Happy Thanksgiving?

For this recipe, I have no words. Other than: I should have made this for Thanksgiving.

For realsies, pin this on your "Thanksgiving" board.

Cranberry-Orange Stuffed Acorn Squash

makes two

Inspired by Martha

1 acorn squash

2 tsp EVOO

1 sweet yellow onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic. minced

2 cups sliced brown mushrooms

1/4 c. walnuts, roughly chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme

3-4 medium sage leaves

1/4 c. dried cranberries

zest of 1/2 orange

1 cup cooked wild rice

salt and pepper to taste

Wash squash well - lots of nooks and crannies! Cut in half, scoop out goop, and roast face up, uncovered at 450F for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, saute garlic and onion in EVOO.

When soft, add mushrooms and saute for 4-6 minutes or until soft.

Chop walnuts.

Remove thyme leaves from sprig. Finely chop with the sage.

Remove squash from oven and scoop out about 1/3 c. of flesh from any thick edges.  Roughly chop.

Add nuts, sage, thyme, squash, and dried cranberries to onion/mushroom mixture.

Zest orange over the pan.

Add wild rice and mix.

Stuff mixture into squash halves. Bake an additional 20 minutes or until toasted. 

Remember that garlic cashew cream? Yeah, pour that stuff over.

Never too early for Thanksgiving meal planning :)

BB & BS B's

Today's recipe is for BB & BS B's... which translates to black bean and butternut squash burritos. And it is my new favorite food.

I have had this recipe pinned/bookmarked/evernoted since I laughably tried veganism for that one week. Minus a couple days. The original recipe for Black Bean and Butternut Squash Burritos comes from Oh She Glows. I mixed it up by adding spinach and de-vegan'd it by adding cheese. Like I do best.



It may sound like a weird combo, and def not the solution to a Mexican food craving, but trust me, it's good. I had this three ways: as a burrito, as crunchy taco's, and as a breakfast burrito. It would also be great in a burrito bowl, as soft tacos, on crackers, on a bed of lettuce, in a quesadilla, and probably many other ways. And it's super good for you, too! Oh, the fiber! The moral of the story is that it's very delicious and I encourage you to give it a taste!

BB & BS B's
six servings


Filling
1 tbsp EVOO
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 bag baby spinach
3 cups diced butternut squash
juice of 1 lime

Suggested extras
flour tortillas
sliced avocado
nonfat plain greek yogurt
shredded mexican cheese
chopped cilantro
red salsa
hot sauce

If you have superfluous amounts of free time, I would suggest roasting the butternut in a 400F oven for half an hour. But if ya don't have said free time, then nuke the butternut for 5 minutes in a steaming bag.

Meanwhile, heat EVOO over med-high heat. Saute onion and garlic.

Once softened, add seasonings. You may substitute your favorite taco seasoning for spices.

Add black beans, bell pepper, and brown rice. Saute for 5 minutes over medium, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking.

Add bag of spinach to the pan. Fold in. It will wilt to nothingness in about 4 minutes.

Add butternut and let everything get all happy. Taste for salt needs. Add lime juice and make sure everything gets nice and mixed around. You could squish the butternut or some of it to change the texture of the filling.

I made the perfect burrito with the BB & BS B mixture, avocado, salsa, shredded cheese, and greek yogurt.

Roll that business up and you've got a party.

And now I'm sad cause I ate all the leftovers for breakfast.

Squashed

In my personal opinion, the kabocha is the unsung hero of squashes. It's tastier than any squash out there. It can be roasted, pureed, sauteed, tempura'd, etc. It's always good. If you haven't tried kabocha, do so now. Actually, you probably have and didn't know it. Kabocha is the squash used in vegetable tempura dishes at japanese restaurants. If you didn't know, now you do.

This is the giant kabocha space ship that sat on my counter for days and begged "eat me!"

And so . . . I did. Today's recipe was inspired by a recipe in Self magazine, 2008. I maintain that you could slather a kabocha in paint thinner and it would still be delicious. But that's just me.

The first step is to slay your kabocha squash. This is where a good knife is just as important as it is dangerous. Just close your eyes and tell me when it's over.

i don't wanna!

