Seasonal squash obsession

e had a fabulous squash harvest this year... not our largest, by any means, but definitely the most diverse. Usually we just sow a few butternut squash seeds and let the earth and sun and water do their magic (one year I counted 65 squash from two plants). This year I sowed a few seeds of many different kinds--gourds and mini pumpkins, butternut and Crown Prince. Again with the water and sun magic, and voila! Harvest!

Since harvest, roasted squash has become a part of our daily diet, quite happily. Such color! Such nutrients! I roast up one or two at the start of the week, and away we go. Sometimes I will eat a bowl fairly plain; and by "plain," I mean with butter and parmesan. But at other times, it's fun to mix it up a bit. Here are two recent variations.

Roasted squash tacos just seemed like a good idea one night. I made them up as I went along--they were amazingly simple and one of my favorite squash dishes so far this season.

Roasted squash tacos
Makes 4 tacos
4 corn tortillas
1 cup roasted squash, roughly mashed
1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped
1/2 cup peppers, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup coleslaw, lightly dressed

Sautee the sweet onion and peppers with the olive oil in a medium hot saute pan for a few minutes, stirring and tossing occasionally. When they are limp and al dente, transfer to a bowl. Warm the squash--either in the same saute pan, or the microwave, as well as the soft tortilla shells.

Assemble the tacos: shells first, roasted squash, peppers and onion mixture and coleslaw. Salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy.

Another time, the squash morphed into lovely morsels of ricotta squash gnocchi, based off a pumpkin gnocchi recipe I found on Pinterest. Heavenly!

Roasted squash gnocchi
Makes about 48 little 1-inch dumplings
2 cups roasted squash
1 cup flour
1 cup ricotta
1 cup parmesan
Salt and pepper

Put the squash, flour, ricotta and parmesan in a food processor and pulse a few times to pull all the ingredients together. Once they are roughly mixed, turn the food processor on and process for 30 seconds, until smooth.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, then turn the burner down to a simmer. Drop the ricotta-squash mixture into the water in small spoonfuls, about a dozen at a time. Let them simmer for a couple of minutes, until all the dumplings have risen to the top. Take them out of the water with a slotted spoon, and do another batch of a dozen, until the dough has been used up.

My best treatment of the squash gnocchi was a couple of days after I'd made the dumplings:
Double squash gnocchi
Serves 1
1 cup of roasted squash
10 squash gnocchi
1 garlic clove, sauteed
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 sage leaves, minced
1/3 cup parmesan

Saute the garlic and sage leaves in the olive oil, over medium heat. Add the squash and the gnocchi and toss together with the garlic and sage. When the gnocchi and squash are heated through, add the parmesan, toss quickly and plate!

And of course, there have been a couple of variations on the squash salad a la Ina... and then there's this other salad too... I seem to have a thing for squash. And what a lovely thing it is!

Do you like squash? What's your favorite way to eat it? I am always looking for new ideas!

Butternut squash risotto IN A CROCKPOT!

ike any good carb-lover, I adore risotto. Especially risotto done right. You know, all the stirring, the broth exactly the right warmth to add into the rice. The toasting of the rice first, then the wine or sherry, and all the steps so laborious and time consuming.

Except!

It doesn't have to be that way. Maybe I'm a little slow to the risotto revolution, but when I needed to make risotto last week and my stove was still out of commission, I thought, why not figure out a way in the crockpot? And sure enough, the interwebs cooperated with a plethora of recipes.

I settled on the one below, and it went off without a hitch. Wanting to kick it up a notch, of course, I added butternut squash and then made a bunch of little risotto cakes (see further below) for the work event last week. This is definitely going to be my go-to risotto method in the future, many apologies to all you purists out there.

Crockpot risotto
1 1/4 cup uncooked Arborio rice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
3 3/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 t dried onion flakes
5 cloves chopped garlic
1 t kosher salt
1/4 t black pepper
2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (to add at the very end)

Toss the uncooked Arborio rice with the olive oil in your crockpot stoneware, add the seasonings and garlic. Pour in the broth and white wine; stir to mix flavors.

