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Posts Tagged ‘butternut squash’

“Cheeze” sauce and Veggie Cheeze Quesadillas

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on November 5, 2013| 3 Comments »

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This post just didn’t want to happen. I’ve opened WordPress approximately 800 times to write it and approximately 800 times I’ve managed to do just about anything else.

I feel like the kids when I’m trying to get them to do their homework. They want to do just about anything BUT what’s in front of them.

Talk about the day: Check.

Put their head down and whine about how much they hate school: Check.

Sing Lady Gaga: Check.

Dance to Lady Gaga: Check.

Pretend the chairs are the bars from gymnastics: Check.

Fall off fake gymnastic bars because they are, in fact, chairs and have a fake melt down: Check.

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Literally, anything other then doing actual work is an option. They’ll do one problem or read one sentence and they’re off doing something else and I have to refocus them. That’s exactly how I’ve felt writing this blog but no one has been around to refocus me so instead I:

Write post cards: Check.

Sing Taylor Swift: Check.

Dance to Taylor Swift: Check.

Write 2 other blog posts for later in the week: Check.

Look up xmas presents on the most obscure websites ever: Check.

Check every single on line store I have ever shopped at for an update on their products (I’m looking at you Toms and your super cute new star shoes): Check.

Work out: Actually….uh, nah! I think I’ll blog. lol!

Despite my new found A.D.D, this “cheeze” sauce was divine. I originally made it for the Halloween Quesadillas and then began putting it on pasta with kale and tomatoes for a sort of vegan, veggie loaded Mac and Cheeze. I seriously can’t get enough. Here is the recipe for the quesadilla. I will share the pasta with you next week.

Do you like my fancy bowl?

Do you like my fancy bowl?

But first, let’s start with the sauce:

Vegan “Cheeze” Sauce
by Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

  • 1 fresh butternut squash* (peeled and chopped) OR 1 cup canned butternut squash OR canned pumpkin (I only tried it with roasted squash, a combo of butternut and japanese, but pumpkin is next if I can find it canned!)
  • Extra virgin olive oil, S & P
  • 1 tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter replacer)
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened & unflavoured almond milk 
  • 1 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) (arrowroot is cheaper in Australia, so I used that)
  • 6 tbsp nutritional yeast, or more to taste
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1/4-3/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2-1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2-1 tsp kosher salt (to taste) & ground black pepper, to taste

1. If you are roasting squash, preheat oven to 425F. Line a casserole dish with tin foil. Mix chopped squash with EVOO, S & P. Roast for about 40 minutes, uncovered, or until tender. Remove and set aside to cool.

2. Next, prepare the roux in a pot on the stove top. Add non-dairy butter over low-medium heat. In a bowl, whisk together milk and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch or flour) until clumps are gone. Add into pot with butter and whisk. Stir in remaining ingredients (nutritional yeast, Dijon, garlic, lemon, S & P) and whisk over low heat until thickened (about 5-7 minutes or so).

3. In a blender, blend the roux with 1 cup of roasted squash (or if using canned, simply stir 1 cup into the pot).

Voila! You have a cheeze sauce. Now, what to do with it:

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Veggie Cheeze Quesadillas
makes approximately 4 quesadillas

vegan butter

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

olive oil

1 garlic clove

1 red pepper

8 oz of mushrooms

salt and pepper

1 batch of vegan Cheeze sauce

option toppings: guacamole, salsa, vegan sour cream

In a small pan, melt a bit of vegan butter over medium low heat. Once melted, add your sliced onions and stir to coat. Let sit, stirring occasionally until caramelized. This should take 15-20 minutes.

While your onions are caramelizing, slice up your red peppers. Heat some olive oil in a different frying pan  over medium heat. Add your garlic and sautee until fragrant. Add your red peppers. Stir occasionally until soft, this should take about 15 minutes. After the peppers have been cooking for about 5 minutes, throw in your mushrooms and continue cooking for the remaining 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste at the end.