It's really not that bad, but does take some elbow grease. Good thing i'm ripped. (?)

before

after

Cumin Spiced Roasted Kabocha

1 WW PP+ per cup of squash

Ingredients

• The hugest kabocha you can find, or two small, insides scooped out, peeled, and sliced
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp paprika - any kind

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375
• Toss kabocha in EVOO
• In a spice grinder or in a mortar and pestel, crush bay leaf with sea salt
• Combine sea salt/bay mixture with cumin, sugar and paprika
• Sprinkle over oiled kabocha and toss until coated all over
• Spread on a baking sheet and bake for one hour, or until edges are golden and kabocha is soft
• You won't be able to flip the kabocha, so don't try -  it doesn't get crispy. Just tender and delish.

The cumin flavor is not overpowering and the balance of sugar and salt is perfecto. Kabocha is already sweet, but the brown sugar really complements the natural sweetness and doesn't compete with it. Also, this whole bay leaf/sea salt business is a winner and will likely find its way into my kitchen again.

If you need an awesome recipe to go with the kabocha, you will have to come back in a couple days! It's finals season in lauren land, so naturally i'm procrastinating by doing everything BUT studying. What the heck is that about? Off for a bike ride ...

Stuffed Shells Two Ways

Saturday was family dinner night and to stick with my cookbook mission, I made a recipe inspired by, guess who, Ray Ray! The menu was stuffed shells two ways. Truly, I just wanted to do a butternut squash sauce, but I figured I could please the crowed with an easy italian sausage marinara sauce, too. Though these took for-ev-er to make for a group of ten, they were super delicious. It's like a neater lasagna. Which makes me think this butternut squash sauce would make a ridiculously good lasagna... Hmmm...

Thanks for inspiration Ray Ray! I also took a cue from Gourmet for the butternut squash sauce. But I changed that up, too. I'm not one for following instructions.

There are three components to this - the shells, the sausage marinara, and the butternut squash sauce.

One: The Shells


Ingredients

• One box of shells
• 2 cups fat free ricotta
• 2/3 c. shredded parmesan
• 1/3 c. grated romano
• 1 egg
• 1/2 bag frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg to taste
• 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl, combine all the other ingredients.
• Set in the fridge for about one hour before you start stuffing shells so that the spices have some time to soak in to the cheese
• Cook shells according to box instructions -  you want them just short of al dente since you will be finishing them in the oven. Nobody likes mushy pasta.
• When the pasta is done cooking, drain and dump on to a baking sheet to cool.
• Once they are cool enough to handle, stuff each shell with 2 tbsp of ricotta mixture
• Arrange in a 9x13 baking dish and wait patiently for sauce
• Pour sauce over shells - be generous - and make sure to get the edges so pasta doesn't dry out
• Bake uncovered at 375 for 30 minutes or until bubbly

nutmeg looks like brains!

Sausage Marinara

Ingredients

• One package of your favorite italian sausage - I like hot turkey, but sweet or any other meat tastes great too
• Two 28 oz. cans marinara sauce from trader joes. No corner cutting, people. :)
• 1 tbsp italian seasoning
• 1 c. red wine - 3/4 c for drinking while cooking, 1/4 c. for actual cooking

Instructions

•  In a large, deep frying pan, brown sausage 
• Dump in marinara sauce, reduce heat to simmer
• Add in italian seasoning and red wine
• Simmer and stir occasionally for 10 minutes
• Great on pasta, lasagna, stuffed shells, with italian sandwiches, over eggs, over garlic bread, etc.

 I was too busy stuffing shells to take pics, but picture yumminess in your head.

Butternut Squash Sage Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 lb butternut squash, roughly chopped and finely diced by food processor
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 tbsp EVOO
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp fresh chopped sage
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped italian parsley
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• pepper to taste

Instructions

• Heat oil over medium high heat
• Saute onions until soft and starting to get brown
• Dump in squash, and water, cover and reduce heat to medium
• Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until squash is fully cooked
• Either using a blender or batches in a food processor, puree 3/4 of the squash onion mixture. If you don't want texture, puree it all. I like texture.
• Reduce heat to low, stir in herbs, parm, and pepper to taste
• SOOOOOOO good.

fuzzy.

 I am going to go eat another round of these shells for leftovers now :)