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the rice is tender. (Mine took longer, but I was doubling... well, tripling the recipe...) (P.S. I couldn't resist stirring it once or twice. I know, old habits... but it didn't seem to hurt it...)

Stir in the shredded cheese and leave uncovered for about 15 minutes to let a bit of the moisture escape

The final product will be very creamy and have a porridge-like consistency.

To make butternut squash version:
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed

Roast butternut squash cubes until the cubes are quite soft. Put roasted squash in a large mixing bowl and mash with a potato masher until roughly mashed. Add the risotto and stir until well mixed.

To make risotto cakes:
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup parmesan cheese shreds

Prehead oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Make sure the risotto is completely cold. (You can make the risotto ahead by a couple of days if needed.) Test the consistency. If the mixture is too soft, even after cooling, it will make rather flat cakes (trust me, I know). If soft, add some plain bread crumbs to the mixture to thicken it up.

Mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese shreds together in a food processor until well blended. Put in a medium bowl and set aside.

Make balls from the risotto (about a large teaspoon full) and roll them in the crumb/cheese mixture; place on the baking sheet and flatten slightly with your hand. Continue with the rest of the mixture or until you have made enough risotto cakes. Because the cakes shouldn't spread too much, I usually can fit 24 on a large baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Autumn's arrival: warm butternut arugula salad

ell, fall seems to have arrived. Early fall, but still, it's here. The heat of summer appears well past, and the shorter days are making an impact on the garden, too. Tomatoes are still ripening, albeit slowly, and the basil is in full harvest mode (I seem to forget what a time-consuming task that is. Every. Year.), but the winter squashes are just coming on, and the brussels sprouts too.

So, sad as I may be to say goodbye to the blueberries and nectarines, the ever-present watermelon and caprese salads, the summer squash casseroles and zucchini sticks, I wouldn't be me if I didn't dive headlong into the next buffet of flavors. And for my money, butternut squash makes the transition to early darkness bearable! My love of butternut squash in a salad has been noted in the past, so no surprise that I was ready to roast today.

The factor that really tipped this salad over to yumville was the dressing, which was an on-the-fly, what's-in-the-cupboard moment. I will make that again soon--it was just the right sweet and tang to go with the squash and cheese especially. The warm butternut wilting the arugula didn't hurt either... and the fact that I didn't have a proper breakfast so was dive-in hungry when I sat down to it...

Butternut arugula salad
Roasted butternut squash, warm from the oven
Washed and dried arugula
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Crumbled chevre (a late thought, you'll see the picture above seems a bit naked without it...)
Salt and pepper to taste

Sweet mustardy vinaigrette
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (I couldn't find honey in the cupboard but this did the trick really well)
Whisk all ingredients together until well emulsified.

Put two cups of arugula and a generous cup of butternut squash in a bowl. Pour dressing over, and toss to coat. Put salad on a plate and top with pumpkin seeds and crumbled goat cheese

Very enjoyable and a hearty kick-off to my favorite season of all!

Something to look forward to, and it's not the weather

Happened upon a trailer for a movie soon to be released on dvd and thought... after the grim post of yesterday, maybe a little cheer is in order? This may be a little over the top for some (again, you know who you are, I don't like to name names Jen), but I think it's going to be a jolly good spot of British humour.
I've put the rifle away for the moment even though I heard from three separate people today that the next 10 days are supposed to bring snow, rain and freezing temperatures. Bother, as Pooh would say. I suppose I could check the forecast myself, but it seemed so much more dramatic: Three. Separate. People. Yes, apparently I'm not the only one weighed down by the gray.
So I'm eating dried mangoes while I type (little slices of heaven) and about to go roast some butternut squash. Both foods qualify as sunshine in my world, so consider me shaking my little fist at Mother Nature and moving on. So there.

Gnocchi heaven

Little dumplings waiting for their boiling bath!

Cooked and now frying up nicely in some rosemary grapeseed oil. Heavenly smell!

