Roasted Cauliflower with Walnuts, Capers, and Pasta #recipe from Molly MacRae

 

Roasted cauliflower is so much more interesting than steamed. Mix it with minced garlic and pasta, add tasty extras like toasted walnuts, salty capers, grated Parmesan, and bright lemon zest and juice, and you have a delicious meal.

My pictures of this dish don’t exactly match the title. But that just shows how versatile the recipe is. When I made it, I only had 1 pound of cauliflower on hand and the recipe calls for 2. No problem. I chopped up a big wedge of cabbage and a couple of big carrots to make up for the missing cauliflower. They added color and even more flavor.

You’ll find a free, downloadable, printable pdf of the recipe below the cooking directions. 

Roasted Cauliflower with Walnuts, Capers, and Pasta 

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

2 pounds cauliflower, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (Only have 1 pound of cauliflower? No worries. Make up for the missing cauliflower with a combination of other vegetables – cabbage, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions, etc. Chop your substitutes into 1/2-inch pieces.

Salt and pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons capers

1 teaspoon lemon zest plus 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

12 ounces rotini or other pasta

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the cauliflower florets (and other vegetables if using) with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Roast until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown and caramelize, 20 to 30 minutes (possibly more).

Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add the pasta and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet over medium-high, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the garlic, capers, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

When the vegetables are roasted, add them to the skillet with the garlic mixture along with 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the reserved pasta water, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and the remaining tablespoon of oil.

Add the drained pasta to the skillet and toss everything to combine. Taste and season with more lemon juice if desired. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan, the parsley, and the walnuts. Serve.

 

click here for a free, downloadable, printable pdf of this recipe

 

 

Out now!

All Shell Breaks Loose

Book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries! 

On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . . 

Writing as Margaret Welch

Happy reading! 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween Bat Bites from Molly MacRae

Is this a recipe or a craft project? It doesn’t really matter. A simple idea like Bat Bites can turn a chilly, gray afternoon into tasty fun (with smears of peanut butter here and there and a few googly eyeballs on the floor). The grandchildren, their dad, and I had no trouble assembling our little bats or eating them. If you want to save time, buy unwrapped peanut butter cups, but unwrapping the cups will keep little hands busy longer. We left the candies sitting in their little brown paper cups to make it easier to pick the bats up from a serving plate.

If you like quick Halloween treat ideas, too, here are three more of my favorites. 

Ghost Cookies

Mummy Hand Pies

 Mummy Chocolate Chip Blondies

Halloween Bat Bites

Ingredients

Chocolate sandwich cookies

Mini peanut butter cups

Peanut butter

Edible eyeballs

 

Directions

Take the chocolate sandwich cookies apart and scrape away the filling (into a bowl or into someone’s mouth). Cut each cookie wafer in half. We found that a serrated knife worked best. These are the bat wings.

Dab a bit of peanut butter on the top of each peanut butter cup. Attach the wings in a bat-like manner.

Either dab more peanut butter onto the cup and press two eyes into it, or spread a bit of peanut butter onto the back of two eyes and press them onto the cup.

Voilà! You have bats. 

 

Out now!

All Shell Breaks Loose

Book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!

 

 

On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . .

Writing as Margaret Welch

 

Happy reading!

  

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curried Sweet Potato Pasties from Molly MacRae

 

I ate my first pasty (pronounced with a short a as in cat) in Cornwall in 1975. So good! Pasties are sturdy meat and potato hand pies and the traditional lunch for Cornish miners. They’re now considered the national dish of Cornwall and, since 2011, the name is fiercely guarded. To earn the name Cornish pasty, it must be made in Cornwall, and made of beef, potato, rutabaga, onion, salt, and pepper. No other meat allowed and no other vegetables or seasonings. The ingredients must be raw when tucked into their shortcrust pastry and the pasty baked slowly to develop the traditional flavor and flaky crust. Again, so good!

My recipe for curried sweet potato pasties breaks all the rules. I should probably call them hand pies but I came up with the recipe to fill a hole in our lives when my family became vegetarian, and well before 2011. By no stretch do these pasties taste like Cornish pasties. But, with apologies to Cornwall, they are so, so, so good.

