Cauliflower Gruyere & Thyme Gratin

With gusto, I let fall into my home. I'm not talking about pumpkins or mums, either. I'm talking about the breeze.

I’m rarely home alone but when I am I take advantage of it. This time, I threw open all of the windows and let the breeze rip through the house. There are only two times of the year that allow you to do this at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, and fall is one of them (Spring is the other; summer is far too hot and winter far too cold). I put Elephant Revival on and turned the volume up high as if to drown out other noise, even though the house was silent. I threw my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head (or tried— half of my hairs fell out, and I didn’t bother putting them into place), and I whipped out the pots and pans. 

It was going to be a good afternoon: I had cheese to melt. 

Even though cauliflower is a fall crop, I abuse the fact that modern grocery stores carry it all year around. I can't lie about this with over 19 recipes using cauliflower on this blog, and almost none of them fall-related. 

This cauliflower gratin is rich and hits your "I really just want cheese for dinner" spot, but feels a little more grown up because 1) you're eating vegetables and 2) the cheese is gruyere, which I almost can't say out loud without second guessing myself (groo-year? gru-air?). There's even a little thyme stirred in. 

It pairs well with a glass of red wine, a cold beer, or a dry cider. Fancy enough for something like Thanksgiving dinner, you could cook this cauliflower gratin up for party. But best of all, you can just reheat it as a lazy couch dinner. 

I hope you'll invite fall into your home like I did: it will come out bubbling and strings of cheese will follow as you serve yourself the first bite. Maybe, if it's cool enough, you can get away with wearing your slippers, too. 

Cauliflower Gruyere & Thyme Gratin

Published September 26, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 8   |    Total Time: 60 minutes

---

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds cauliflower florets (about 2 heads)
• Water, for steaming
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot powder
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1-1/2 cup shredded gruyere, divided
• 1/2 cup parmesan
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Dash cayenne

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
2. Fill a medium pot with 1 inch of water and place steam basket in pot. Place cauliflower in steam basket, and heat over medium heat until water is simmering. Allow cauliflower to steam for 5 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat. Drain any water from cauliflower, and then put cauliflower in a 8x8inch baking dish.
3. Now, in a small sauce pan, melt the butter. While the butter melts, whisk together the milk and corn starch or arrowroot powder until no clumps remain. Pour milk into melted butter and whisk. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly so as not to scald the milk, for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of gruyere cheese. Continue to whisk and simmer until sauce thickens (it should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon), and cheese is fully incorporated. Remove from heat.
4. Stir thyme, black pepper, salt, nutmeg, and cayenne into cheese sauce. Pour cheese sauce over cauliflower and use a spoon to ensure the cauliflower is all coated and the sauce is distributed.
5. Top with remaining gruyere and the parmesan. Place in oven, and bake for 35-45 minutes, until sauce is bubbling and top is golden brown. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

Salmon & Mango Poke Bowl

This is my new favorite thing: poke bowls. Which I know is super "trendy" of me, but have you tried them?! Finding sushi-grade fish around these parts was a feat, so perhaps they also taste a bit like a well-deserved victory to me.

I called three grocery stores, none of which said they had sushi grade fish. I went to two, one were the lady said I "could" use the tuna, but the look on her face told me not to. Another where the only sushi-grade fish they had came in an vacuum-sealed, freezer package of small (too small) fillets. 

Finally we visited the Pacific Ocean Market, which is in the next town over. The woman on the phone said they had tuna and salmon for sushi, which was promising. All faith we had in the Pacific Ocean Market dropped to rock-bottom when we actually got there though, and the un-filleted fish were unlabeled, and the guy behind the counter only spoke Chinese. He made a motion, showing us to just point at what we want. How were we (two people that have never been into fishing or lived by the sea) supposed to know what was what? Let alone which was ok for sushi? (I have since learned that none of those would've been ok for sushi, so I'm glad we didn't just point at something random).  

Another customer saw we were struggling, and tried to help (she spoke Chinese). But we were pointed over to a freezer case where some mystery white fish was wrapped up in cellophane and was probably best suited for a fish fry. 