Once your veggies are done, Preheat oven to 350.  Lay out your tortilla shells. Cover 4 of the shells in Cheeze sauce. Top with your cooked veggies. Place the remaining shells on top. At this point, you can cover the quesadillas and place in the fridge if you are making them ahead of time. I would not recommend leaving them in the fridge for longer then 1 day. The edges tend to dry up and get stale.

Once you are ready to cook, place in the preheated over and cook for about 10 minutes until the tortilla shells have started to turn golden. Remove from the oven, slice up, add your toppings of choice and devour!

Another option would be to cut up all your veggies and cook them with a taco or fajita seasoning, either in the oven or on the stove. I really wanted caramelized onions though which is why I opted for the stove top veggies. 

This recipe is customizable so go crazy with it. 

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Pumpkin faces totally optional, but it does make it more fun!

 

 

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Roasted Veggie Salad with Herb Quinoa Oat Bread

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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This week has been rough. On Tuesday, our dog Ace, died really unexpectantly. The vet thinks it was cancer in his chest. He was still pretty young at 8 and it hit us all really hard. He was a super good dog, even though he was mildly neurotic. He didn’t like red rugs. He had a nightly routine which involved giving his blanky a tour of the house before settling down. And overall, he really didn’t like change. But, don’t we all have quirks? I can’t eat m&ms or skittles without sorting them into groups by color. Is that any less weird then avoiding red rugs? Needless to say, he fit into our family pretty well and it’s been hard losing him.

So, I’ve been trying to stay busy all week. Tuesday night, despite the news, I went to ballet class, swollen red poofy eyes and all. Last night, I went on a bit of a shopping spree with my friend, Rachel. Container store, Lush, Barnes and Noble, fro-yo with soy yogurt AND Whole Foods. It was kind of epic. And perfectly fun and distracting.

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Thankfully and completely by coincidence,  I managed to get my act together on Sunday evening and make food for the whole week. So, despite my running around and blurred vision, I have still been eating well.

This salad seems like it may be boatloads of work, but you can make everything in advance and it makes several servings so you can have it for lunch or dinner throughout the week. Check out some substitutions all the way at the bottom if you want to save some time.

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To roast the zucchini, summer squash and asparagus, I used the new baking sheet my Grandma gave me. Look how much bigger it is compared to my old ones!

Roasted Veggie Salad with Herb Quinoa Oat Bread

Roasted Veggie Salad:

  • 2 small zucchini
  • 2 small summer squash
  • 1 large bunch of asparagus (skinny stalks are the best! But that may be personal preference…)
  • 1/2 butternut squash
  • baby spinach or arugala (Whichever you prefer. I have had both and both were delicious. I tend to have baby spinach on hand more frequently though because I also use it in smoothies)
  • coconut oil
  • salt and pepper to taste (optional)
  • pepita seeds

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Dice your butternut squash into cubes and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with coconut oil (I didnt measure but I would estimate 1 TBSP) and toss until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste if you are using.

Dice your zucchini and summer squash. Remove the tough ends from the asparagus and cut into thirds. Put the zucchini, summer squash and asparagus on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with coconut oil (again, around 1TBSP) and toss until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place the butternut squash in the oven for 30 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, put the other tray of veggies in.

When the 30 minute are up, remove the veggies from the oven. Veggies can be hot or cold when served, both are delicious so it’s a matter of preference. To serve, place a slice of toasted Herb Quinoa Oat Bread down (recipe below), top with a bed of spinach or arugala, then your roasted veggies, drizzle with apple cider vinaigrette (recipe below) and sprinkle with pepita seeds. Dig in!!

Apple Cider Vinaigrette
from Food Network

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Put in a jar, shake it up and serve.

Herb Quinoa Oat Bread
recipe from Edible Perspective
2-3 servings (I cut mine into 6 servings to get me through the week)

  • 1/2c GF oat flour*
  • 3/4c quinoa flour
  • 1/4c almond flour
  • 1c water
  • 1.5T ground chia seeds or ground flax seeds
  • 1.5T coconut oil
  • 1T unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4t salt
  • 1/4t garlic powder
  • 1t parsley
  • 1t oregano
  • 1t thyme
  • 5-8 grinds of black pepper

  1. Preheat your oven to 375.

  2. Add 1/2T coconut oil to a 9” round/square pan and place in the oven.  A cast iron pan works really well.  Or line a 9” round/square pan with parchment paper.

