This week I was inspired by the cold temperatures that's are starting to be more normal than just a random occurrence. The menu consists mostly of Fall and Winter comfort-food favorites from the binder of recipes.
The triumphant return of my favorite Black Bean soup! so many people I talked to read and tried this recipe last year! I can't wait to taste it again. With corn bread on the side.
Spicy Sloppy Joes
Baked salmon with wild rice and frozen peas
I use frozen salmon, take it out of the freezer in the morning and it's good to go in the evening.
I will season it with grated ginger (about 2 teaspoons), soy sauce and olive oil (just a drizzle of each on each salmon piece).
Bake at 400 for roughly 20 minutes
Vegetable and quinoa bowl: broccoli, frozen peas, onions, carrots and peppers-- perhaps some warm spices like cumin and cayenne!
Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts
Monday, October 8, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Weekly Menu: The first week of October!
Leaves are changing and the weather is getting slightly cooler. Squash by the truckload are showing up at farmer's markets and at the groceries... My neighbors brought a cute bucket of pears over from their tree!
Here's the weekly menu for the first week of October (can you believe it?!) Happy Fall!
crock pot pulled pork... for tacos and leftovers for sandwiches. still need a recipe for this one, do you have any suggestions?
roasted spaghetti squash with salad
roasted beet salad
pizza with mozzarella, tomato, basil and mushrooms.
homemade pizza sauce (have I ever shared this before?):
1 can crushed tomatoes
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 C chopped onion
1 T red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
other seasoning such as basil, oregano, etc.
olive oil
heat olive oil over medium heat, add onions and garlic, cook for about two minutes.
add tomatoes and seasoning(s).
stir.
cover and let simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.
this recipe freezes well for your next batch of pizza if you don't use it all!
Here's the weekly menu for the first week of October (can you believe it?!) Happy Fall!
crock pot pulled pork... for tacos and leftovers for sandwiches. still need a recipe for this one, do you have any suggestions?
roasted spaghetti squash with salad
roasted beet salad
pizza with mozzarella, tomato, basil and mushrooms.
homemade pizza sauce (have I ever shared this before?):
1 can crushed tomatoes
1-2 cloves garlic
1/4 C chopped onion
1 T red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
other seasoning such as basil, oregano, etc.
olive oil
heat olive oil over medium heat, add onions and garlic, cook for about two minutes.
add tomatoes and seasoning(s).
stir.
cover and let simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.
this recipe freezes well for your next batch of pizza if you don't use it all!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Squash Soup Experiment Continues!
Shout out to my Mom for bringing me a nice butternut squash!
Here is another, very slightly different (mainly different in technique with a few more details than the previous) recipe, for squash soup.
1 Butternut squash, halved, peeled and seasoned with olive oil and about 2 T garam masala and roasted at 425 for about 30-45 minutes.
1 large clove garlic, roasted (leave it in its skin and place on roasting pan with squash for about 20 minutes).
1 carrot
1 onion
1 potato
carrot, onion and potato diced (carrots and onions unpeeled).
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 T curry powder
1 t cayenne
1 t cardamom
1 t ginger powder
4-6 cups veggie broth
roast the squash.
with about 15 minutes left on the squash, cook onions, potato, carrot in butter and oil over medium high in a big soup pot, cook until onions are soft. this smells SO GOOD!
remove the squash from the oven and cut it into chunks. add to pot with seasonings, roasted garlic and about 1 C of the veggie broth.
Let sit covered for 5 minutes on medium heat.
Add more broth and let simmer, covered for 15 minutes.
Blend with immersion blender. Remember, blend and add more or less broth depending on your preference to how thick or soupy you like.
P.S. I know not everyone (including me!) has 2 hours to spend making soup. But, when I need to do something that isn't school related, and need some "me" time in the kitchen, this is what I do. Roast the squash the day prior to save time, or just cook the squash in the soup pot to save time. Whatever you do, if you do make this recipe, make it your own! That's my favorite part of cooking. Thanks for reading.
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| This is Butternut with a butternut. Do you know how hard it is to pose your cat with a vegetable?! |
Here is another, very slightly different (mainly different in technique with a few more details than the previous) recipe, for squash soup.
1 Butternut squash, halved, peeled and seasoned with olive oil and about 2 T garam masala and roasted at 425 for about 30-45 minutes.
1 large clove garlic, roasted (leave it in its skin and place on roasting pan with squash for about 20 minutes).
1 carrot
1 onion
1 potato
carrot, onion and potato diced (carrots and onions unpeeled).