Notes:

Because vegetables vary so much in size, my proportions are somewhat approximate. I often end up with more filling than will fit into my crusts. In that case I freeze the extra for another time.

If you don’t like the flavor of curry, leave it out. 

You’ll find a free, downloadable, printable pdf of the recipe below the cooking directions.

 

Curried Sweet Potato Pasties

 

Ingredients

Pie crust for 3 single shell pies

1/4 cup minced onion

2 tablespoons oil or butter

2 tablespoons flour

1/4  tsp black pepper

1/4  tsp dry mustard

1/8 tsp white pepper

1 Tb curry powder

1/2 to 3/4 cup water

vegetable bouillon concentrate or a cube for making 1 cup bouillon (but keep it as concentrate or cube)

1 medium sweet potato cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 parsnips cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 medium white potato cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup raisins

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, sauté the minced onion in oil (or butter) until beginning to brown. Mix in the seasonings, including the bouillon concentrate or cube. Stir in the flour. Gradually add the water to make a thick sauce. Remove from heat.

Add the chopped vegetables and raisins to the sauce and stir to coat.

Divide the crust into 6 or 8 balls (I make 8 so each of us can have a leftover pasty for lunch the next day). Roll each ball into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. Divide the filling between the circles, placing in a line down the center of the circle. Bring the dough up over the filling and crimp the edges together to seal.

Bake the pasties on a rimmed cookie sheet for 30 to 45 minutes, until the crust is beginning to turn golden.

Cool slightly before eating.

 

click here for a free, downloadable, printable pdf of this recipe

 

 Out now!

All Shell Breaks Loose

Book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!

 

On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . .

 

Writing as Margaret Welch

 Happy reading!

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around the Kitchen Table: What’s Simmering on Your Stove? Plus 6-book #Giveaway!

 

MOLLY MACRAE: Do see the kettle gently bubbling on the stove? Does your nose catch the savory scents? Do you see the wisp of steam, like a finger, beckoning you closer? What’s in that pot? Something warm and cozy because soup and stew season is here!

Chickpea Noodle Soup

I’ve loved soups and stews since I was a kid. They're a great way to feed a lot of hungry mouths (we had 8 around our table) whether it’s homemade turkey soup with dumplings after the holidays, hearty beef stew, or a can of reconstituted cream of tomato soup served with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side. Yum!

Soup can also be elegant (lobster bisque, anyone?), surprising (you’ll never believe vegetarian chickpea noodle soup isn’t full of chicken broth), and triumphant (I finally found a vegetarian chili worthy of the name chili).

Worthy Vegetarian Chili

So, dear fellow cooks in our Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and dear readers, what’s simmering on your stove and filling your house with cozy aromas?

🍜 🍜 🍜

KIM DAVIS: I love this topic Molly! While it’s been unseasonably hot here in Southern California—fall weather is nowhere in sight—I’ve still been craving soup. Especially after seeing everyone’s photos and recipe links here. Despite the heat, I’ve been contemplating turning the a/c down a degree or two and making a batch or two of our favorite soups. One of things I always do is make a larger batch than we need at the time, then freeze individual serving portions of the leftover soup for future lunches or quick dinners.
 
Our family prefers the heartier, chunky style of soups and stews. I’m more of a vegetable-heavy type of soup eater and especially love this Ravioli Vegetable Soup (sometimes substituting cheese tortellini for the ravioli).

 

And before cold and flu season hits our area, I make a huge batch of vegetable wild rice soup with chicken broth, and freeze so when I feel under the weather, I don’t have to make a grocery store run and spend time cooking up a bowl of comfort. Sorry, no recipe… I throw any vegetables that catch my interest in the pot and simmer, then season lightly with salt and herbs. I’ve found that pepper can irritate sore throats, so keep it really simple. 

My husband is the one and only beef stew fan in the family, and the kids love my Potluck Beans, so I will cook up a batch for each of them, then freeze leftovers for “freezer surprise” meals later on. One of the things I love about soups and stews is how versatile they are and so easily adaptable to suit tastes. Whatever soups and stews you eat, may the bowl of comfort warm you! 

