20 minute ramen noodles are a must-make this week! I mean, look at that. Easy. Delicious. Full of flavor! Dinner is on the table in minutes. And that egg! Oh we are going to talk about that egg. These noodles are a spin off of the my 15 minute sesame ramen noodles from my last […]
This easy cauliflower stir fry is an ideal healthy and easy dinner idea! It’s full of nutrients and covered in a punchy sauce. Hands up if you love cauliflower! (All hands raise, over here.) This vegetable has star status among veggies these days: because there are endless creative ways to use it. Make it into tacos, use it as a plant based stand-in buffalo wings, or hide it in alfredo sauce. Here’s our new favorite way to use these tasty florets: in a cauliflower stir fry! Fry it until lightly charred and tender, then add bell peppers and a punchy stir fry sauce. It’s the best way to make eating your veggies irresistible! Try it as a healthy side dish or an easy plant based dinner (with the protein adders below). Ingredients in this cauliflower stir fry This cauliflower stir fry is fast and easy to make! On its own it works as a side dish, but eat it with a plant based protein (see below) and it’s an easy dinner. The main thing to note is that cauliflower requires much more time to stir fry than other veggies, so you’ll need to add it to the pan first. Here […]
This easy cauliflower stir fry is an ideal healthy and easy dinner idea! It’s full of nutrients and covered in a punchy sauce.
Hands up if you love cauliflower! (All hands raise, over here.) This vegetable has star status among veggies these days: because there are endless creative ways to use it. Make it into tacos, use it as a plant based stand-in buffalo wings, or hide it in alfredo sauce. Here’s our new favorite way to use these tasty florets: in a cauliflower stir fry! Fry it until lightly charred and tender, then add bell peppers and a punchy stir fry sauce. It’s the best way to make eating your veggies irresistible! Try it as a healthy side dish or an easy plant based dinner (with the protein adders below).
Ingredients in this cauliflower stir fry
This cauliflower stir fry is fast and easy to make! On its own it works as a side dish, but eat it with a plant based protein (see below) and it’s an easy dinner. The main thing to note is that cauliflower requires much more time to stir fry than other veggies, so you’ll need to add it to the pan first. Here are the basic ingredients you’ll need for this stir fry:
Nutrition note: This recipe uses 2 bell peppers along with the cauliflower. 1 medium red bell pepper provides 169% of your daily vitamin C, so using 2 knocks this vitamin off the charts (Source)!
Notes on the stir fry sauce
This cauliflower stir fry has an incredible stir fry sauce that brings in lots of savory, salty and sweet flavor! Use the recipe as printed, or another option is our Go To Stir Fry Sauce. It’s just as good and is an oil free option. Here are a few notes on the ingredients in the stir fry sauce:
Soy sauce: Use regular sodium to get the full seasoning. Tamari is a gluten free soy substitute, or use coconut aminos for a soy free gluten free substitute. You may need to add a pinch more salt in both cases.
Miso: Miso is a Japanese fermented soybean paste that’s full of nutrients and savory flavor. It’s a must in this sauce and can’t be replicated. You can find miso in the international foods aisle near the Japanese ingredients. There are lots of types of miso: we used yellow or light miso here.
Gochujang (optional): Want to add a little spicy funkiness to your sauce? This Korean chili paste steps it up a notch.
How to make a cauliflower stir fry: some tips!
The overall process for this cauliflower stir fry is easy: but there are a few things to note to make it come out perfectly. Here’s what to know:
Stir fry the cauliflower about 5 minutes before adding other veggies. Here’s the kicker: cauliflower takes much longer than other veggies to stir fry. If you add them all at once, it will come out too tough. Make sure to follow the instructions exactly.
Use medium high heat. The point of a stir fry is to cook at high heat: quickly. This will get nice char marks onto your cauliflower.
Don’t double the recipe. The biggest tip for a stir fry: you can’t crowd the pan! If there are too many veggies, they’ll steam instead of stir fry. If you want to increase quantities, cook the veggies in batches then re-warm everything together.
Add protein to make it a main dish!
Are you serving this cauliflower stir fry as a main dish? It’s a perfect healthy meal or fast and easy dinner idea. Just make sure to serve with a whole grain and consider adding protein to keep it filling. Here are some ideas:
Cashews: Throw 3/4 cup cashews into this stir fry when you add the cauliflower. This makes a main dish of about 2 to 3 servings.
