Cauliflower Fritters

These little fritters were delicious! Our kids loved them! I think Jasher ate FIVE of them! The sauce and pomegranate are not necessary but were a very nice touch...especially the pomegranate! If you're looking for something a little different, give them a try!

Cauliflower-Feta Fritters with Smoky Yogurt, Pomegranate
Makes 18 2-inch fritters

1 small head cauliflower (1 pound florets), cut into generous 1 to 2 inch chunks
1 large egg
1 garlic clove, minced
Few gratings of fresh lemon zest
3 ounces crumbled feta (about 1/2 cup) - (I don't have feta sitting around so I used good old colby jack cheese - still delicious, probably less strong)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes; less if using regular red pepper flakes, which are hotter (Left out for the kid's sake)
3/4 teaspoon table salt or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Olive oil for frying

To serve
3/4 cup yogurt (I didn't have any so I used sour cream)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful pomegranate arils

Cook cauliflower in simmering salted water, uncovered, until tender, about 5 to 6 minutes, until firm but tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Drain well. Spread on towels to dry as much as possible.
In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together egg, garlic and lemon zest. Add cauliflower florets and mash with a potato masher until they’re crushed into an average of pea-sized pieces (i.e. some will be bigger, some smaller, but most will be little nubs). Sprinkle in feta and stir to combine egg mixture, cauliflower and feta. In a small dish, whisk flour, salt, pepper and baking powder until evenly combined. Sprinkle over cauliflower batter and stir just until combined.
Heat oven to 200 degrees F and place a tray inside. On the stove, heat a large, heavy skillet over moderate heat. Once hot, add a good slick of oil, about 2 to 3 tablespoons. Once the oil is hot (you can test it by flicking a droplet of water into it; it should hiss and sputter), scoop a two tablespoon-size mound of the batter and drop it into the pan, then flatten it slightly with your spoon or spatula. Repeat with additional batter, leaving a couple inches between each. Once brown underneath, about 2 to 3 minutes, flip each fritter and cook on the other side until equally golden, about another 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer briefly to paper towels to drain, then the tray in the oven to keep them warm until needed. Once all fritters are cooked, mix yogurt with cumin, salt and pepper. Spread fritters on serving platter. Dollop each with cumin yogurt and sprinkle with pomegranate arils.

Avacado Spring Rolls

So this was probably the most delicious thing I've ever made... and it's super easy! If you ever find avacados on sale you should make these.

Spring roll ingredients:
4-5 avacados
some red onion
some sundried tomatoes
4-5 stem of cilantro
1-2 tsp. salt
spring roll pastries

Mash up the avacados and add the onion, tomatoes, cilantro and salt. Stir it all up. Then put some in the egg roll pastries and roll them up. You can fry them in a little bit of oil or bake them. I baked them so they weren't so greasy and I could do lots at once, but frying is always yummy. I just followed the directions for filling them and baking them that was on the spring roll pastry box thing.

Dipping sauce ingredients (similar to the Cafe Rio cilantro lime dressing):
2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
2 whole green onions
2 jalepeno peppers (I left these out because I don't really like them)
1 c. sour cream
1 c. mayonaise
salt
pepper

Blend together the lime juice, vinegar, worcestershire sauce, cilantro, green onions, and jalepenos until it's all mixed up really well. Then add the sour cream and mayo and blend it again. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This was seriously so good! I did it with 5 avacados and didn't fill the rolls supper full and it made about 16 I think. And we use this sauce for everything now. We put it on wraps and salads and with mexican food and any other time we can think to use it.

Lettuce Wraps

1 pound chicken, cut in really small pieces
1/2 onion, also cut in really small pieces
5 garlic cloves
1/4 c chopped water chestnuts (I didn't have these but they would be tasty! I threw in a little chopped celery for a little crunch)
1/4 c chicken broth
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground allspice
16 romaine lettuce leaves

Cook everything together (except the lettuce leaves) in a frying pan. Serve in lettuce leaves (wrap it like a burrito in the leaf). The recipe says to also put plum sauce in there, but I don't know what that is and didn't love the sound of it. But, try it and let me know how it is. We also put a little brown rice in the leaves with the chicken to stretch the chicken a little farther. These were good and similar to PF Chang's lettuce wraps!

Open-Faced Mozzarella Sandwiches

1 c chopped tomatoes
3 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp thinly sliced green onions (I used regular onion because it's what I had and I really  liked the flavor if you can stand the onion breath the rest of the day)
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
4-6 slices bread (We had some sour dough French which was really good, but any French or any good bread would be delicious)
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese (or whatever kind you have)

Combine the first eight ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Brush liquid from the tomato mixture onto one side of each slice of bread. Broil for 2 minutes or until crisp. Spoon 1/4 c or so of tomato mixture onto each slice. Sprinkle with cheese. Broil 1-2 more minutes or until bubbly.

The verdict: These were DELICIOUS! So simple, but we really enjoyed them. We just had a big salad and fruit with them. They would make a great side dish or appetizer as well. Jasher went back for three!