  3. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

  4. Pour in the water, applesauce, and 1T of melted coconut oil.

  5. Stir until just combined and let sit for 5min.  Batter should be thick, but pourable after sitting.

  6. While the batter is sitting, place the pan in the oven with 1/2T coconut oil for 5min.  Remove from the oven and spread the oil around the sides + bottom of the pan.  *If using parchment paper, skip this step.

  7. Pour the batter into the pan, spread to the edges, then shake lightly to even out.

  8. Bake for 38-42min, until the bread is cracked on top, pulled away from the sides, and edges are golden brown.  I always bake mine for 40min.

  9. Let cool to fully firm up, then remove from the pan + slice.

  10. Store in a sealed container for 3-4 days.

* notes from Wicked Vegan: Don’t be intimidated by the list of unusual flours. I currently have at least 5 different flours in my pantry, none of which are the ones listed above and I was determined not to buy another. So I made these flours with the oats, quinoa and almonds that I already had. Just put the oats, quinoa and almonds in a food processor or magic bullet, separately, and blend until they have broken down into a flour consistency.  The oat flour and quinoa flour were very easy to turn to flour. I had a bit of trouble with the almonds, which resulted in a corn-bread texture to my bread. It was still delicious, it just didn’t look like the pictures from Edible Perspective but I was ok with that.

notes from Edible Perspective: I have found coconut oil to be the best to prevent sticking.  Feel free to sub another high-heat safe oil.  This recipe would be great as a base for pizza.  Remove the bread from the pan, pile on toppings, then bake for 5-10min.  Feel free to sub buckwheat, millet, amaranth, or corn flour for the oat or quinoa flour but not the almond meal.  You can easily make these gluten free flours at home in your blender or food processor.  For GF oat flour, use rolled oats, oat groats, or steel cut oats.  Process until turned into a fine flour.  You can make almond meal by processing almonds until turned into a soft meal with no almond pieces.
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You can roast any veggies that you want for this salad. California Pizza Kitchen has a salad similar to this and they use eggplant. You could also throw in mushrooms, green beans, bell peppers or onions. I really think whatever you like would work in here.
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Store bought Naan can be subbed in for the quinoa bread. I had originally bought roasted garlic naan for this recipe but holy crap was that stuff delicious! I ended up eating the four pieces before I even began to make this recipe so I decided that maybe I didn’t need more of that deliciousness in the house! After all, oatmeal with a side of roasted garlic naan for breakfast, soup with roasted garlic naan for lunch and just warm roasted garlic naan dipped in hummus for dinner doesn’t exactly make a well rounded day of food.
Balsamic vinaigrette, bottled or homemade, can be subbed for the apple cider vinaigrette dress.
ok, I promise no more sad stuff tomorrow on WV. I’ll try and bring you some fun Friday Favorites complete with some upbeat music.

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Roasted Veggies

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on February 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

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So, things are going to be getting a bit healthy up in this joint, I suspect. Last week, my co-worker, friend and fellow blogger, Rachel, joined our company’s fitness challenge, Team Lean Challenge. Neither of us were too interested in joining but we both made New Years Resolutions to hit the gym harder and we thought this would be a great way to stay on track.

Team Lean Challenge is a 12 week competition where teams of 2 compete to lose the most BMI/weight. They tweaked the rules a little this year so I’m not 100% sure how everything factors in but it’s been fun! You really stop and think about what you eat and how you exercise knowing someone else is going to be effected. Yesterday, instead of just running on the treadmill, I added some weights and attempted to jump rope. Hey, know what’s really difficult? Jump roping when you’re 27! That shit was easier when you were close to the ground.

Anyway, so I will be competing in this challenge so I can’t binge on cookie dough truffles, Avocado Chocolate Cupcakes or Deep Dish Cookie pies (all which would go be great for Valentines, btw). Nope! Things are going to get way healthier up in here!

Um…right after I provide you with the 2-4 Valentine’s desserts I have tentatively planned…THEN, things will get serious.