🍜🍜🍜

VMBURNS: Georgia hasn't gotten the memo that Fall is just around the corner. It's still hot down here. Yet, there is something about October that screams FALL!!! Instead of firing up the stove, I love to get out my crockpot. I especially love to dump a ton of ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning and then come home hours later and have the house flooded with the smell of soup or chili. An easy favorite is my Chicken Pot Pie Recipe. It's a really easy recipe that gives the essence of a flaky pot pie without the work.

🍜🍜🍜

VICKI DELANY: Fall is definitely in the air here in Southern Ontario. Although the days are still warm and sunny the nights are getting cool. It will soon be time to close the pool (she weeps), bring in the plants to overwinter, and clean out the remaining plant pots.  And yes, to start making those lovely soups. I love to freeze lots and lots of soup when the vegetables are at their peak to enjoy over the long winters.  This recipe for tomato soup is one I've featured several times here at Mystery Lovers Kitchen because it is such a favourite of mine, and I never tire of sharing it.  The picture shows the soup all ready to go into the freezer. 

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Tomato and Red Pepper Soup From Vicki Delany

🍜🍜🍜

ANG POMPANO: The same day Molly chose soups for our October Around the Kitchen Table subject, I received an email from Cuisinart with a recipe for Butternut Squash Soup, and Annette came home from the farm market with a beautiful butternut squash. I began to wonder if the universe was trying to tell me something. I always order butternut squash soup when I see it on a menu, so I figured it was time to make my own.

The Cuisinart recipe was for Curried Butternut Squash Soup. I’m not big on curry, but I decided to give it a try, and it was delicious! I did cut back on the curry powder and used only half a clove of garlic.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH COCONUT CURRY SOUP

Ingredients

1 small onion, cut into chunks

1 small jalapeño, seeded

½-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1½ to 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces, about 4 cups

1 can (13.5 ounces) coconut milk

Instructions

1. Place the onion, jalapeño, ginger, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse several times until finely chopped.

2. Sauté: Melt the ghee or butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped onion mixture, curry powder, and salt. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and fragrant.

3. Add the squash and coconut milk: Stir in the butternut squash and coconut milk. Bring to a gentle simmer.

4. Simmer: Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash is very tender.

5. Purée: Remove from the heat and let the soup cool for a few minutes. Use an immersion blender to purée until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer the soup to a food processor in batches and process until smooth. Use caution when processing hot liquids.

6. Adjust the consistency: If the soup is too thick, add a little water or coconut milk. Taste and add more salt or curry powder if needed.

Adapted from a Cuisinart recipe

🍜 🍜 🍜

 

LESLIE KARST: This time of year, my mind tends to go to winter squash like the acorn and butternut varieties. But since many of us buy a pumpkin or two for Halloween, why not use the squash we already have (soon after the holiday, and not if it has a lot of candle wax in it, of course) for a delicious soup? 

 

 

 We tend to think of pumpkins as only good for pie, but they have a marvelous flavor when cooked as a savory dish. And this recipe for pumpkin soup is simply divine, with the addition of brown butter and toasted pumpkin sees to bump up the flavor quotient.  

 

 

🍜 🍜 🍜

 

MADDIE DAY:  Soups and stews, oh my! Great topic, Molly. When the mercury drops, the rain beats on the windows, and nobody wants to go outside, nothing warms the kitchen and the belly like a bowl of hearty soup. Over the years (and books) I have shared some favorite recipes here. Robbie Jordan made Italian Wedding Soup in Scone Cold Dead, the 13th Country Store Mysteries, and it's still a favorite in my kitchen.

I like to make a tomato-based Seafood Stew at this time of year. With my roots in southern California, I also enjoy Chicken Tortilla Soup and Posole. 

And when March rolls around, you can't go wrong with a hearty Beef, Barley, and Beer Soup to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, as Abe O'Neill created for the Irish cookoff in Four Leaf Cleaver.

🍜 🍜 🍜

LUCY BURDETTE: My hub is recovering from hip surgery this week, so I've made two kinds of soup already, vegetable beef (lots of veggies and not so much beef) and chicken rice with vegetables. I'll be making more, split pea, lentil, seafood stew...But the recipe that comes up in my mind with a wash of nostalgia is the Tuscan tomato bread soup we made last year in a cooking class in Siena. So delicious and so much fun!

