There’s a warm and fuzzy feeling that comes with making a southern dish. The sweet and savory flavors dance along your taste buds, and almost every recipe is better with a biscuit. Because eating southern cuisine shouldn’t always mean using a “cheat day,” we tapped Janine Booth–who opened Miami’s Stiltsville Fish Bar and partner and chef at the beloved LES hotspot Root & Bone–to give us some healthy southern recipes. If her name sounds familiar, it’s because the Australian restauranteur and cook appeared on the Emmy award-winning show Top Chef, where she showed off her multifaceted culinary abilities. If you’re in the mood for some southern comfort with a healthy twist, take a page from Janine’s recipe book below. Happy cooking!

Whole Roasted Cauliflower With Honey, Almond, and Cauliflower Puree

For the whole roasted cauliflower

  • 2 large cauliflower heads
  • 1/2 cup vegan butter (I used earth balance, but it can be whatever butter substitute you choose) 
  • 1 tsp salt (kosher)
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper
  • few sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the cauliflower heads on the cutting board right side up.  Using a sharp knife, slice off the bottom inch of each cauliflower flat/horizontally with the cutting board. This will create a flat bottom and the cauliflower will be stable. Make sure to save the section you cut off. Stretch out 2 pieces of aluminum foil about 18 inches in length on the table and place a head in the center of each. Place 1/4 cup of the vegan butter on each, then rub, coating the top and outer area of the cauliflower. Sprinkle each with salt, pepper and lay a few sprigs of thyme. Pull the aluminum foil up the sides and enclose them with simply a fold at the top.  Place the cauliflower in the oven for one hour.
After an hour, remove the cauliflower from the oven and unfold the aluminum foil, rolling it back to expose the top and sides of the cauliflower. Reset your oven to 500 degrees and if your oven has a broiling option then turn it to broil. Mix the few spoonfuls of honey and chopped almonds together in a small bowl.  Spoon this over the 2 heads of cauliflower and place the exposed/unwrapped cauliflowers back in the oven for about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the strength of your oven. Your goal here is to caramelize the cauliflower lightly. The honey and nuts will turn a golden brown. Careful not to burn it, as some stronger convection ovens will blister and burn the cauliflower quickly. Remove from oven and place the cauliflower on a plate. Pour the leftover butter and honey that fell to the bottom of the pan back over the top.  
For the cauliflower puree

  • 3 cups of reserved cauliflower pieces from earlier, remove any firm fibrous core. Using the florets, you should get about 3 cups. Break them into small 1-inch pieces. 
  • 3 cups almond milk
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
  • 3/4 cup slivered, blanched almonds

Place the above ingredients in a small saucepan. The pot should be small enough that the milk covers all the ingredients. If not, then add another cup of almond milk if needed. Place the pan on medium heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until the cauliflower is soft. Remove from heat and strain the pan into a fine strainer over a container. While straining, make sure to collect at least a cup of the hot almond milk. Reserve the hot milk. Place the cooked cauliflower, almonds, and garlic in a blender and add the following ingredients found below: vegan butter, salt, pepper, honey and thyme. Puree this on high until very smooth. If the blender can’t puree the cauliflower then you can add a touch of the hot milk until the blender blades move and puree it properly.  

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter substitute 
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper 
  • A few sprigs fresh thyme, (use only the tender leaves, no stems) 
  • 3 tbsp honey

Place the puree in a small 4 oz. side dish beside the cauliflower head, garnish with a few sprigs of thyme.  Serve with a steak knife. To eat simply cut the cauliflower and dip into the puree.

Cast Iron Pan Seared Yellow Tail Snapper With Fresh Vegetables and Citrus Vinaigrette.

To plate

  • 6-8 oz. of snapper (recipe below)
  • 6 oz sautéed vegetables (recipe below)
  • 2oz. citrus vinaigrette (recipe below)
  • 8oz. grits (recipe below)
  • sliced lemon garnish (lemon sliced in half)
  • Place a scoop of grits on plate, top with hot vegetables, fish, vinaigrette, and garnish with lemon. Serve hot!