Today  I do have a relatively easy and healthy recipe for you- Roasted Veggies. I know this is sort of a cop out recipe but I have to tell you, this is one of my favorite cooking tricks lately. You just roast a ton of veggies one night and then you have yummy vegetables to be served with your meals for a week! It cuts down on prep time if prepared ahead and it gives you a healthy cornerstone for several meals.

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Roasted Vegetables, Taralynn-style:
from Undressed Skeleton

  • 5 Mini Purple Potatoes
  • 4 Mini Honey Gold Potatoes
  • 2 Large Yellow Bell Peppers
  • 1/2 Box Low Sodium Vegetable Broth
  • 3 Large Zucchini
  • 3 Large Summer Squash
  • 2 Medium Sweet Potatoes

Cook in oven for 1 hour on 350 degrees. Stir every 15 minutes.

This first recipe is a great blank canvas. You can have the veggies as is or you can prep it different for each meal. For instance, because the veggies were just cooked with veggy broth, if you are having taco night, you could toss a serving or two with a little taco season or fajita seasoning, reheat them at 350 for a few minutes, and serve them along side or even in your taco. But, if the next night, you are having spaghetti, you can toss a couple servings with italian seasoning and serve it along side a different meal. Then, on Saturday morning, you can sautee them in a skillet with an organic, cruelty-free egg or tofu and make a breakfast hash (this was my favorite way to eat them). It’s flexible and keeps you from getting bored.

It’s also super customizable with veggies. I found that the above recipe was good but a bit too starchy with the food I was making. Plus, it was meant to serve two for a week so I had a hard time finishing all of them. So I made this recipe:

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Roasted Veggies, Erin-style:
seasoning from Healthfulpursuit.com

half a butternut squash*, cubed

1 punch of asparagus

1 red pepper

2 summer squash

2 zucchini

2 carrots

2 TBSP of coconut oil

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

2 pinches of cayenne pepper

*Apparently, at Whole Foods, if you only want half a butternut squash, you just have to ask the cute hipster boys and they take it in the back and cut it up for you. Seriously, why did I ever shop at Stop and Shop?

Preheat oven to 350.

Keep the butternut squash separate from the other veggies. They take longer to cook so you want them on their own. Toss the veggies with about 1 TBSP each of coconut butter, 1/4 cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne (1 TBSP of coconut oil, 1/4 cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne for the butternut squash, same for the other veggies). Place the butternut squash in the oven first, let cook for about 15 minutes and then put the other veggies in for 20 minutes. If you are feeling lazy, you can roast everything together but your veggies will be soggy by the time your butternut squash is done.

I ate this plain with just the maple dressing from Healthful pursuit, with quinoa and again, as a breakfast hash. Slightly less versatile with the spices but no less delicious.

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Alright, I’ve worked out some frustrations on the elliptical AND plie-ed my ass off in ballet today so I’m hitting the hay. Let me know if you try this and with what veggies!

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Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili with Avocado

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on December 11, 2012| 1 Comment »

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Ahh, christmas. It’s right around the corner. How many of you are excited? How many of you are ready??

That is not me at all. Let me tell you a little bit about my relationship with christmas- we normally dont get along. I like christmas the week of Christmas but i spend the weeks leading up to it resembling Grouchy Cat:

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from Tardthegrumpycat.tumblr.com

I think we’re twins. LOL

BUT this year was different. I had a mission! I was going to make all my Christmas gifts by hand which means 1. No/minimal mall craziness. Thank gosh! 2. getting to try all the fun projects I’ve pinned on pinterest. Super exciting! and 3. All this Christmas project-ing would help me get into the holiday spirit!

Yeah well, I’m here typing this blog on my smart phone, at 1 am, in the dark, under my comforter because I forgot there would be a 4th component to handmade gifts- finding time to make it all! I’m just a wee bit behind on my to do list…and by a wee bit, I mean I don’t have one single project completed. And I just can’t sleep thinking of all the things I need to do! And all the work things i need to do! And my social life that needs fixing. Eek!

On the plus side, I managed to find some time to make some food- finally. A girl can’t make Christmas cards til 1am on an empty stomach! Or in this case, watch the Monday Night game without something hearty!

