Broccoli (& kale) casserole

Broccoli casserole was another classic side dish that was always at our festive meals. Over the years I’ve tweaked the recipe to add in some kale for a touch of bitterness and lemon to brighten up the creamy side. The result is a cheesy, savoury, buttery nostalgic dish, perfect with any holiday main.

This recipe will feed a 6-8 people as a side - if I am having a larger crowd I double the recipe and bake in a 9 x 13 pan.

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Broccoli (& Kale) Casserole

2 heads of broccoli, steamed and chopped

1/2 cup mayo

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 small onion, finely diced 

1/2 a head of kale, diced

2 cups of old cheddar, grated

1/2 tsp Garlic powder

Lots of black pepper

Juice of half a lemon 

Ritz Crackers, crushed (about ½ a box)

1. First, prep the broccoli - steam either stove top or in the microwave until just fork tender. It will continue to cook in the oven so do not need to fully cook through at this stage. Look for bright green colour and a fork or cake tester should pierce with little resistance. Once cool to touch, chop into bite sized pieces (2-3 cm pieces). I include the stalks as well!

2. Add the chopped broccoli to a large bowl, then add in mayo, cream of mushroom soup, diced white onion, and shredded kale. Once well mixed, add in grated cheese, garlic powder, black pepper and the juice of half a lemon. You can season lightly with salt but it doesn’t require much!

3. Pour mixture into a 8x8 casserole dish. If baking straight away, top with crushed Ritz Crackers. 

4. Bake at 350F for 45 mins uncovered, until top is golden brown and mixture is bubbling! Serve warm.

Leek & Cauliflower Puree

This is one of my favourite side dishes over the holidays because it carries all the flavour of a luxurious potato side dish without feeling as heavy. I started developing this a few Christmases ago as my aunt cannot eat potatoes. Since so many holiday meals are served with potatoes on the side, I wanted her to have an option that was equally tasty without defaulting to rice. The flavour here really comes from leeks - you want them to get nice and soft and buttery. It’s ok if they brown a bit too, that’s just extra flavour! If you don’t have a food processor you could use a blender or hand blender. The other advantage to cauliflower over potato is you don’t have to worry about it turning gummy when blended!

About the ingredients

Leeks: as you will begin to notice in my recipes, leeks are one of my favourite ingredients. They add a gentle onion flavour without too much bite, and I find they pair nicely with cheese without overtaking the dish. 

How to store leeks:

Leeks should be stored in the fridge but they can be REALLY big. Since you only eat the white part of the leek, if you’re tight on space, you can always trim off the green parts before storing them in your fridge. Just dampen a paper towel and wrap the cut ends until you are ready to use.

How to clean leeks:

I always give them a good rinse on the outside - if the outer layer seems to be discolouring, I will peel that off. Again, you only use the white part, so I cut off the greens. I’ll then peek down in the layers of the white part - if it seems really dirty I will chop the leeks to whichever size I need, then give them a rinse in a colander or soak in a bowl of water to remove all the dirt. Sometimes soil can get between the layers so it’s important to give them a good clean!

What do I do with all these leeks?!:

Typically leeks come in bunches of three. This recipe will use one. For the other two, you can pretty much use them in any recipe that calls for onion. They are awesome in soups. I use them in my turkey dressing/stuffing. I have a great leek and camembert quiche recipe in the archives. They are delicious with a roast chicken - add them to the pan and the chicken fat drippings will caramelize the leeks while it roasts. THE WORLD IS YOUR LEEK.

Choosing your milk: the higher the milk fat content of your milk, the richer this side dish will be. If you are looking for a lighter side, choose 1 or 2% milk. If you’re looking for a luxurious, creamy side, go all out with 35% m.f cream. Anything in between will also be delicious! I have not tried this recipe with non-dairy milk but I think any unsweetened nut or oat milk would probably work nicely.