 

🍜 🍜 🍜

PEG COCHRAN/MARGARET LOUDON: Soup is one of my favorite things to make and enjoy!  I love all kinds.  Our weather is finally beginning to feel like autumn so I am looking forward to stirring up a big pot of something.  There are so many choices.  As a kid, my favorite soup was bean with bacon (Campbell's).  I never liked tomato soup (weird, I know) and bean and bacon was accompanied by crackers not grilled cheese.  Now I love experimenting with cold soups in the summer like gazpacho and hearty soups in the winter like split pea soup (or erwtensoep as the Van Velsen twins call it in my Cranberry Cove series), lentil soup, Tuscan bean soup.  I love any kind of bean soup.  There are so many ways to vary them.  I've made lentil soup Italian style with a recipe from Giada De Laurentis as well as this version with more exotic spices.

 

 
🍜 🍜 🍜

DARCI HANNAH: What a great topic, Molly! I adore making soups, stews, and chili the moment fall comes rolling around. In fact, I've already made a huge batch of Chicken Chili for a chili cookout we went to last weekend. No, I didn't win the contest. There was some stiff competition there, but chicken chili is a favorite of mine and it's delicious. (I was going to remember to take a picture of it before it was all gone, and I forgot!) 

I love making soup for most of the reasons already listed on this blog. To me, when served with fresh baked bread, it's the perfect meal. One of our soup traditions my entire family insists upon, is the huge pot of turkey and wild rice soup I make after Thanksgiving. It's thick, creamy, and so delicious. We serve it over leftover stuffing, turning it into a rib-sticking meal. Of course, there are plenty of leftover pies to go with it! Again, I do not have a picture to share of this delicious soup. I guess I haven't been on the blog long enough to share a soup recipe. I'll have to change that soon! I do have a picture of a delicious beef and barley soup I made last year. I don't even remember what cookbook I found the recipe in, but it was one of the tastiest soups I've made. I'll have to dig up this recipe and share it!

 

🍜 🍜 🍜

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Soup season here in NW Montana, too! So far, I've only made Potato Leek Soup, but I made it twice, since I ended up with extra leeks!

When I wrote The Solace of Bay Leaves, the 5th Spice Shop Mystery, I knew the recipe section would be heavy on soup, since bay leaves feature in so many soups and stocks. I've made--and shared--a lot of tomato soup recipes over the years, but writing that book sent me searching for the Tomato Basil Soup I'd enjoyed so often at the deli in my Seattle office building that inspired Ripe, the deli run by Pepper's pal, Laurel. I never did find a recipe from that place, but Mr. Right and I sure had fun trying, and this one warms my memories as well as my tummy.

And I can't not share this Carrot Soup with Toasted Spices and Pecans, since I do write a spice shop series! 

Soup all but demands bread. I don't bake much bread--I'd just eat it--but trust me, this Rosemary Focaccia, moist with herb-infused olive oil is foolproof and the perfect companion to just about any soup!

🍜 🍜 🍜

CLEO COYLE: This ONE HOUR CHICKEN SOUP (for the body and soul) is something I make often in the fall and throughout the winter. It's delicious, quick to cook, and (best of all) genuinely healing because the science is in, and our grandmothers were right. Studies have shown that properties in chicken soup relieve cold and flu symptoms. It not only contains immune boosting properties, but also has cold-fighting compounds that help soothe sore throats and clear nasal congestion. It's also incredibly nutritious, which is why I always feel better after slurping up a bowl of it. 

Click here for Cleo's One Hour Chicken Soup.

To download my recipe for One Hour Chicken Soup in a PDF that you can print, save, or share, click here or on the image above. Whether you make it for yourself or someone you care about, may it bring you good feelings and good health! ~ Cleo

GIVEAWAY!

Readers, how about you? What are some of your favorite soups and stews to make during the chilly fall season? 

Join our discussion with a comment below and you will be entered in our book giveaway.

All Shell Breaks Loose by Molly MacRae 

No Roast for the Weary by Cleo Coyle 

Essentials of Homicide by Kim Davis 

Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder (ebook)
by Valerie Burns 

A Poisonous Pour by Maddie Day

Simmering Secrets (ebook ARC) 
by Ang Pompano

🔎 📚 🔍

Comments open through

Wednesday, October 7.

Winner will be contacted

via email, so be sure to leave 

your email address. 

🍜