With some chopped chives and parmesan sprinkled on top! Heavenly taste...
I am a big gnocchi fan. Any type, cooked most any way! But the big taste determiner for me is whether they're homemade (or in a restaurant, house-made) or not. "Not" usually means heavy and floury. Made from scratch means lighter, softer, melt-in-your-mouthier. Yum.
So I discovered this recipe for ricotta gnocchi, and another one, and then finally this one (from Martha Stewart, no less) that incorporated butternut squash into the recipe as well. That's always a bonus with me. But none of the recipes were going to work completely on their own to meet my tastes, so I combined a little of one with a little of another, and the most enjoyable lunch was born. And the sweetest thing of all was how easy it was--this wasn't any all-day pasta-making marathon, by any means.
I went with low-fat ricotta and it behaved quite nicely in place of the whole milk variety. If I had more butternut squash on hand, I'd probably have added a bit more of that as well. It was a little mild on the squash flavor, and color-wise was paler than I'd have liked, too. I knew when I added the whole wheat flour that the color would muddy up a bit, but it was worth it to try the less-processed flour, and I am partial to the nuttier flavor of whole wheat, too. All in all, a quite healthy version of gnocchi!
Ricotta and Butternut Squash Gnocchi
(serves 4-6 depending on portion size...)
1 (16-ounce) container of low-fat ricotta
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed roasted butternut squash
1/2 teaspoon salt/
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour + extra for your hands and cutting board

In the bowl of a food processor, mix the ricotta, egg and butternut squash until well combined. Scrape contents into a large bowl and mix in the flour and salt until all ingredients are incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Check the dough by pinching a bit. It should be a bit tacky. If it clings to your fingers too much, incorporate more flour one tablespoon at a time until you reach a workable consistency. Before shaping, put a large pot of water on the stove to bring to a boil. Sprinkle a baking sheet with flour and set it close to your work space.

Sprinkle your hands and work surface with a little flour. Break off a small orange-sized piece of the dough and roll it into a thick log about 3/4-inch thick.

Cut the log into 3/4" pieces. You can shape them if you want to look more traditional--I left them as natural little pillows...

Transfer this batch to the baking sheet and toss with flour to prevent sticking. Repeat rolling process with the remaining dough.

Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the water and a third of the gnocchi. Gently stir the gnocchi to make sure they don't stick. Once they bob to the surface, let them cook an additional 2 minutes. Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon and transfer to a colander set over a bowl to finish draining.
I wanted to fry them up lightly with some sage and brown butter, but there was no sage in the house... so I went with a lovely rosemary grapeseed oil that I've used with great success in other recipes, and they fried up splendidly. I boiled and fried up the whole batch so that they wouldn't stick to each other horribly in the fridge.
To top, I grated some parmesan over the top with some chopped fresh chives, and it was glorious!

Roasted butternut squash salad

This was inspired by an Ina Garten recipe I saw in the local paper a week or so ago. Being a butternut squash fanatic AND a hearty salad freak, this salad was made for me. Well, it looked good on paper anyway. But this time the pantry shelf and the dream didn't align, so adaptation was needed. And it turned out very well. Yum-o.

Butternut squash salad
Arugula, washed
Butternut squash, peeled and cubed, roasted and cooled
Pomegranate seeds
Walnuts

Dressing
2 T. olive oil
4 T. white balsamic vinegar
1T. concentrated pomegranate juice
1 T. Walla Walla Sweet Onion mustard
Whisk together and set aside.

Layer as you will. This is one where you can set the proportions to your individual tastes. I layered the arugula followed by maybe a cup of butternut squash cubes, about a half-cup pomegranate seeds (I added more later--I can rarely have too many pomegrante seeds!) and maybe a 1/3 cup chopped walnuts. Some parmesan or even goat cheese would also have been good, but I didn't think about that until I was already halfway through. (I know, shocking coming from the Cheese Queen!) After you've layered, drizzle the dressing over and enjoy!

This was a lovely supper!