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Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili with Avocado
minorly tweaked from Cookie and Kate
Serves: 4

Ingredients
  • 1 medium red onion, chopped
  • 2 red bell peppers, chopped (or equivalent jarred roasted red peppers)
  • 1 small butternut squash (less than 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and chopped into small cubes
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • ground sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2+ tablespoon chopped chipotle in adobo* (I used 1 of the chipotle peppers in the can which was about 3/4 TBS)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 14-ounces canned fire roasted diced tomatoes, including the liquid
  • 2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 TBSP tomato paste
  • 2 cups finely chopped kale (optional)
  • 2 Avocados from Mexico, diced
  • cilantro (optional, for garnish)
  • Field Roast Chipotle vegan sausage (optional)
  • 3 tortillas, flour or corn (I used flour because it’s what I had)
 
Instructions
  1. In a 4 to 6 quart Dutch oven or stockpot, sautée the chopped vegetables (onion, bell pepper, butternut squash, garlic) in one to two tablespoons of coconut oil on medium-high heat. Stir the ingredients every few minutes so they can cook evenly.
  2. Once the onions start turning translucent, turn the heat down to medium-low. Add all of the spices (salt, chili powder, cumin, chipotle, bay leaf and cinnamon) and stir, cooking one or 2 more minutes until fragrant. Add all the canned ingredients (tomatoes, black beans, broth, tomato paste). Cover for about one hour, stirring occasionally. After 40 minutes, stir in the chopped kale if you are using it. After 1 hour, taste test for spice level and add more chipotle if desired.
  3. By the time your chili is done, the butternut squash should be nice and tender and the liquid should have reduced a bit, producing the hearty chili consistency
  4. To make the crispy tortilla strips: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the tortillas into thin little strips, about 2 inches long and place on a non-greased cookie sheet.  Brush the strips with some oil ( I ran out of olive oil so half had coconut oil and you couldn’t tell the difference). Sprinkle with salt, spritz with a lime (optional) and toss. Spread into a single sheet with minimal over lapping. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the strips are crispy and turning golden, flipping the strips over once at the half way mark.
  5. Serve the chili in individual bowls, topped with crispy tortilla strips and plenty of diced avocado. I sauteed up some Field Roast Chipotle vegan sausage and served on top of the chili as well and it was delicious. You don’t want to cook the vegan sausage in with the chili cause it will get super soggy and lose it’s flavorings.

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This comes together insanely fast. There a minimal veggies to cut (I may have bought my butternut squash pre-cut cause I have no sharp knives and because I had 800 crafts to do) and then you practically dump it all in a pot and walk away. It’s perfect for the holiday season when multi-tasking becomes 100% necessary but you want something warm and filling to hold you over.
 
My goal tonight: Start gift wrapping what I can and finish my Christmas cards! How is your christmas preparations coming along?

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Pumpkin Cranberry Soup

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on October 30, 2012| 4 Comments »

I got the Taylor Swift CD last week and seriously, I can’t stop. It’s not even funny.  I’m plugged in at the grocery store, there was an embarassing moment in an aisle of Target where someone totally caught me dancing to the song “Holy Ground”, and my poor roommates probably know the songs by heart because I’ve been blasting it while cooking, which is pretty much all I do. My friend, Melinda, even tried to stage an intervention by giving me a TON of new CDs and while I’ve given them a quick listen, I make it about 30 minutes before switching back to Taylor Swift.

This is a problem. Halloween in TOMORROW. I should be listening to a halloween playlist. I even have one made up! But nooo…I keep listening to “We are never, ever, ever getting back together” ad nauseam and wondering if Taylor Swift is trying to give me relationship advice through her music.