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 T curry powder
1 t cayenne
1 t cardamom
1 t ginger powder
4-6 cups veggie broth
roast the squash.
with about 15 minutes left on the squash, cook onions, potato, carrot in butter and oil over medium high in a big soup pot, cook until onions are soft. this smells SO GOOD!
remove the squash from the oven and cut it into chunks. add to pot with seasonings, roasted garlic and about 1 C of the veggie broth.
Let sit covered for 5 minutes on medium heat.
Add more broth and let simmer, covered for 15 minutes.
Blend with immersion blender. Remember, blend and add more or less broth depending on your preference to how thick or soupy you like.
P.S. I know not everyone (including me!) has 2 hours to spend making soup. But, when I need to do something that isn't school related, and need some "me" time in the kitchen, this is what I do. Roast the squash the day prior to save time, or just cook the squash in the soup pot to save time. Whatever you do, if you do make this recipe, make it your own! That's my favorite part of cooking. Thanks for reading.
Friday, September 21, 2012
The Annual Fall Squash Soup Experiment
Yes, it's finally a little chilly in the air and Fall is showing its signs. That means, of course, squash soup. I bought a kind of squash at the farmer's market that I'd never cooked with before:
The soup was delicious, warm, spicy not spicy hot but spicy from the garam masala and smooth! Serve with a side of roasted beet salad!
Here's how I made it!
1 squash -- (Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my squash when I started cutting it up. I decided to roast it, and cut it into long slices. This was a mistake, it was really hard to get the squash flesh off the blazing hot squash rind and into the pot! If you are going to roast your squash, just cut it in half, then roast, then scoop. Or, you can peel it prior, cube it, then roast it. Or! Just peel it, cube it and skip roasting. Add it to the pot with the potato, carrot and onion)
I roasted my squash at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes, with about 2T garam masala, salt and pepper and olive oil.
1 potato, diced.
1 carrot, diced.
1 onion, diced.
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
4-6 C vegetable broth, depending how thick you like your soup!
1 T curry powder
1 T ground ginger (I didn't have real ginger, but I'd rather use the real thing!!)
1 t cayenne
2 cloves garlic, roasted if you're already roasting, minced otherwise.
heat oil and butter in large pot. add potato, carrot, and onion. sautee on medium heat, stirring often. veggies should soften and become deliciously fragrant and caramelized a little.
while the veggies are working, prepare squash then add squash (in my case, this involved me cutting the rind off and adding it to the pot, if I could go back, I'd just scoop the roasted squash out of the rind into the pot).
add garlic and seasonings.
add broth.
stir.
let simmer for 20 minutes, then blend with immersion blender. slowly add more broth if you like it soupier, remember you can always add more, but you can't easily take it out!
garnish with cilantro, and sour cream!
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what kind of squash is this?
|
The soup was delicious, warm, spicy not spicy hot but spicy from the garam masala and smooth! Serve with a side of roasted beet salad!
Here's how I made it!
1 squash -- (Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my squash when I started cutting it up. I decided to roast it, and cut it into long slices. This was a mistake, it was really hard to get the squash flesh off the blazing hot squash rind and into the pot! If you are going to roast your squash, just cut it in half, then roast, then scoop. Or, you can peel it prior, cube it, then roast it. Or! Just peel it, cube it and skip roasting. Add it to the pot with the potato, carrot and onion)
I roasted my squash at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes, with about 2T garam masala, salt and pepper and olive oil.
1 potato, diced.
1 carrot, diced.
1 onion, diced.
1 T olive oil
1 T butter
4-6 C vegetable broth, depending how thick you like your soup!
1 T curry powder
1 T ground ginger (I didn't have real ginger, but I'd rather use the real thing!!)
1 t cayenne
2 cloves garlic, roasted if you're already roasting, minced otherwise.
heat oil and butter in large pot. add potato, carrot, and onion. sautee on medium heat, stirring often. veggies should soften and become deliciously fragrant and caramelized a little.
while the veggies are working, prepare squash then add squash (in my case, this involved me cutting the rind off and adding it to the pot, if I could go back, I'd just scoop the roasted squash out of the rind into the pot).
add garlic and seasonings.
add broth.
stir.
let simmer for 20 minutes, then blend with immersion blender. slowly add more broth if you like it soupier, remember you can always add more, but you can't easily take it out!
garnish with cilantro, and sour cream!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Post Thanksgiving Butternut Squash Soup
We are all out of Thanksgiving leftovers here! They didn't last long, there wasn't much of it, and after all of the celebrating and indulging I am thankful to get back to a more reasonable dining routine. I love celebrating, but if I do it everyday I start to feel like the stuffed turkey!
Your weekly menu reminded me of this delicious, simple, sweet & savoury butternut squash soup I like to whip up and keep in a big bowl in the fridge for easy winter meals. I roast the squash ahead of time (great on a winter Sunday afternoon, pop it in the oven around 3 or 4 and the kitchen is toasty warm AND its ready for soup making at dinner). I also use ghee instead of oil because of its wide ranging health benefits. Its easy to make (I'll blog on it later!) but if you don't keep a jar handy in your kitchen, you can use oil for this recipe.