For the fish

  • 1 Snapper scaled, filleted, skin on 2 small filets (about 3-4 oz each)
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • Pinch of salt and pepper

In a cast iron pan heat a tablespoon of canola oil over very high heat.  Lightly season fish and place in pan skin side down. Press the fish with a flat spatula holding it down with force so the skin doesn’t curl up.  After about 3 minutes the skin should be nice and crispy, flip the fish over and continue cooking for another 4 minutes until the fish is cooked completely.
For the vegetables

  • 3 baby organic carrots, peeled and lightly blanched in boiling water for about 3 minutes
  • 1 ear corn, cut off the cob
  • 4 brussel sprout heads, peel each leaf individually and reserve
  • 2 roma tomatoes cut in 1/4s (slow roasted/dried, see recipe below)
  • 3 thin slices of red onion about an ounce
  • Lemon for garnish
  • A few tablespoons olive oil

In a sauté pan over medium high heat, sauté all the vegetables with a tablespoon or so of olive oil, season with salt & pepper. Reserve until ready to plate.
For the vinaigrette.

  • 1 orange
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 lime
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • Small pinch of salt and pepper.

Squeeze all the citrus into a bowl and add salt, pepper, oil, and whisk.
For the grits

  • 1 cup chicken stock or water
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup yellow stone-ground grits
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 oz unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper

Bring stock and milk just to a simmer in a heavy saucepan. Meanwhile, cover grits with water in a large bowl and whisk vigorously. Let stand 30 seconds, then skim any chaff that has floated to the surface with a fine-mesh sieve. Drain grits well in a fine-mesh sieve and whisk into simmering milk mixture.
Reduce heat to low and simmer grits, partially covered, stirring often with a heatproof rubber spatula, until grits are tender and thickened to the consistency of loose oatmeal, about an hour (stir more toward end of cooking to avoid scorching). If grits become too thick before they are tender and creamy, thin with milk or cream).
Stir in cream, butter, and salt. Remove from heat and keep warm.
For the slow roasted tomatoes

  • 2 roma tomatoes cut in 1/4s
  • 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper
  • 5 sprigs of thyme rough chopped
  • Toss all ingredients in bowl and slow roast in oven for 2 or 3 hours at 175 degrees until the tomatoes are melted and about halfway dried.

Grilled Butternut Squash with Tabasco Glaze and Crunchy Spicy Seeds

  • 1 whole butternut squash
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
  • ½ tbsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 7 or 8 fresh thyme sprigs chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut pumpkin in half down the center length-ways and scoop out the seeds and set to the side for toasting (recipe to follow). Trim ends off and slice 1 inch thick pieces, creating half moon shapes. Place in a large bowl and add honey, salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil. Toss until all pieces are coated well. Place on a sheet pan and roast for 30-40 mins or until just tender.
Crunchy Seeds

  • Reserved seeds from Squash *see step 2
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp tabasco
  • ¼ tsp salt

Clean all the flesh off the squash seeds and place in a bowl with oil, Tabasco and salt. Toss all ingredients well in bowl together and toast in oven at 350 degrees for about 12 -14 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and keep at room temp until needed to garnish.
TABASCO Glaze

  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp TABASCO
  • 4 tbsp red vinegar

In a small sauce pot, whisk together honey, Tabasco, Brown Sugar, Vinegar and Heat over medium heat. Cook and reduce by half. Remove from heat and reserve at room temp until needed.
To Serve

  • 1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
  • A few big pinches of toasted seeds
  • 3 tbsp Tabasco syrup
  • A few pinches fresh thyme sprigs

Heat grill to high heat (preferably charcoal grill). Lightly oil the grill or spray with oil. Place roasted squash on the grill and re-heat over a flame. Mark squash on all sides with grill.
Smooth Greek yogurt evenly over the serving plate with the back of the spoon. Pile up the grilled butternut squash, drizzle Tabasco glaze on top of squash and sprinkle with toasted seeds and garnish with fresh thyme.