Edamame: Add 1 cup shelled, frozen edamame in the last 2 to 3 minutes of the cook time. Or eat edamame in the shell as a side: try Easy Edamame or Spicy Edamame.
To serve as a main dish: Add 3/4 cup cashews with cauliflower**, add 1 cup shelled frozen edamame in the last 2 to 3 minutes, or add Marinated Tofu, Pan Fried Tofu, or Sauteed Shrimp and serve with rice
In a medium bowl, whisk together rice vinegar, soy sauce, miso, gochujang, sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch (or make the Go To Stir Fry Sauce).
In large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons neutral oil over medium high heat. Add the cauliflower and a pinch of salt and cook unstirring, for 3 to 4 minutes until charred. Flip the florets and continue cooking for 2 minutes.
Add the bell peppers, white onion, a pinch of salt and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and cook 4 to 6 minutes until tender.
Turn off the heat. Pour in the sauce and add the green onions. Stir until the sauce coats everything and thickens. Serve immediately.
There are so many tasty cauliflower recipes to try if you love this healthy veggie! Here are a few of our favorites:
Buffalo Cauliflower Wings They’re crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and tossed with spicy buffalo sauce.
Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower No one can resist this roasted cauliflower with Parmesan! It’s as irresistible as French fries, baked in a hot oven until browned and crisp.
Creamy Cauliflower Sauce Like a healthy alfredo sauce using cauliflower as a base! It has less calories and all the benefits of this healthy veggie.
The melon mosaic is everything I want on a plate in summer. Seriously, I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s light and refreshing on a super hot day. It’s easy to serve to friends and family (… if we can ever see them again) and the combination of melon + cheese tastes […]
The melon mosaic is everything I want on a plate in summer.
Seriously, I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It’s light and refreshing on a super hot day. It’s easy to serve to friends and family (… if we can ever see them again) and the combination of melon + cheese tastes wonderful. And it’s a great starter “salad” for a heartier dish and it’s also a really delish lunch if you aren’t in the mood for something more filling.
I used to make a version of this salad all the time back when Max was two years old. He actually loved it because he could pick up the chunks and eat them. He also loved playing melon tetris with the cubes and it was so cute. I actually forgot about that until I made this last week and Emilia started grabbing for bites.
She loves spicy stuff, so she even went in with the hot honey. How is she my child?! It’s amazing.
In the past, I also made this melon mozzarella salad with watermelon and cucumber. I love using the cucumber instead of the honeydew. It’s unexpected, a little more savory and refreshing and adds a pop of freshness without the sweet.
For this version, I threw in some avocado, huge feta chunks and cherry tomatoes!
The dressing is simple and amazing. Lemon, hot honey, champagne vinegar – all flavors that I love so much. Tons of herbs like fresh mint and basil and get showered all over the salad taking the flavor up another notch. It’s no secret I’m obsessed with hot honey. I usually make my own but you can even buy it now!
It’s easy. Almost embarrassingly so.
But the flavors together are JUST SO GOOD.
The other great thing?! You can make this ahead of time and marinate it all. I actually threw the chunks in a bag to marinate them with the dressing while testing this. It also makes it easily transportable! I would just skip the avocado and add it once you’re ready to serve the whole thing.
Definitely considering making a small batch melon mosaic for lunch every week.
If you’re chopping everything yourself, be sure to chop the cubes roughly the same size. If you’re buying something pre-chopped, use that as the guide to size and chop everything else to size. Use the most of what you love! For instance, I like to use watermelon and cantaloupe the most, then cucumber, then fill in with avocado and tomato.
As a note, you can also crumble the feta or do smaller cubes. You can also leave the cherry tomatoes whole and not slice them.
Assemble the cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumber and feta cubes on a dish. Make the dressing as directed. Chop the tomatoes and the avocado, stick them in between a few of the cubes. There is no right way to do this! You can throw everything in a bowl, spread it out on a plate or layer it. Whatever you’d like.
Sprinkle everything with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the dressing and cover with the fresh herbs. Serve!
Leftovers of this are delicious.
hot honey vinaigrette
Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, hot honey, garlic, salt and pepper until combined. Stream in the olive oil while whisking the entire time. This dressing stays great in the fridge for up to a week.
