Weekend Cooking: What's New in My Kitchen

Happy Saturday! Have you hit the famed (or should I say "infamous") COVID wall? I think I did last week, but I've climbed over it and have safely reached the other side. Ugh. I'm so ready for winter to be over and to be able to see my friends again. Enough whining because I know I don't have it anywhere near as bad as many people in Texas have it. My thoughts are with Texans; I hope they see the other side of this soon.

Let's take a look at what's new in my kitchen this month.

Slow Cooker: I don't use my slow cooker every week, but I use it often enough that I would hate to be without it. My old low-tech, ceramic crock model was at least 25 years old. The last two times we used it, tried-and-true recipes needed at least an extra hour to cook to our liking. Plus, a few months ago we noticed a crack in the outside bottom of the crock; it hasn't gone through to the inside yet, but it's clearly just a matter of time.

I did a bunch of research into the newer smart slow cookers, but in the long run, I just wanted a basic model that could also saute/brown. I ended up getting the same Crock Pot brand model that Jackie did because it has the features I wanted and not much more. Note that the New York Times recommends Hamilton Beach slow cookers, but I've not had good luck with that brand. YMMV.

Air Fryer (kind of): For a long while now, I've been curious about why there is so much love for air fryers. I haven't been very tempted because we don't actually eat much fried food at all. But after I reviewed that air fryer cookbook a while back and learned that the gadgets did much more than cook frozen fish sticks, I wanted to give one a try. I just didn't want to actually own another appliance or to spend the money.

However, when a neighbor said she had almost brand new Instant Pot air fryer lid that she was trying to sell for half price, I took the bait. She got rid of the lid because she just wasn't using it. I decided this was my chance to experiment.

Here's what we made and what we thought. We made sweet potato oven fries, roasted broccoli, and cooked unthawed frozen raw shrimp. All three dishes were cooked perfectly and in very little time. I'm not convinced, however, that the food was better in the air fryer than when made more conventionally. We did like the speed and the fact that the air fryer did not heat up the kitchen (we were thinking ahead to the summer and our lack of air-conditioning). Our final verdict is this. We'll keep the lid for about 6 months. If we don't really use it, we'll sell it for half of what we paid for it or just give it away.

Newish Skinnytaste Cookbook: I finally made it to the top of the library hold list for Skinnytaste Meal Prep. While I'm not much of a meal prepper (despite being a meal planner), I love Skinnytaste and wanted to see Gina Homolka's new recipes. So far I've made two recipes from the "Hearty Salads" chapter, which we had for lunches. The Cold Soba Sesame Noodles were delicious and really quick to pull together. I made the recipe on a Sunday and we ate it for lunch the following two days. The salad held up and was really, really good.

The other salad I made was Cauliflower Tabbouleh Bowls (recipe below), which was also a hit. (I put the salad in a divided glass container just for the photo below.)

I have a ton of recipes marked to try (Broccoli Farro Bowls, Chicken Black Bean Burritos, Stuffed Acorn Squash, Lentil Soup with Bacon, and Puff Pastry Spinach Pie, for example). Skinnytaste Meal Prep has a lot of advice about cooking ahead and using your freezer, but you don't have to be interested in meal prep to use this cookbook. I like the book enough that I'll likely buy a copy when I have to return the one I have to the library. Note that each recipe is marked to let you know if it's quick, vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, or freezer friendly and whether you can use your pressure cooker, air fryer, or slow cooker. Recommended!

Cauliflower Tabbouleh Bowls with Chickpeas and Hummus

Serves 4

• 1 pound cauliflower florets
• 1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber
• 2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup store-bought hummus

Place half of the cauliflower in a food processor and pulse until it has the texture of rice. Don't over process or it will get mushy. Set aside and repeat with the remaining cauliflower. (Makes 4 cups.)

Place the riced cauliflower in a large bowl and add the cucumber, onion, parsley, mint, tomato, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt. Toss well and refrigerate until well chilled

Make the bowls: Divide the cauliflower tabbouleh, chickpeas, and hummus among 4 bowls or airtight containers. You can assemble them separately and combine on the fly or use meal prep containers with 3 compartments. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days

Skinny Scoop: for the best taste and quality, it's better to make the cauliflower rice from scratch rather than using packaged since you're eating this raw. Packaged cauliflower can sit for a while before being purchased and isn't as fresh and crisp.

BFR's Notes: I didn't peel or seed the Persian cucumber I used. I couldn't find fresh mint at the store last week, so left it out. I forgot to add the salt, but we didn't really miss it. Recipe shared in the context of review; all rights remain with the original copyright holder.

Shared with Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker)