We're ROOTING for you!

cut 2 inches,  place in 1 inch of water,  1 week to soil

Let's Cultivate Food is 'ROOTING' for you!
Did you know that you can take any vegetable and chop 
the root end portion - 2-3 inches of it, 
soak the cut portion in a bowl or container of water 
and it will start to grow again..?  
Typically you will see some new growth as early as 4-5 days. 
(some veggies will take a tad bit longer)  
If you have outdoor space or a pot with soil indoors... 
you can move your new veggie plant within 7-10 days.   
'Lettuce Turnip the Beet!' ...........Oh KALE yeah!  

Bacon wrapped beef lemongrass lollipops!

What's that movie where they say that things are always better on a stick?
I certainly agree but let's use something that will give us a little flavor
rather than a wooden stick. Lemongrass in this case.
I tend to joke and say that lemongrass is organic fruit loops
during my cooking classes. If you've never had anything with lemongrass-
you don't know what you're missing!

For these bacon wrapped beef lemongrass lollipops- you will need:

lemongrass stalks (usually comes 3 to a bunch) you can cut each stalk  to about 

3 inches getting 3 to a stalk.  So approximately 9 lollipops for  3 stalks.  

For the beef, I used flank steak (about 1 pound) and sliced it into thin slices.

I then marinaded the flank beef slices in:

5 TBSP of soy sauce

1 heaping TBSP of hot pepper paste

1 teaspoon of a sugar (or your choice of sweetener) 

(a grated apple or pear is good too!)

2 TBSP of sesame oil

mix with the flank steak and let it sit for a minimum of 20 minutes.

Then you want to make a sweet chili glaze.

~ 3 heaping TBSP of apricot jelly

~ 1 teaspoon of hot pepper seeds ( to your liking of spiciness)

~ juice of an orange

~ 1 TBSP of rice vinegar

Turn your oven on now to 400 degrees.

Time to wrap or roll.  Whatever you want to call it is  okay!

Take your slices of beef and wrap around the top half of the lemongrass  'stick'

(about 2 -3 slices of flank steak slices per lollipop)

Then wrap a piece of bacon (thinly cut preferred) around the beef.

Let it bake in the center of your oven for about 15 minutes.

You will see the bacon turn more brown.

After 15 minutes, turn your oven to broil, 

take the sweet chili glaze and brush it on the bacon portion.

Move your pan or sheet (whatever you laid your lollipops on)

to the top shelf right under the broiler.

You want to prop the oven door open at this time...  

you know so the room temperature

air flows through for circulation and doesn't dry out the food. 

Once the bacon browns and almost gets a slight char- they are done.

about 7 minutes after you place it on broil.

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Just ROLL with it!   Let's Cultivate Food

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Gluten free pizza bites!

Whether you are on a special diet or you are trying to fit into that
special swim suit or you just feel like eating a little less carbs
and eating healthy veggies...

these gluten free all veggie pizza bites on a bed of
mashed cauliflower and sauteed kale smothered in cheese
will make meat lovers enjoy them too.

Start by chopping the kale into bite sizes...
During our Cooking Classes throughout greater Philadelphia-
people ask me tons and tons of questions and some recent questions
about kale have been if you need to massage the kale prior to cooking.

Hmm... should you 'massage' the kale or not...
why should you and if so- does it make a difference?

As far as this dish-  after you have your Kale ready-
saute with a little olive oil and coarse sea salt for about 4-5 minutes.

For the mashed cauliflower:
you want to cut the cauliflower florets into bite sizes-
simply so it's easier to mash once you boil them in about 1 inch
of salted (1 teaspoon)  of water. (Mash them with a masher
once they have softened in your pot.) (about 10-12 minutes)
(drain the water prior to mashing)
You don't need any extra seasonings due to the boiling in salt water
unless you want to add a little butter or olive oil.

Now for the pizza bites!
Take some Chinese eggplant (because they are long and skinny)
for bite sizes- these work best.
Slice them and saute them on both sides with olive oil.
(about 2 minutes each side)
You can transfer them to the oven right away but I like to take
a short cut and just add a little tomato sauce and shredded
cheese (of your liking) I mixed mozzarella, cheddar and
a little Parmesan cheese right on the eggplant in the saute pan--
I then put the lid on my saute pan so the cheese melts in the heat
from the pan that just sauteed the eggplant slices.

Once the cheese has melted- put your oven onto the broil setting
and place your saute pan on the top rack right under the broiler grates.

When you cheese has slightly browned- they are ready to plate
and eat!  

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'Lettuce Turnip the Beet,  Let's Cultivate Food

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