Seriously…I need help…

BUT, even if my music life is in shambles, I am totally prepped for Halloween, food-wise. I made a huge pot of this pumpkin cranberry soup for lunch this week. Check in tomorrow, too. I may be posting a cupcake recipe that I should have given you today but totally forgot to photograph. Fail…

Pumpkin Cranberry Soup
veganized from The New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker. (seriously…buy this book)
found on-line at Food.com

  • 1/2 cup fresh cranberries (or 1/2 c. cranberry sauce or 1/2 cup dried cranberries)*
  • 3 tablespoons Earth Balance or other vegan butter
  • 1/2 large Spanish onion, diced
  • 1 celery stalk, diced
  • 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 1 pound of fresh, uncooked pumpkin or butternut squash, cubed (Do you even need to ask which I used?  Butternut Squash Addict!)
  • 1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 1.5 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup cashew cream (or 1/2 c. silken tofu or 1/2 c. heavy vegan cream)**
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • pepitas for toppings

* The recipe called for dried cranberries but I couldn’t find them so I used fresh. I didn’t think this gave the recipe a ton of cranberry flavor so next time I will definitely use sauce

** Cashew cream = 1/2 c. raw cashews blended with 1/2 c. water until smooth. I like this because I feel it has a more neutral taste then vegan cream and I always have cashews, as opposed to silken tofu. All these options will work though.

Directions:

  1. If you are using dried cranberries, place the cranberries in a glass or ceramic bowl and 1/2 c. water. Cover the bowl and let the cranberries soak at least 2 hours or overnight.
  2. In a stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrots and saute 5 minutes.
  3. Add the fresh pumpkin/butternut squash and saute for another 5 minutes
  4. Add the canned pumpkin, stock, brown sugar, maple syrup and nutmeg and bring to a boil.
  5. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer 30 minutes or until fresh pumpkin/butternut squash is fork tender
  6. Remove from heat, add cranberries (or cranberry sauce) and puree or blend until creamy. (I used a immersion blender)
  7. Add the cashew cream and stir until incorporated
  8. Season with salt and pepper and stir well. Top with Pepita seeds!

I know a lot of people don’t like blended soup. It sort of has the consistency of baby food so I get it. I love adding seeds and nuts on top of blended soup for some crunch, which helps with the texture thing.

This soup is so warm and comforting. I had a huge bowl of it while I was camped out during Hurricane Sandy and it was perfect. It’s thick and hearty and I love all the Fall flavors.

Also… Halloween mini-sized candies don’t count calories-wise, right? Cause I may have had about a bajillion Monday while camped out on my couch riding out the hurricane and watching Dexter season 6 and 7. Please tell me you have seen this show! I’m so obsessed right now!

Also… download this song so when you see me dancing like a weirdo in Target you can join me and we can be weird together. Awesome!

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Butternut Squash Kale Rice Bowls

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on October 9, 2012| 1 Comment »

Hello everyone! Sorry there was no Weekend Things post for you yesterday. Um, it was my birthday and birthdays = no work. Also…I sorta can’t figure out how to transfer pictures from my fancy new cellphone to my computer soooo you may have a Wednesday Things…or a Thursday Things…or A Whenever-the-hell-I-can-figure-out-my-phone Things.

So until then, you are stuck with my rambling and more fall recipes. Today, I will be rambling about some of  my favorite things (be lucky you are on the other side of the computer and can’t hear me singing). 1. Halloween Sprinkles. Seriously…they make everything better! Ice cream, birthday cupcakes (coming soon), peanut butter toast, oatmeal, lattes, you name it! I’m pretty much obsessed!

2. Pumpkin Beer- I have to put the kabosh on this obsession. I’ve been having pumpkin beer every. single. day. and that’s WAY more then I usually drink. Plus, beer isn’t exactly a healthy food to be obsessed with…I mean, neither is sprinkles but at least sprinkles come in fun shapes and colors!

3. Dexter. I’ve watched the show but I decided to tackle the book for Halloween. Last year I read Salem’s Lot around this time because I love me a good vampire story. This year, I thought I’d tackle the serial killer series. So far, I have not been disappointed!

and last but not least, 4. Butternut Squash. I’ve had this at least 5 times a week and when I made up my weekly meal plan, I snuck another recipe in. I can’t help it! I keep having leftovers. This recipe was thought up because I had leftover roasted squash from my Black Bean Butternut Squash Burritos. I promise I’ll try another vegetable…maybe…

Butternut Squash Kale Rice Bowls
servings 1

olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 c. cubed butternut squash, roasted

1/2 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 c. Kale, finely sliced ( I used frozen for this recipe)

1/2 c. brown basmati rice

1/4 c. apple cider

pepita seeds (optional)

Butternut squash: Peel your squash and slice into 1″ cubes. Put into a glass pan, lined with tin foil, drizzle with olive oil and toss until squash is coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until fork tender.