Cheese: in the recipe, I recommend using parmesan cheese but really, any hard, sharp cheese will work well. Asiago would be delicious. So would Grana Padano. It isn’t meant to be like… “cheesy” in flavour, just super savoury and delicious. Save your cheddar for another recipe!

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Leek & Cauliflower Puree

Serves 4-6, 30 mins prep/cook time

Ingredients:

1 cauliflower head, leaves and stalks removed

1 leek, green part removed

1 tsp, olive oil

1 tbsp butter

½ cup of milk or cream (higher the milk fat the creamier it will be)

¼ cup grated parmesan

Salt n pepper to taste

Method:

1. Prep your cauliflower - you can either boil or steam the cauliflower, your choice! First I chop the cauliflower into roughly equal pieces so it cooks evenly. Then while the cauliflower cooks, skip to step 2 to get your leeks cooking at the same time.

   • To boil: bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add in cauliflower and boil until fork-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and place in the food processor.

   • To steam: place your steaming basket in a medium pot with 1 cm of water. Add cauliflower pieces to the steamer basket and cover with a lid. Allow to steam for 5-7 mins until fork tender. Remove cauliflower and place it in the food processor.

2. Thinly slice your leek, first by running the knife lengthwise down the white part, and then slicing crosswise. Add to a pan over medium-low heat with olive oil and butter, and a pinch of salt. Allow to cook until translucent, buttery and softened. I like to let them deeply cook, 10-15 minutes.

3. Once leeks are cooked, add to the food processor along with your milk/cream and pulse until smooth. Add in your cheese and pulse again until well combined. Taste. Does it taste like you want to eat more? If no, you probably need some more salt and pepper. Add a touch, pulse again, and taste. Continue until it tastes delicious and perfectly seasoned!

4. You can keep the puree warm on the stove in a pot, covered, over low heat while you wait for the rest of your meal. You can also refrigerate for 3-5 days to reheat!
   

Go-To Winter Side Salad

6 simple ingredients

One of the first bloggers I followed on Instagram was Dulanotes - I loved her simple approach to truly yummy food. Back in 2016, she posted this recipe for Pork Scalloppine with Fennel Salsa Verde. Fennel is one of my favourite vegetables - tastes amazing raw with lemon juice and some salt n pepper, but also cooks into a buttery texture similar to cooked cabbage when braised.

I’ve taken Dulanote’s fennel salsa verde recipe and adjusted it over the years to make what I call the best winter side salad around. Winter meals tend to be heavier, especially when entertaining - braised meats, meat wrapped in pastry, etc. The brightness, acidity and crunch of this salad will balance the richest of tourtieres, beef wellingtons, pork ragu pastas and so on. A family favourite, always requested when I go home for the holidays, it also holds up well in the fridge for leftovers thanks to the kale base (albeit a little wetter than when first served).

Make it extra festive: add pomegranate seeds

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go-to winter side salad

Yields 4-6 servings

15 mins to prepare

Ingredients:

1 small fennel bulb, plus the fronds

¼ cup of lemon juice (typically juice of 1 lemon)

1 tbsp of capers

1 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil

2 shallots, finely diced

1 head of kale

Kosher salt

Ground pepper

Method:

1. Dice the fennel bulb, yielding about ½ cup of fennel and add to a large mixing bowl. Tear off the fronds from the stems, and roughly chop before adding to the bowl.

2. Roughly chop up the capers to make them smaller bites, and add to the large bowl - it’s ok if some of the brine comes with it

3. Add your diced shallots, lemon juice, olive oil to the bowl, season with salt and pepper - give it all a good stir to emulsify the oil into the lemon juice

4. Remove the kale leaves from the stems, rinse, and chiffonade* into 1 cm thick strips  

5. Add the kale to the bowl and mix with the your (clean) hands, squeezing the dressing into the kale to tenderize it a little bit

6. Serve and enjoy!

*chiffonade refers to thinly slicing greens/herbs into long thin strips. To get consistent sized strips, I bunch the kale up into a tight ball with my left hand and thinly slice. After I’ve completed this, I chop into thirds the other direction.