I don’t always use a recipe when I’m cooking. Over the past year, I have been cooking more with items on hand and making up my own recipes. Most of the time, they work out fine and there’s only been a few instances where I had to toss out the dish. Tonight, I made a pork roast and didn’t have any idea what to make with it when I put it in the oven. When it was 3/4 of the way roasted, I looked into the fridge and pulled out some veggies, intending to just wing it. I ended up with roasted cauliflower and a pasta/kale dish. Below are my recipes.

Roasted Cauliflower:

In a zip-lock bag, combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tbsp. lime (or lemon) juice, 1/2 tsp. chopped garlic, a handful of fresh Italian parsley (chopped), 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Add the cauliflower and mix well. Empty the contents into a casserole dish. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Pasta and Kale with Pumpkin Seed Pesto

• 1/2 box quinoa rotini pasta
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 6 kale leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup Italian parsley
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp salt

Cook the pasta according to package instructions, then drain. Saute mushrooms in a little olive oil. Add kale and continue to saute a few minutes. Add a tsp. water to help wilt the kale. In a blender, add the pumpkin seeds, parsley, garlic, salt and olive oil. Blend until desired consistency (I like mine a little chunky). Mix all ingredients together and toss.