share? Send it in (plus photos)
to mypost@palipost.com.

Cauliflower Tabbouleh with Toasted Nut Mix

You may recognize Palisadian Marissa Hermer as the owner of The Draycott—but did you know she has a cookbook? This recipe is featured on page 68 of “American Girl In London: 120 Nourishing Recipes for Your Family from a California Expat.”

“London is blessed with an abundance of great Middle Eastern restaurants, and this is my version of one of the most common salads, tabbouleh,” Hermer shared. “I like to add lots of nuts on top for texture and protein.” Follow along and access more recipes with #HomeSweetHermer on Instagram.

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower, leaves removed, cut into florets
• 2-3 large tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 cucumber, deseeded and finely chopped
• 5-6 radishes, finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced on the bias
• 1 bunch mint leaves, shredded
• 1 bunch coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• Zest and juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons good-quality olive oil
• Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste
• Toasted Nut Mix:
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• ¼ cup hazelnuts
• ¼ cup almonds
• ¼ cup cashews
• 2 teaspoons za’atar
• Pinch of sea salt

Directions:

To make the nut mix: Place the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan over medium heat. Roast for two to three minutes, or until fragrant, then pour into a mortar. Grind with a pestle until you have a powder. Add the hazelnuts, almonds, and cashews to the same pan and toast for six to eight minutes, or until golden. Transfer to the mortar along with the za’atar and a pinch of sea salt. Using the pestle, roughly bash the nuts until they are chopped. Set aside to cool completely.

In batches, pulse the cauliflower florets in a food processor until a fine crumb has formed. Transfer to a steamer set over a pan of boiling water, cover, and steam for two to three minutes, until the cauliflower is cooked but still firm. Remove the steamer from the pan and leave to steam-dry and cool.

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, green pepper, green onions, mint, coriander and parsley with the cauliflower. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir through the nut mix and serve.

Cheeseburger Casserole

Kellie Logsdon, founder of The Kellie Kitchen, explained that she loves to help people by sharing easy and healthy home-cooked meals through her blog, thekelliekitchen.com, or on social media. She also has a live cooking show every Monday night at 6:15 p.m. on YouTube.

Logsdon picked to share her Cheeseburger Casserole recipe because “it’s easy, everyone loves it and it’s also great as leftovers.”

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoon parsley finely
  chopped (can be dried)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• ½ cup dill pickle, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional toppings:
• Tomato, chopped
• Lettuce, chopped
• Avocado

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown your ground beef about three to five minutes. Mix in salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and parsley. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs and cream with a wire whisk. Mix in half the cheese to fully combine.

In either a 9” pie tin or an 8×11” casserole dish, transfer your seasoned ground beef using a slotted spoon into your baking dish. Carefully pour your egg mixture over your ground beef. Make sure to spread out the ground beef evenly over the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle the chopped onion and dill pickle over the egg layer and then add the remaining cheese all over the top of the casserole.

Bake your cheeseburger casserole for 40 to 45 minutes. Center will be set and top will be slightly browned.

Frozen Blueberry Mocktail

Jordan Catapano, co-founder of This Girls Walks Into a Bar, shared a simple and tasty recipe that uses ingredients that many Palisadians will already have at home.

“If you’re a self-proclaimed mixologist and have simple syrup on hand, use that in place of the sugar,” she added. “Otherwise, dissolving some plain ol’ granulated sugar will work just fine. Have paper straws on hand? Cut open the end to create a little shovel that will surely keep the kiddos busy and away from a screen just a tad bit longer.” (And for adults, 1.5-3 ounces of any spirit can be added.)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup ice
• 1 ounce lime juice
• ½ ounce lemon juice
• 1 heaping tablespoon sugar dissolved in
  1 ounce water
• Salt or sugar for rim

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender or NutriBullet and mix on high until smooth. Run a lime or lemon along the rim of your glass and then dip it into the salt or sugar to coat. Pour the blueberry mocktail into your glass and serve.

Turkey or Beef Bolognese

Dr. Meg Haworth, a wellness expert in mind/body medicine and nutrition, best-selling author of eight books, former cooking instructor for Whole Foods Market and member of Pacific Palisades-based Success Becomes Her, has been offering Facebook lives on what to do with produce when that’s all that is left on the grocery store during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This Beef Bolognese recipe has been a big hit and an easy find for people,” she shared.

Ingredients:

• 1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• ½ cup small broccoli
  florets, chopped
• 1 can organic tomatoes or 2 cups fresh tomatoes (28 oz.)
• 1 small can organic tomato paste (can be omitted if not available)
• 1 pound organic ground turkey, beef, lamb or bison or 1 cup
  chopped almonds for vegan version
• 1 teaspoon EVOO
• 1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste
• ¼ teaspoon garlic cloves or garlic powder
• 2-3 pressed garlic clothes or garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried organic basil
• Directions:

In a large skillet or soup pot, turn heat to medium high, add olive oil. Add onion and sauté for several minutes. Add red pepper and sauté for a few minutes more. Add ground turkey (or beef) and sauté until browned. Add zucchini and broccoli and stir. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and basil and stir. Add tomatoes and all of the tomato paste, stirring well to blend. Bring to a boil, cover, turn down low and simmer until flavors are blended—about 20 to 30 minutes. Near the end of cooking, press fresh garlic into the Bolognese and stir, then salt, pepper, oregano or basil to taste. Serve over sautéed spinach, spaghetti squash, quinoa noodles, brown rice noodles, zucchini noodles or any pasta you may have.