Cabbage Roll Bowl

Cabbage with ground beef or sausage, or a combination of them, cooked rice, tomato sauce and a little sweet and sour element - the flavors of classic stuffed cabbage rolls in a quicker shortcut, one-pot version.

Cabbage Roll in a Bowl

I love cabbage rolls, but the prep always seems overwhelming!

It's really not that bad though, it just seems so, because every time I go ahead and start them, I realize the dread of the "work" was mostly just in my head. It just seems so daunting to think about it all, but really, some of the prep can even be done ahead of time.

This dish is a bit of a shortcut on that classic stuffed cabbage flavor, but without that anticipated dread.

Leftover cooked rice is transformed into a fabulous fried rice dish that starts with bacon, onion and garlic to which leftover or thawed and cooked, frozen mixed vegetables are added along with beaten eggs, all finished with the classic Asian flavors of soy and oyster sauce.

Bacon and Egg Fried Rice

Recently we went to a hibachi dinner for a birthday celebration, and I think half of my plate was fried rice, so I had a good bit of it leftover to bring home. Okay with me!

It was so barely seasoned though, that I wasn't really super excited about eating it, but I figured I would get it home and play around with it because I hate wasting food and I absolutely love fried rice.

A bold, cream cheese-based chip dip, with the addition of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies, chopped black olives and loaded with southwestern flavors.

Southwestern Chip Dip

I originally got the idea for this dip when going through a box of clippings. This one came from a rural EPA newsletter featuring a community cookbook called Cooking with Osyka! It's one of a few fundraiser cookbooks for the Osyka Civic Club of Osyka, Mississippi, usually available at their annual Fall Fest events in October, or by calling their business office at 601-542-5994.

They referred to this dip as Southern Heat Chip Dip in their cookbook, though I've played around with this one enough that I'm not even sure how close I am to the original clipping anymore!

Carrots and sweet potatoes, tossed with olive oil, salt and red pepper flakes and oven roasted.

Roasted Carrots and Sweet Potatoes

I love roasted vegetables, and this is the time of year - when you don't mind turning on your oven - to get your fill of them!

Roasting really brings out the natural sweetness and enhances the overall flavor of vegetables and you just can't beat the ease of preparation.

Soup Meat Vegetable Beef Soup

A rich, hearty mixed vegetable beef soup, made with The Bouilli of a soup meat roast and bone broth.

Soup Meat Vegetable Beef Soup with Bone Broth

In case you missed my previous post for The Bouilli, this is the Beef Vegetable Soup that I made after preparing the initial meal of "boiled meat with juices," served with rice.

In short, Creole Bouilli refers to the preparation of a beef roast that is slow-braised (you don't really want to boil it) for several hours, completely covered in liquid, and to which I added some seared beef bones.

While you can use any leftover roast for this soup, of course, the outstanding flavor of The Bouilli makes a knock your socks off soup. To learn more about The Bouilli, tap that link and learn all about it!