Easy Herb De Provence Roasted Mushrooms

This recipe was made on a whim as a side dish for dinner with my mom. It was our pre-Christmas dinner, since we were both traveling for the holiday, so she went to a local butcher shop and got what they recommended (a roast and some sausage prosciutto rolls), and I got to work on side dishes. 

Honestly I forget every other side dish I made because I became so obsessed with this one, vowing to make it the next time I found myself looking at a container of mushrooms in the grocery store. So I did exactly that, and was again licking my lips and filling my plate mostly with mushrooms.

Easy Herb De Provence Roasted Mushrooms

Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

It’s amazing how easy it is to make this dish, and how delicious the mushrooms turn out!

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 20 ounces mushrooms (I used crimini)
• 2 tablespoons herbs de provence
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 450°F.
2. Wash mushrooms and spread in an even layer in a baking dish or oven-safe skillet.
3. Cut butter into thin slices and place, evenly spaced, over mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbs de provence.
4. Place pan in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until mushrooms are cooked through and juicy. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot as a side dish for chicken, over grilled red meat, or even on a bed of quinoa.

Maple Ginger Red Kuri Squash

The unconventional Christmas has been my convention--my Dad was always a proponent of getting out of town during the holiday blur and Christmas at my moms was always lighthearted and casual with new recipes. We rarely ate the same thing year over year, choosing to test out creativity with ingredients like kuri squash, maple syrup, or ginger. 

Maple Ginger Red Kuri Squash

Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Ginger, maple syrup, and butter are baked with red kuri squash.

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 red kuri squash
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 heaping tablespoon fresh ginger (grated on microplane)
• Sprinkle of sea salt flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350° Half the squash and remove the seeds. Then, cut into wedges. Place in baking dish.
2. Melt butter in small dish. Stir in ginger and maple syrup. Using a brush, spread mixture over squash wedges. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until squash is cooked through and crisp on edges.

Individual Parmesan Sweet Potato Gratins

Some years we would skip Thanksgiving in our sort of way by heading to a cabin. We would bring groceries from the next town over and stock the fridge. My mom and I would cook a Thanksgiving meal fit for 5, even though we were only 3. It would be snowing outside, and icy winds would billow through the valley, but inside it was all biscuits, turkey, and gravy, oh my! We clipped recipes from magazines and made do with what ingredients we could find in the small mountain grocer.

Between the biscuits, one November we made potato stacks. Like scalloped potatoes, thin slices were baked in a creamy sauce and served hot.

Individual Parmesan Sweet Potato Gratins

Published October 28, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yields: 12   |    Active Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

2-3 small sweet potatoes (Look for ones that are thinner in diameter so they fit into a muffin pan when sliced.)

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Reggiano cheese

Optional: fresh thyme or rosemary leaves for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Using a pastry brush, grease the muffin tin with about half of the butter (1 tablespoon). Reserve the rest for later.
3. Wash the sweet potatoes, and peel them. Using a mandolin or the slicing attachment of your food processor, slice the sweet potatoes into thin rounds. Stack the slices in muffin pan.
4. In a small bowl, combine heavy cream, remaining 1 tablespoon butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and whisk just until combined. Pour the cream mixture over each potato stack, dividing (roughly) evenly. Sprinkle about half of the cheese over the potatoes, reserving the other half for later.
5. Place pan in oven and bake until cooked through, 30-35 minutes for a standard muffin pan (longer for a larger muffin pan).
6. Once potatoes are cooked through and edges are crisping, remove from oven and set aside to cool. Top with remaining cheese so that it melts. Optional: garnish with fresh thyme or rosemary.