We went to the front counter and found two ladies, who between themselves could piece together some English, but they spoke Vietnamese, not Chinese, so couldn't help with the fish situation. Finally, someone found the store manager--the lady we had originally talked to on the phone- who directed us to the right deep-freeze case of fish. (Sushi fish, in a place like Colorado where it has to be shipped and stored, should be frozen to a certain temperature and for a certain amount of time in order to kill off any parasites). 

We rustled through the unorganized case: Eel, Tuna, Shrimp, Halibut. Our confidence in the quality of the fish had dropped to rock bottom when we had been pointed to the fry-fish. 

In the end I went back to store number two, and bought several tiny packages of salmon in vacuum-sealed plastics, and a box labeled "Sushi and Sashimi." At least I could read it. 

Night one we ate sushi, but when we had one packet left the next day I jumped on the poke train. AND IT WAS SO WORTH IT! Can we all just go to Hawaii now? 🙋🏻✈️

(I spent the first week calling this "poa-kee," which confused everyone. Oliver started calling it "pokemon" just to make fun of me, and finally I looked up the pronunciation: "poa-kay"). So take note and avoid looking like a fool like me! 😉

Salmon & Mango Poke Bowl

Published September 5, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 2   |    Total Time: 10 minutes

---

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces sushi grade salmon
• 2 cups mixed greens 
• 1/4 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/4 cup sliced cucumber
• 1/4 cup diced mango
• 1 diced bell pepper (I used 1/2 of a red and half of a green for color)
• 1/2 of an avocado, sliced
• 1 green onion, sliced 
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds 
• Pickled ginger
• Optional: 1 cup cooked rice
• Optional, for serving: wasabi, soy sauce, hot sauce such as Sriracha 

Directions:

1. Slice salmon into bite-sized pieces.
2. Arrange bowls: If you desire, place a half cup of rice at bottom of bowl. Then arrange mixed greens, shredded cabbage, sliced cucumber, diced mango, bell peppers, and sliced avocado in bowl. Divide salmon between both bowls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onion.
3. Serve with pickled ginger and any other accoutrements of your choice: wasabi, soy sauce, Sriracha, etc.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Soup

Colorado has 53 peaks that reach to 14,000 feet above sea level but up until this week I haven't summited a single one. This has been on purpose, for the most part: hiking has never really been my thing, and when I discovered I had a stress injury in my foot from running, I thought I would have to retire the idea of long hikes (and runs) for good. 

But then I had one of those days where I just wanted to be outside, in the thin air. You know the feeling: an ache for adventure. That's when my roommate started talking about doing a 14er called Mount Bierstadt, which is known for being one of the more approachable peaks in Colorado. I surprised even myself when I said I wanted to join. We packed up our bags and prepped for an early departure the next morning. 

The trailhead is above tree line, so even before you start hiking the air is thin and the scenery is alpine in nature. You actually start hiking downhill which had me worried from the get go (thinking, I'll have to hike up this hill when I'm done and tired!) but then the heavy lifting starts quickly. We kept up a quick pace and summited two hours later! It was easier than I expected. My legs continued to move out of muscle memory, but I knew as soon as I stopped they'd become heavy. We had a quick snack, and then headed back down.

Back at the car, cold drinks were our reward. Back home, a real meal and some well-deserved couch time (it was Game of Thornes night, and we couldn't skip that!) 

This soup: I grew only cherry tomato plants this summer, because I love them so. I find they give great output. This soup is perfect for rainy fall days when the tomatoes are copious and weather allows you to turn the oven on to roast a few tomatoes. 

Roasted Cherry Tomato Soup

Published August 22, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 2   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

---

Ingredients:

• 5 cups cherry tomatoes, assorted
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon avocado oil
• 1/3 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons shredded parmesan or 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• Dash cayenne or red pepper flakes
• 3 sprigs basil, plus more for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place tomatoes in bowl with minced garlic and drizzle with oil. Toss until all tomatoes are coated in oil. Spread out on sheet pan. Place in oven, and roast for 15-20 minutes, until the skins are just starting to turn brown. Remove from oven.
2. Scrape tomatoes into the jar of a blender. Add cream, parmesan or nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, cayenne, and basil. Puree until few chunks remain. Pour into serving bowls.
3. Top soup with extra cheese and basil. Serve hot.