Agile Thanksgiving

I always look for a mix of crowd pleasing recipes mixed with some fresh ideas. With the ovens going at 400F and the turkey done, I have about an hour to cook four trays while I carve the turkey and make the gravy. Agile or just multitasking, it works for me. Today's feast included:

Roasted root vegetables

With the ovens going, it's easy to slice up carrots and turnips, mix with olive oil, salt, some broth, and herbs and roast at 400F for about 45 minutes.

Chili Garlic Potatoes

Crush garlic, new Mexican chili peppers, Thai bird chili peppers, kosher salt, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, olive oil, and chili water (water from hydrating the chili) in a mortar and pestle to make a paste. Spoon onto boiled potatoes. Roast for 45 minutes. 

Crowd Pleasing Potatoes

For those that don't like the heat, just sprinkle herbs and salt on boiled potatoes. Drizzle on olive oil and roast for 45 minutes.

And finally, Awesome Green Beans

 

Saute garlic. Add French beans with the ends chopped off. Salt and saute about five minutes. Add slivered almonds and saute one more minute

What about the Turkey?

Sorry folks. Forgot to take the photo. But I always follow Alton Brown's Good Eats Turkey Recipe and it always comes out awesome.

 For Technologists

Check out my post from last year, A CIO Top Ten Guide To Preparing a Thanksgiving Feast.

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Late Night Roasted Cauliflower

One of my favorite, easy to make, flavorful, and healthy late night dinners. You can do this in a toaster oven, your main convention oven, and even on the grill if you have a grill basket.

There are two keys to doing this well. First, make best attempt to have the cauliflower pieces cut to uniform size so that they cook evenly. Second, make best attempt to evenly coat the florets with the olive oil and spices.

Ingredients

• One head of cauliflower cut into uniform chunks
• Olive oil - 3-4 tablespoons to coat the cauliflower
• Spice mixture: A couple of options here
• Spicy - Mix of ancho chile powder, pinch of cayenne, cumin, salt
• Curry - Curry powder, garlic powder, coriander, salt
• Herb - Herb de Provence works great mixed with salt

Directions

Mix cauliflower with olive oil in a large bowl. Sprinkle on the selected spice mixture evenly. If cooking in an oven, spread on a cookie sheet in one layer and roast at 400F. If cooking on the grill, cook on medium-high heat shaking the basket every 10 minutes. Cook until florets are brown and charred in some places, 20-25 minutes.

For Technologists

Sometimes you just have to go back to the basics, like learning data science principals from fourth grade class rules or what agile teams can learn from first graders.

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Simple Grilled Kale With Plums

Here's another approach to grilled kale - call it the fifteen minute, two ingredient version. Ronan's grilled kale is a better recipe if you ate preparing this dish for guests and this is the version I do when I just need something quick.

Chop the kale into large bite-sized pieces. Toss with about a quarter cup of olive oil and plenty of salt. Place chopped kale in a deep grill basket and grill on medium heat with top closed. Shake and turn every five minutes until the leaves are wilted, about 10-15 minutes in total. Place kale on platter and add olive oil if the kale looks dry. Serve with sliced plums.

Also works well with peaches, nectarines and strawberries.

For Technologists

I wrote a post about three years ago stating, "I firmly believe the best products are simple." It was a plea to agile product owners to stop over complicating their products and features with too many bells and whistles and other nuances that add to complexity. MVP - minimal viable product - also works well in cooking with good ingredients and simple techniques.

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Ronan's Grilled Kale

Here is a very versatile kale recipes. This one marries sweet and a little spice and was a hit at my department's summer picnic.

 

 

 

Ingredients

• Bunch of kale, the bigger the better. Washed, ideally dry
• Olive oil
• Red pepper
• 1-2 plums
• Honey
• Lime
• Chili pepper flakes
• Salt

Recipe

Get the charcoal or gas grill going medium or even low. Leave the kale whole and spread about a quarter cup of olive oil on the kale leaves. Then put on the grill along with the red pepper. Turn the kale and pepper every couple of minutes. The red pepper is done when there is good char on all sides, then take off the grill and put into a sealed plastic bag to steam. When the kale looks wet green, is wilted in most areas and charred at the ends, about 10 minutes take off and let sit on the cutting board.

Make the dressing with the olive oil, honey, lime, chili flakes, and salt. Don't ask me quantities, I wing it and hope you have some skill in making a dressing.

Slice off the ends of the kale and discard. Chop the remaining kale leaves and stem finely and put on a serving platter. Remove the red pepper and pull off the skin. Remove the seeds, slide into strips about half the length of the pepper and place on top of the kale. Pour the dressing on top and mix with the kale and pepper. Slice the plum into quarters and place on top like a garnish

Enjoy!

For Technologists

This recipe is about balance - sweet from the honey, spice from the chili flakes, and sour from the lime. Color balance from the green kale, red peppers, and purple/yellow plums.

Reminds me of my post on how to get teams to think agile. It requires diversity - both in skills, thinking, and ethnicity to achieve collaboration and drive innovation.

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