While the squash is roasting away, prepare the rice. Rince 1/2 c. under water. Place in a medium size pan with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.

Once your squash and rice are ready, heat some olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, or 3-4 minutes. Add the mushrooms. Saute until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the mushrooms have begun to turn golden, add the squash and the kale. Mix together really well and add 1/2 c. cooked rice and apple cider. Reduce heat to medium low and let the mixture simmer together, stirring occasionally. Simmer until the apple cider has mostly evaporated.

Serve hot in a big bowl, sprinkled with pepita seeds.

I love this recipe because it’s SUPER versatile. I used everything that I already had in my house but you could add sautéed or caramelized onions, serve with quinoa instead of rice or omit the grain and have as a side. All would be delicious.

I had this for dinner almost every night last week and I’m not sick of it at all. In fact, the more butternut squash I have, the more I seem to crave it. This is a problem… especially since we don’t have sharp knives in our kitchen anymore and I risk my fingers every time I try and peel one. It’s so worth it though!

I have not tried this with halloween sprinkles but I’m pretty certain black and purple bat sprinkles would only make it more amazing. Like, 90% certain…

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Black Bean Butternut Squash Burritos

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on October 2, 2012| 3 Comments »

With the exception of the Red Sox game I got to go to, last week was so not fun. At All. Without getting into the gory details, I saw an end to the on-again, off-again two year relationship I was in, which sorta kinda feels really shitty. You don’t realize how much you care for a person until you try to remove them from your life.

On top of that, I got a nice chunk of change stolen from my checking account. Apparently someone got a hold of my debit info and withdrew most of my money. Joy.

Needless to say, by Friday, I was looking at some serious wallowing time. I’m talking sad Taylor Swift and Emo music on repeat, all-weekend pajama wearing, hours of trash TV and ice cream binges, because when your sad, ice cream is the best thing ever. I was heading for a weekend of full-blown, end-of-relationship gloominess… with a side of police reports and changing all my bank info.

Then, my friend Whitney called and asked me to come to Portland. Um, yeah! That sounds way better then ice cream coma! I’m in!

I ended up having a blast! The only downside was it rained non-stop. By the time I came home, I just wanted to curl up with something warm and comforting.  So I made these. And they were A-MA-ZING. They were hot, creamy and filling and they hit the spot just as much as quintessential comfort foods like mac and cheese or soup would.

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Burrito
from OhSheGlows

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
  • 1/2 cup uncooked short grain brown rice (yields: 1.5 cups cooked)
  • 1-2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped sweet onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped (I used green cause Dad gave me one from his garden)
  • 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
  • 2 tsp ground cumin, or to taste
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
  • One 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed, or about 1.5-2 cups cooked if you’re using dried
  • 3/4 cup Daiya cheese (I used mozzarella daiya cheese)
  • tortillas of choice*
  • Toppings of choice: (avocado, salsa, vegan sour cream, spinach/lettuce, cilantro, etc)

* the recipe says this makes 4 servings if you use the large or extra large shells. I used medium sized, whole wheat flour shells and I got about 5 servings.

1. Preheat oven to 425F and line a large glass dish with tinfoil. Drizzle olive oil on squash and give a shake of salt and pepper. Coat with hands. Roast chopped butternut squash for 45 mins. or until tender.

2. Next, prepare the brown rice. Add 1/2 c. dried rice and 1 c. of water to a pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low and simmer for about 30 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

(At this point, with the rice and butternut squash done (and possibly black beans), you can continue the next day if you want and everything comes together fast. This is perfect if you are making this for guests.)

3. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, add oil, onion, and minced garlic. Sautee for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Now add in salt and seasonings and stir well.