Super solo supper

There are those who find the title of a book I'm currently reading--Alone in the Kitchen with An Eggplant--a tad odd. I can understand that. When I'm alone in the kitchen, an eggplant would be one of the last things I'd reach for. Nothing against the beautiful aubergine, it's just not one of my "craveables."

The book is a collection of essays specifically about those meals you eat when you are by yourself, especially if that is not how you cook and eat on a daily basis. The writers confess to their own indulgences, from one-pot spaghetti to a kippers mash (no thanks!) to salmon and lentils quite elegantly prepared. There are also a few tales of solo restaurant adventures, that somehow "all eyes are on you" endeavor that unnerves many. Together they make up a quite readable and occasionally inspirational book that fits handily into one of my favorite genres of essay + recipes, a la Cooking for Mr. Latte and The Soul of a Chef.

When I have one of those rare evenings to myself, it's a fab opportunity to have exactly what I want to eat. Not that my men's tastes and mine differ so dramatically, but there are a few things I favor that neither of them find extremely palatable. My solo suppers over the years have varied according to mood and season and what's in the pantry/fridge, of course. I went through a major phase of pasta carbonara a few years back when I ate alone more frequently. In those days I threw cream on just about everything; that's a whole other, more wild-thyroid-related post. I do still treasure the basil-tomato-pasta combo, but tonight, with fall so well and truly entrenched, soup once again hit the menu.

Along the way I was able to not only indulge my whims, but also to illustrate four of the 13 favorite foods at the same time... how handy!


I made a curried butternut squash soup late last week, with a coconut milk base. Between that and the fruity salad of grapefruit, pomegranate, arugula, blue cheese and hazelnuts, the boys would have hit the speed-dial for pizza delivery! What is it about the male tastebuds and fruit in salads? (How's that for a wild generalization?!) I'm sure there are men who do appreciate berries and apples and pears in a salad, I just haven't ever met one.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
1 butternut squash, roasted
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 tsp. curry powder
2 cups of vegetable stock
1 can lite coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Halve the squash, scoop out the seeds, cut into quarters and place on a baking sheet. Roast in a 350-degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the flesh pierces easily. Remove from oven and cool.

Saute diced onion in 1 Tbsp. olive oil in 2 quart saucepan. When translucent, add the curry powder and stir, toasting the curry, until it is fragrant. Scoop out the butternut squash in spoonfuls and add to the onions, pour the vegetable stock over and bring to a simmer until squash is so soft it falls apart, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Put the squash mixture and coconut milk in a blender and puree in batches, blend until smooth. Add more broth or coconut milk to taste, to achieve the desired consistency. Pour back into saucepan and warm through on the stove. Add salt and pepper to taste. If a stronger curry flavor is desired, add a half to 1 additional teaspoon curry powder.

Serves 4.

Sher's Favorite Fruity Salad (one of many!)
Arugula
Grapefruit sections (click for help on sectioning)
Pomegranate seeds (click for tips on cracking a pomegranate)
Chopped roasted hazelnuts
Blue cheese
Brianna's blush wine vinaigrette
This is pretty willy-nilly, and completely according to mood. Arrange the arugula in a salad bowl, layer the grapefruit sections, pomegranate seeds, hazelnuts and blue cheese on top; drizzle with dressing and you're good to go! You can portion this individually or to feed as many as you'd like. If you have leftovers, call me. I will happily polish it off!

As you can see from the picture, entertaining oneself while dining alone is critical. I'm afraid I'm not one for sitting at the dining room table, fully set with candles lit. I've seen that in movies and thought, who on earth really does that? Maybe it's a sign of civility... which I am obviously lacking. While I'm not a big one for eating standing up in the kitchen, I am all over the book/magazine/dvd/tv as meal companion. Tonight, Mad Men (Season 1, now available on dvd) kept me company as I also put together a couple of soups (more soup, it's almost like the Soup Nazi moved in) for a board meeting tomorrow night.

To come: Cream of Cauliflower Soup and Vegetarian Tortilla Soup.