Forgive me for serving you lentil bolognese in spring! I promise it will be worth it. It is the weirdest thing ever to me that I’m sharing a lentil bolognese recipe with you in May. To me, this is a serious fall or winter meal. And I am such a seasonal cook and eater and […]
Forgive me for serving you lentil bolognese in spring!
I promise it will be worth it.
It is the weirdest thing ever to me that I’m sharing a lentil bolognese recipe with you in May. To me, this is a serious fall or winter meal. And I am such a seasonal cook and eater and by now, I’d be really starting to bring out all the early summer recipes.
And while this isn’t a recipe I’d make weekly in the warmer months, it is still a fantastic recipe that can be made year round! I figured that while we’re still quarantining at home and now with a possible meat shortage looming, there could not be a better time to share this recipe. Plus, it’s an ideal pantry meal.
So.
If you’re familiar with our favorite bolognese recipe from The Pretty Dish, this is a version of that. But an all veggie version! YES. No meat whatsoever.
My original version already has mushrooms in it, which is one of the reasons I think we all love it so much – it is so hearty! I added some more veggies here and removed the meat and it is just as good. Maybe better?!
It’s not a simple recipe. In fact, it’s not really simplified whatsoever! But it’s not difficult either and it doesn’t take a super long time.
I would give yourself around an hour to make this and frankly gets better as it sits. Most of it is hands off time while you wait for it to simmer and all those flavors to develop.
Like a traditional bolognese, it’s hearty and rich and wonderful. It’s still made with red wine (of course!) and even a splash of cream. The filling would totally work in lasagna too.
Okay, so it’s absolutely to die for.
It’s fabulous over pasta of course, really good over zucchini noodles and surprising good over (regular or cauliflower) rice.
I find it to be a very versatile dish! And it’s easily one of the most made recipes in my kitchen. If not theeee most made.
Now, I must tell you the best part of this recipe.
If you’ve been lurking around this blog for the last decade plus, you know that Eddie is a major carnivore. He likes/enjoys/wants meat at every single meal. If there isn’t meat, he hopes there are eggs. A true meat and potatoes guy.
And on top of that… you probably also know that I like to trick him into eating things that he thinks he doesn’t like. Not in a MEAN way, of course, but this is well documented here on the blog. Like how he swore he didn’t like ricotta but now some of his favorite dishes use ricotta. That sort of thing.
ANYWAY.
All rambles aside, I made this one day for dinner, testing it out. I tossed the pasta noodles right into the sauce. And I covered it and let it simmer for a little until Eddie got home. I wondered if he would be able to tell that it was a meatless meal. Then I started putting the kids to bed and totally forgot about it.
By the time I remembered, I had watched him eat two plates. It wasn’t until an hour later when I told him. He.was.stunned. First, I think he thought that I fed him something weird. Then, his mind was blown that it was actually meatless.
I am here to tell you that it is nearly impossible to tell that this is a meatless bolognese. If he didn’t know? Wow. I don’t know who will!
This lentil bolognese is incredible! Super hearty, loaded with vegetables, saucy, rich and decadent. You won't even miss the meat!
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15minutes
Cook Time 1hour
Total Time 1hour15minutes
Servings 6to 8 people
Author How Sweet Eats
Ingredients
2tablespoonsolive oil
1sweet onion diced
1/2teaspoonsalt
1/2teaspoonpepper
4garlic cloves minced
8ouncescremini mushrooms chopped
2medium zucchini squash,diced
2tablespoonstomato paste
1tablespoonbrown sugar
1teaspoondried basil
1teaspoondried oregano
1/2teaspooncrushed red pepper flakes
2(14 ounce) cans cooked lentils, drained and rinsed
1/2cupdry red wine
1(14 ounce)can fire roasted tomatoes
1(28 ounce)can crushed tomatoes
1/2cupfreshly grated parmesan cheese,plus more for sprinkling
⅓cuphalf and half
Instructions
Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the olive oil.
Add in the onions with the salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add in the garlic and mushrooms. Stir and cook for another 5 or 6 minutes, until the mushrooms soften.
Stir in the zucchini and cook for 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste, dried basil, oregano, pepper flakes and brown sugar. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add the lentils and stir to combine.
Add in the wine and tomatoes. Stir in the parmesan and half and half. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover, cooking for at least 20 minutes (or even longer if you wish!). Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed. This is important! Taste and season to your liking! It will differ depending on the brand of tomatoes you use, etc.
You can make this ahead of time. It reheats wonderfully. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months!
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