4.  Add chopped bell pepper, black beans, and cooked rice and sauté for another 10 minutes on low.

5. Add 1.5 cups of the roasted butternut squash to the skillet and stir to combine. I like to add 1 cup of butternut squash mashed well with a fork and 1/2 c. cubed. I think it makes the burrito extra creamy. Add Daiya cheese and stir until well melted and combined

6. Add bean filling to tortilla along with desired toppings. Wrap and serve. Or, if you are a bowl person when it comes to comfort food (like me!), this is just as good sans a wrap.

I am so addicted to these burritos. They are arguably the best burritos I’ve had. Plus, they satisfy the urge for fall food AND the urge for comfort food. The recipe says that you can add additional toppings but with each serving of this I had, I put on less toppings. I started with spinach, avocado and roasted chipotle salsa and by the end of the week, I was just eating this filling in a tortilla. It’s just so good you don’t need bells and whistles!

It’s fall and I’m recovering from a pseudo-break-up. Expect some serious comfort food on this blog in the next week or so. And chocolate. What situation isn’t made better by chocolate??

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Autumn Breakfast Hash

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on September 28, 2012| 7 Comments »

It’s Friday everyone! What will you be doing this weekend? My To-Do list says I’ll be cleaning my room, scrapbooking, catching up on blogs posts and going to the gym.

HAHAHA! That’s what my To-Do list has said every single weekend for three weeks.

Instead, I will most likely stay in bed too late on Saturday because, obviously, it’s the first day of the weekend and I need to recover from my week. Then I’ll spend the day watching bad TV and ridiculous movies until someone forces me to get out of my bed and my PJs by inviting me to do something. At which point, I will definitely need to shower and get ready, which definitely means no time for room cleaning!

On Sunday, I will most likely stay in bed too late because, obviously, it’s the last day of the weekend and I won’t be able to stay in bed late for 5 whole days! I’ll then go on a crazy cooking run making and photographing food for the blog next week, which definitely means no time for room cleaning!

This happens every. weekend.

BUT! While I’m vegging out watching another episode of Gilmore Girls, which I’ve seen 800 times, I’ll be munching on this delicious meal for brunch. I can not sing this breakfast hash’s praises enough. I seriously love it.

Autumn Breakfast Hash
serves about  5ish servings

  • olive oil
  • 1 sweet onion
  • 2 TBSP apple cider
  • 2 potatoes, I used russet
  • 1/2 a butternut squash
  • 1 apple, chopped into cubes
  • 2 handfuls of brussel sprouts (I would guessimate at 1/2 pound), ends and loose leaves removed
  • 2 pinches of pumpkin pie spice
  • salt to taste

 

Begin by slicing your onions into thin slices for caramelizing. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium low heat. Once hot, put your onions in the pan and stir. Keep stirring occasionally as your onions begin to caramelizing. Once then have begun to turn brown, about 10 minutes in, pour in your apple cider and stir. Let the apple cider cook down, stirring the onions occasionally. This should take another 10 minutes or so. When they are done, there should be no more liquid in the pan and your onions will be  dark brown and soft. Set a side.

Meanwhile, while your onions are cooking, begin to prep the veggies. Peel your potatoes and dice into small cubes. Peel your butternut squash (good luck with that!) and dice into the same size as your potatoes. You want them smaller so they will cook up fast in your skillet. I made mine about the size of a small brussel sprout.

Add a little more oil to a large skillet. When hot, add the potatoes and the butternut squash. Saute for about 5 minutes uncovered. Add the brussels sprouts, stir and cover with a lid. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until your vegetables are soft enough to pierce with a fork. Stir in your chopped apple, caramelized onions, pumpkin pie spice and salt and cook for a few more minutes, uncovered, until they are heated through. If you want your apples soft like your veggies, throw in a few minutes sooner.

We ate ours with whole wheat biscuits and apple butter but you could also stir in some crumbled, slightly pressed tofu for a scrambled-egg like texture or some vegan sausage for some spice.

This may be one of my favorite breakfasts ever. The sweetness of the apples and the onions is so good with the butternut squash and potatoes and it’s super filling! I may have had it every day for breakfast this week…and I may be preparing to make it again this weekend…

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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