Butternut Squash & Apple Soup
1 butternut squash, roasted
2 tbsp ghee or oil
2 large sweet potatoes
2 medium apples
1 inch knob of fresh ginger, chopped
5 cups veg broth
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 cup coconut milk
salt & pepper to taste
Prepare the squash in advance: Roast whole by piercing the top with a knife in several places, set upright in a baking dish, and keep it in a 375 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Or cut into pieces, place in a dish with 1/4 inch of water, cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.
Peel and cut sweet potatoes and apples into 1 inch pieces. Melt ghee or oil in a soup pot and add sweet potatoes, apples and ginger. Saute until everything starts to turn a bit golden (7-8 minutes). Add the broth, bring to the boil, and simmer for 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes soften.
Meanwhile, cut the roasted squash in half, scoop out the seeds, peel and cut into large pieces. Add squash, spices and salt and pepper to the pot. When heated through, remove from heat. Add 1 cup coconut milk and blend with a handstick blender.
This soup is great out of the pot, but even better a day or two later!
Enjoy your week,
Cara
Your weekly menu reminded me of this delicious, simple, sweet & savoury butternut squash soup I like to whip up and keep in a big bowl in the fridge for easy winter meals. I roast the squash ahead of time (great on a winter Sunday afternoon, pop it in the oven around 3 or 4 and the kitchen is toasty warm AND its ready for soup making at dinner). I also use ghee instead of oil because of its wide ranging health benefits. Its easy to make (I'll blog on it later!) but if you don't keep a jar handy in your kitchen, you can use oil for this recipe.
1 butternut squash, roasted
2 tbsp ghee or oil
2 large sweet potatoes
2 medium apples
1 inch knob of fresh ginger, chopped
5 cups veg broth
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 cup coconut milk
salt & pepper to taste
Prepare the squash in advance: Roast whole by piercing the top with a knife in several places, set upright in a baking dish, and keep it in a 375 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Or cut into pieces, place in a dish with 1/4 inch of water, cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.
Peel and cut sweet potatoes and apples into 1 inch pieces. Melt ghee or oil in a soup pot and add sweet potatoes, apples and ginger. Saute until everything starts to turn a bit golden (7-8 minutes). Add the broth, bring to the boil, and simmer for 15 minutes or until sweet potatoes soften.
Meanwhile, cut the roasted squash in half, scoop out the seeds, peel and cut into large pieces. Add squash, spices and salt and pepper to the pot. When heated through, remove from heat. Add 1 cup coconut milk and blend with a handstick blender.
This soup is great out of the pot, but even better a day or two later!
Enjoy your week,
Cara
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Cara responds: pumpkin spice cupcakes OR muffins
Well now Allison, I did indeed make the whole recipe, not because I needed 24 cupcakes around the house, but because I like to make my cupcakes extra large with more batter per cup and I planned to send along a dozen or so with my husband to give to his coworkers. I also froze some of the batter right in the muffin tin, to bake again a week later over my birthday weekend :)
So for my extra large cupcakes this made about 18. I misread the recipe though and added 1 entire can of pumpkin, instead of 1 cup (oops!). I ended up adding more flour to make up for the extra wet ingredient. I also subbed whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour, and milk with a splash of white vinegar for the buttermilk.
I like frosting, and it was my birthday so I went for it. I only made about half the frosting of the recipe and it was PLENTY to go around. After frosting I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top to pretty them up. They were good! (Sorry, no photo, they were all eaten before I thought of it). Without the frosting I think they would be an excellent candidate for pumpkin spice muffins if you threw in some raisins for walnuts.
Yes, I use baking cups. I use the If You Care brand which seem to be environmentally friendly (no chlorine is used in the process). I also toss them into the compost bin after use, although I don't actually know if that is an effective way to dispose of them (?).
My muffin tin came from my grandmother in nearly pristine condition. I use the muffin cups mainly so I can keep it that way. But I also think its fun to peel the paper off to eat them!
Your friend,
Cara
So for my extra large cupcakes this made about 18. I misread the recipe though and added 1 entire can of pumpkin, instead of 1 cup (oops!). I ended up adding more flour to make up for the extra wet ingredient. I also subbed whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour, and milk with a splash of white vinegar for the buttermilk.
Yes, I use baking cups. I use the If You Care brand which seem to be environmentally friendly (no chlorine is used in the process). I also toss them into the compost bin after use, although I don't actually know if that is an effective way to dispose of them (?).
Your friend,
Cara
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